Cape Central clips Sikeston

~TENNIS: Cape Central 5, Sikeston 4

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs tennis team dropped a close match to Cape Central 5-4 at home Thursday afternoon.

"It was a good, tight match," said Sikeston coach Brian James. "We lost three or four really close matches. We had our chances, we just couldn't pull them out."

Sikeston split the singles matches with Cape Central with Sam Zhao, Charlie Jones and Justin Deere all getting wins. Clayton Matthews and Stuart Strom both lost their matches in tie-breakers.

The doubles team of Zhao and Matthews were the only winners in doubles for Sikeston.

Sikeston's Charlie Jones returns the ball in doubles action against Cape Central Thursday afternoon at the SHS courts. Jones won his singles match 10-2.

Sikeston's Charlie Jones returns the ball in doubles action against Cape Central Thursday afternoon at the SHS courts. Jones won his singles match 10-2.

James said he hopes his team will learn from the close matches. "Matches like this test your mental toughness," James said. "Hopefully we can use these experiences and get tougher for districts."

Sikeston is now 8-2 and will host the Sikeston Invitational Tournament on Saturday. Parkway West, Eureka and Cape Central are all expected to participate.

Varsity Singles:

1. Sam Zhao (S) def. David Berry, 10-6 2. Clay Matthews (S) lost to Patrick Duffy, 10-11 (2-7) 3. Logan Hampton (S) lost to Robert Weir, 6-10 4. Charlie Jones (S) def. Will LaFoe, 10-2 5. Justin Deere (S) def. Brandon Gonzales, 10-7 6. Stuart Strom (S) lost to Josh Hubbard, 10-11 (4-7)

Varsity Doubles:

Zhao/Matthews (S) def. Berry/Duffy, 10-6 Hampton/Jones (S) lost to Weir/LaFoe, 9-11 Deere/Strom (S) lost to Gonzales/Hubbard, 6-10

JV winners:

Blaze Schrieber/Andrew Wallace in doubles