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Poplar Bluff tennis team advances to MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinal
The Poplar Bluff tennis team ended a five-year playoff drought Monday.
The fourth-seeded Mules beat fifth-seeded Mehlville 5-0 at the Senior High Courts, advancing to the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 semifinal for the first time since 2015.
Poplar Bluff coach Missy Cox said one of the team’s goal before the start of the season was to advance in the district tournament. Now, the Mules will face top-seeded Farmington (10-2) at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The Knights beat Poplar Bluff 9-0 in a match Sept. 16.
“I think going into (Tuesday), they were playing well when we needed (Monday) and that it will carry over,” Cox said.
After a slow start, the Mules (5-6) swept doubles play.
Poplar Bluff’s top-seeded pair of Clarissa Varner and Simone Anders won 8-2. Natalie Murphy and Sabrina Hurst won 8-5 while Demi Wisdom and Isabella Sifford picked up an 8-4 win as each lost two early games.
“When we don’t warm up, we’re not mentally or physically ready to go,” Cox said. “And so we get off to a slower start on the doubles, but it turned pretty quick.”
Murphy made quick work of her No. 4 singles match, winning 6-0, 6-0, while Wisdom’s 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 5 closed out the match.
Anders and Hurst had each taken a set with Anders leading, 6-4, 3-0, when the match had ended. Hurst led her match 6-2 while top-seeded Varner lost the first set 6-3.
The Mules last won a district playoff in 2015 when they beat Sikeston for a second straight year before losing to the top seed both times. Poplar Bluff had not won a match in district play since.
