Lady Tigers claim district tennis crown

Friday, September 30, 2016
Nevada junior Emma Cheaney runs down a serve during her No. 1 singles match with Warrensburg's Hally Pointek, Wednesday afternoon at Nevada High School. (Photo by Matt Resnick/Daily Mail)
Nevada High School senior Jaiden Cherry is all smiles after her singles match helped the Lady Tigers secure the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 1 District 12 tennis crown, on a cool Wednesday evening at the NHS tennis courts. (Photo by Matt Resnick/Daily Mail)

An intense evening of tennis on the Nevada High School courts Wednesday culminated with the top-seeded Lady Tigers knocking off Warrensburg 5-4 to capture the Class 1 District 12 tennis crown.

"We've played for the district championship before," said NHS head coach Samantha Short, who took the coaching reins of the Lady Tiger tennis program in 2008. "We have a couple second place plaques from losses against Warrensburg.

"Warrensburg has always been our nemesis. So it was nice to get a little redemption."

Nevada (13-1) won two of its three doubles matches, but then fell behind 4-3 as No. 2 seed Warrensburg took three of the first four singles matches. Coming to Nevada's rescue was its No. 3 and No. 4 singles players, Jaiden Cherry and Sydnie Baker.

With the Cherry and Baker matches playing out simultaneously in a do-or-die situation, the drama was amped up another level.

Cherry eventually won her match with Hannah Shaffer in a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) tiebreak, leaving just Baker and Shelby Davis to duke it out with a championship on the line.

Baker was sharp in the first set as she cruised to a 6-3 win. The second set was a different story, with Davis dominating 6-0. The third set was much tighter, as Baker was able to grab a 5-4 lead.

With the weather cool and a championship hanging in the balance, Davis was unable to clear the net in her attempt to return Baker's match-point serve, sending Nevada's loyal tennis fans into a jubilant celebration, as Baker's Lady Tiger teammates rushed onto the court and mobbed her.

Short said the strength of her team lies with its ability to consistently win doubles matches.

"Jaiden Cherry and Sydnie Baker (NHS No. 2 doubles duo) are kind of the backbone of our team," Short said. "We just usually don't lose with them on the court."

In their district title doubles match, Cherry and Baker defeated Hope Dohlhoff and Davis 8-6.

"It's nice to have that consistency at our two, three, and four spots," Short noted.

"Jaiden always keeps the ball in the play," Short said, "and she can run anything down."

The MSHSAA Class 1 District 12 champion Lady Tiger tennis team, from left: NHS head coach Samantha Short, Jaiden Cherry, Courtney Smith, Sydnie Baker, Mikena Padgett, Emma Cheaney, Erika Watanabe, and assistant coach Ron Del Rosario. (Photo by Matt Resnick/Daily Mail)

Also coming through in her singles match, was Erika Watanabe, who dealt Dohlhoff a 7-5, 6-4 defeat.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: