The Trenton Lady Bulldogs defeated the Kirksville Lady Tigers in a girl’s tennis matchup on Thursday afternoon at Kirksville High School, 5-4, pushing Trenton’s season record in dual action to a perfect 10-0.
The match was very tight, with the #2 singles match playing a key role in the outcome. In that match, Trenton’s Lauren Dolan trailed Kirksville’s Christine Kuttenkuler 7-4, but rallied to within 7-6, and looked poised to tie the match. Kuttenkuler developed a condition that required attention from medical personnel, with the decision made to forfeit the match to Dolan at that point.
Samantha Mihalovich played dominant tennis for THS, winning at #3 singles 8-love over Kirksville’s Tabitha Deacon. Madison Searcy won at #4 singles for Trenton, 8-2 over Olivia Halma. Emma Gilham claimed an 8-5 win for the Bulldogs at #6 singles over Vanessa VanLaningham.
Kirksville’s singles win were from #1 singles player Abigail Kuttenkuler, 8-4 over Claire Utley, and Vivian Phan, at #5 singles, 8-1 over Alainey Fair.
In doubles, Trenton needed just one win to clinch victory #10 of the season, with Mihalovich and Searcy grabbing the 8-2 triumph over Christine Kuttenkuler and Halma. Abilgail Kuttenkuler teamed with Deacon for an 8-6 win over Utley and Dolan, while Kirksville’s Phan and VanLaningham took down Trenton’s Fair and Gilham 8-5.
Trenton has earned the #2 seed for team districts (behind #1 seed Maryville) next week. Both the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Spoofhounds have first-round byes. Trenton’s semifinal match, against a team to be determined (Monday) will be played at the THS courts on Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock.
The Trenton JV, on Thursday in Kirksville, lost 4 of the 6 matches played against the Tigers. Tessa Schlatter teamed with Elle Neal for a 6-3 win, while the other Trenton win came from Latorrie Johnson and Leah Polk, by a final tally of 6-4.
