Liberty and Staley each advance a player to semifinals of Missouri Class 2 state tennis
Two of Kansas City’s best found themselves playing each other in the Missouri Class 2 quarterfinals on Friday at the Missouri state girls tennis championships.
Liberty’s Colby Kelley defeated Lee’s Summit West’s Tristen Caskey 6-3, 6-4 in a battle between two returning medalists at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
The two had played each other in the consolation round of last year’s state tournament with Kelley again prevailing in a third set 10-point super tie-breaker after the two had split sets.
“I wanted to win this one because my goal was to be in the top four,” said Kelley, who finished sixth in singles last year after finishing third with her sister, Riley, two years ago.
Kelley came back from a 3-4 deficit in the second set to win this time in straight sets.
“I think I was going for too much in that second set,” said Kelley, who plans to play tennis in college at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. “I lost a few games and I needed to refocus. I also went with more spin than pace.”
Kelley said that her greatest memory in high school is playing with her sister, who is attending Arkansas University but not playing tennis, but she prefers playing singles.
She will have a very tough opponent in Saturday’s semifinal as she faces Abby Gaines, the top player from Class 2 team state champion St. Joseph’s Academy.
“Abby is an incredible player,” Kelley said. “I’m looking forward to playing her. To have a chance to beat her I need to play my game and try to be on the offense.”
Staley junior Claire Thimgan, who has lost only to Kelley this season, also advanced to the semifinals with a pair of impressive wins. She lost just one game in the two matches which included a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lucy Huang of Glendale in the quarterfinals.
The wins were the first two state wins in Thimgan’s career. She qualified for state as a freshman but lost her only two matches. She did not make state after losing in the sectional round last year.
“I came into the season with more confidence and a better mindset,” Thimgan said. “My goal this season was to finish in the top eight so it was fantastic to win the two matches today and know I am in the top four.”
Thimgan will also have a very tough semifinal match Saturday. She faces Katie Ferguson of Lafayette. Ferguson finished fourth in singles last year.
“The key tomorrow is to be very consistent and wait for the right shot to come in on,” Thimgan said.
The Kansas City area will have one of the four semifinalists in Class 2 doubles.
St. Teresa’s Merideth Mason and Ellen Mason won a pair of straight set matches Friday.
They have a huge test against defending Class 2 doubles champions Ellie Choate and Lexie Woodman of St. Joseph’s. Choate and Woodman defeated Columbia Rock Bridge’s Corinne Farid and Mary Hose in the match of the day Friday. Farid was the defending Class 2 singles champion.
Pembroke Hill’s Alisha Castaner won both of her matches Friday to advance to the Class 1 semifinals. Castaner had an impressive 6-3, 6-1 victory over Erin Jarvis of Springfield Catholic in the quarterfinals. Jarvis entered the match with a 28-1 record. Castaner will face Lily Walther, the No. 1 player from Class 1 team champion John Burroughs, in the semifinals.
Four St. Louis area teams will battle it out in Class 1 doubles.
All matches were played indoors Friday and the same may hold true Saturday with an ominous forecast. The semifinals are scheduled for 9 a.m. with the championship matches set for 1 p.m. in Springfield.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 7:14 PM.