The Trenton Lady Bulldogs had two doubles entries in the eight-school Cameron Tennis Tournament on Wednesday, with the team of Claire Utley and Lauren Dolan finishing second, and Samantha Mihalovich and Maddie Searcy third in the 16 entry competition.
Utley and Dolan began their morning with an 8-3 win over a Higginsville duo, then moved into the semifinals with an 8-6 win over Platte County. Â The second Platte County tandem, seeded #1 in the doubles field would end up beating Utley and Dolan 8-3 in the title match, after Claire and Lauren beat Warrensburg in a semifinal thriller 8-6.
Mihalovich and Searcy started strong in first-round play, beating Savannah 8-2, following up that effort with an 8-3 triumph against the #4 seeded team from Higginsville. Â The eventual champions from Platte County won the semifinal match 8-4, but Sam and Maddie rallied to win third place medals, winning 8-4 over Warrensburg in their final match of the day.
With Trenton’s tennis strength anchored in doubles thus far in the season, singles play in tournament settings continues to provide the Lady Bulldogs to develop their depth at the singles level, with Emma Gilham and Elle Neal representing THS in singles play at the Cameron Tournament.
Gilham went 1-2, losing a first-round match to Savannah 8-3, then rebounding with an 8-1 win over Cameron. Â Emma lost 8-3 to Platte County to finish her day in the double-elimination event.
Neal started with an 8-1 loss to a Warrensburg player, then got on a roll with back-to-back wins over Maryville (8-4) and Cameron (8-2). Â An 8-2 loss to Warrensburg finished Elle’s day with a 2 win, 2 loss record.
In addition to Trenton and the host Cameron Dragons, other schools at Wednesday’s Cameron Tournament were Higginsville, Maryville, Lafayette, Savannah, Warrensburg, and Platte County.
Trenton will host the Fighting Irish of Lafayette High School on Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock, aiming to improve to 6-0 in head-to-head competition this season.
