CAPE CENTRAL'S BLATTNER, TANSIL REMAIN ALIVE

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central High School's doubles team of Trevor Blattner and Andy Tansil bounced back from a first-round loss to remain alive after Friday's opening rounds of Class 4A state boys tennis tournament.

Blattner and Tansil were defeated by Brad Martin and Ryan Reid of Kansas City Rockhurst 7-5, 6-0 in the opening round.

The Central duo then rebounded to win a pair of consolation matches, 6-4, 6-0 over Ben Johnson and Andy Twibell of Springfield Parkview and 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 over Kandarp Bhatt and Josh Riggs of Poplar Bluff.

Beating Bhatt and Riggs was no doubt especially sweet for Blattner and Tansil, whose only two losses this season had been to the Poplar Bluff pair.

"We got a bad draw in the first round. That team from Rockhurst will be the No. 1 team," said Central coach Bud Craven. "But Trevor and Andy bounced back. To beat the team that beat them twice during the season was sweet revenge.

"They just came out and really played solid tennis, and they played smart tennis. They're not hitting balls out and they're staying in their game."

Blattner and Tansil will play in today's consolation semifinals. They are assured of no worse than an eighth-place state finish and they can claim as high as fifth place with a pair of victories.

Meanwhile, in the Class 1A-3A competition, both of Sikeston's state entries were eliminated Friday.

Stephen Pobst won his first-round singles match but then suffered two straight defeats. The doubles team of Ryne Vickery and Peter Jones dropped both its matches.