Trenton tennis wins fifth straight head-to-head duel, then finishes 3rd at Benton Tournament

The Trenton Lady Bulldogs finished off a busy tennis week with more success, rolling through the Cameron Dragons on Thursday afternoon, before finishing in 3rd place at the Benton Tournament in St. Joseph on Friday.

Against Cameron, the closest match of the day turned out to be Cameron’s only victory, as Nicole Gitthens beat Claire Utley 9-7.  The Lady Bulldogs cruised from there, with Samantha Mihalovich, Madison Searcy, and Emma Gilham winning by 8-love scores, while Lauren Dolan and Codi DeLong received little resistance in winning 8-1.

Trenton doubles played tremendous tennis, with Mihalovich teaming with Searcy on an 8-love triumph, matching the result of DeLong and Gilham.  Utley and Dolan beat Gitthens and Ludeke 8-1.

On Friday at the Noyes Tennis Complex in St. Joseph, Trenton advanced, as a team, into the semifinal round with victories over Savannah and LeBlond.  In the semifinals, facing an unfamiliar foe, the Lady Bulldogs were beaten 4-1 by St. Pius X of Kansas City.  Rebounding well from their first setback this season, the Lady Bulldogs rebounded for their second victory against Chillicothe within the week.

In round robin play against Savannah, Trenton opened the day with a closely-fought 3-2 win over the Savages.  Alainey Fair and Elle Neal lost singles matches for the Lady Bulldogs, putting the fate of the duel in the hands of the doubles teams.  Claire Utley and Lauren Dolan won their match 6-2, Samantha Mihalovich teamed with Madison Searcy for a 6-2 win, and Codi DeLong and Emma Gilham blitzed their Savannah opponent, 6-love.

Trenton beat Bishop LeBlond in the Lady Bulldogs second duel of the day, 4-1  Alainey Fair fell in singles 6-4, but Elle Neal rebounded from her Savannah loss to upend Katelyn Joe 6-2.  Trenton’s dominance in doubles continued, with Utley/Dolan winning 6-3, Mihalovich and Searcy 6-2, and DeLong and Gilham winning by another 6-love final.

With play moving into bracket play, Trenton’s loss to St. Pius was by a 3-2 final.  Fair and Neal struggled in singles play, losing by a combined 16-3.  A doubles loss by Utley/Dolan, by a final of 8-2, clinched the match for the Warriors.  Mihalovich and Searcy won 8-2, with DeLong and Gilham taking an 8-2 win.

Against Chillicothe, Trenton’s doubles teams against shined in a 3-2 triumph.  With Fair and Neal falling in singles (to Gracy Reeter and Hannah Cypert), Trenton picked up two 8-4 wins from Utley/Dolan and Mihalovich/Searcy, and a clinching 8-5 triumph from DeLong and Gilham.

Trenton, in the individual doubles competition, found more success, with Mihalovich and Searcy taking the championship in the #2 doubles flight competition, matching the championship of Codi DeLong and Emma Gilham, who finished first in the #3 doubles event.  Claire Utley and Lauren Dolan, in the #1 doubles flight, finished in third place. 

On Labor Day (Monday), the Lady Bulldogs travel back St. Joseph to play the Lafayette Fighting Irish.  Trenton will compete in the Cameron Tennis Tournament on Wednesday, September 7th.