Sikeston netters sweep Dexter; Charleston wins

SIKESTON - The Sikeston tennis team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 9-0 shutout of Dexter on Thursday afternoon at Sikeston High School.

The Bulldogs had some tight matches but were able to hold on in all of them.

"I don't think the score's indicative of the closeness of the matches," said Sikeston coach Brian James.

"I think Dexter's got a good team. We had good competition all day. We just got most of the breaks in the matches and we were fortunate to win them all."

In singles, Peter Jones beat Jake Smith 8-2; Chris Robey beat Derek Roberts 8-2; Marc Leible beat James Ford 8-3; Kyle Weeks beat Ben Smith 8-4; Sam Zhao beat Gabe Smith 8-5; and Logan Wagoner beat Scott Admire 9-7.

"I really thought our top four played exceptionally well in singles," said James. "I think Sam and Logan held on in their matches and that was good to see."

In doubles, Jones and Robey beat B. Smith and Ford 8-5; Leible and Weeks beat Roberts and J. Smith 8-5; and Zhao and Wagoner beat G. Smith and Admire 8-6.

"In doubles, we've got to learn to finish off matches a little better," said James.

"A couple of those ended up pretty close when it seemed we had the match in hand. Overall it was a good day."

Sikeston will have a week off before hosting Poplar Bluff on April 13.

KENNETT - The Charleston tennis team won their season opener with Kennett on the road, 8-1.

The Bluejays swept through doubles and only lost one singles match, with Jake Garrard falling to Tyler Carter 8-5.

Charleston's singles winners were Alec Peterson over Frank Carter 8-1; Derek Hoppe over Brandon Burcham 8-4; Blake Branum over Steven Rooney 8-3; Lee Hess over Matt Collins 8-1; and Drew Kemp over Dustin Harris 8-6.

In doubles, Peterson/Hoppe beat Carter/Burcham 8-0; Branum/Hess beat Rooney/Tyler Carter 8-1; and Garrard/Kemp beat Collins/Harris 8-3.

Charleston's Josh Moxley and Steven Johnson won their junior varsity doubles match.

The Bluejays will host Lone Oak, Ky., on Monday at 4 p.m.