By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Savannah scored first place finishes in A and B singles, while Maryville won B doubles as the Savages and Spoofhounds dominated the Lafayette Tennis tournament at the Noyes Tennis Courts on Friday.
Savannah coach Wakefield Hare said his guys played with confidence and humility, but he felt like a few matches may not have gone as well as they would have liked.
"Those losses always teach them a lot more than just breezing through victories," Hare said. "So, if your goals are related to postseason and how great you can be, you want to take any chance to learn something to get better, and I thought they did that today. Even though they had a lot of success, there's a couple things where they say, 'Ah. We've got to be better.'"
Savannah (9-0) and Maryville (7-1) had the best team records coming in, and the two fill face each other in a dual at Maryville on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
In A singles, Savannah's Cole Horton took first, winning all five rounds, while the Savages' A doubles team of Andrew and brother Matthew Collier outlasted Maryville's Mitchell Meyers and Carson Kempf in the final round to take first.
"I think it went pretty well overall," Andrew said. "Our first match, we had to get warm. We gave up a couple of bad shots, but other than that, it went pretty well."
In B singles, Savannah senior Carter Abbott took first after winning a 7-3 tiebreaker over Maryville's James DiStefano.
"It was a really good day," Abbott said. "It started slow and my last match was a nail biter. It was a tiebreaker match, but in the end, I was able to pull through. All glory to God."
In B doubles, Maryville's Kason Teale and Jaxon Staples won a tight battle against Savannah's Connor Peek and Evan Heftye.
Bishop LeBlond, Benton and Atchison also took part in the meet. LeBlond's Mason Kovac finished third in A singles, while Benton's Camden Dye and Treyton Mull took third in A doubles.
In B singles, Benton's Ethan Duncan placed third, while Christian Shelton and Ethan Colwell placed third for the Cardinals in B doubles.
Savannah senior Kaden Kennedy filled Atchison's slot in the A singles matches.
We'll have more coverage of Savannah tennis on Monday.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.