Lady Mules honor senior duo

On a night when the seniors were celebrated, the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules tennis team continued to dominate with one of their best games of the season.

The Lady Mules put the finishing touches on a perfect senior night as they stormed past the Caruthersville Lady Tigers for a clean sweep 9-0, improving their regular season record to 8-2. The junior varsity won 5-1.

With the game being dedicated to the Lady Mules seniors, Ava Richardson and Rachel Hamann stepped onto the court together to compete in the doubles matchup. The Duo defeated Caruthersville’s Kevonna Gipson and Anna Warren 8-5 to get the doubles sweep for the Lady Mules.

“I was really excited for senior night,” Richardson said. “This was the first game where both seniors actually played together during doubles, so I was super excited to play.”

Richardson said their current success has a lot to do with having a strong core within their varsity squad. She said the encouragement from the entire team has kept them on their run, and it’s great to have a bond of teammates who can lift each other up.

Hamann, who started playing her junior year, said she instantly fell in love with the sport and the team the moment she stepped on the court. As the only two seniors on the team, Hamann felt it was important for them to be leaders for their final season.

“The seniors last year were really great, so we’re just trying to continue that and be leaders,” Hamann said. “I think one of the best changes we made coming into this season was playing a lot more aggressively instead of playing to not lose or playing to win. A big thing we’ve been saying a lot is to play aggressively at the net, not just be defensive about playing.”

After the Lady Mules got a 3-0 win in doubles, they would continue to outwork their opponents in the singles competitions.

Poplar Bluff’s Kaitlyn Booker, Hanna Kee, Katelyn Conover and Richardson got a clean sweep over their opponents 8-0, while Molly Maurer won 8-1 and Hamann 8-3.

The Lady Mules head tennis coach, Michelle Massey, said it was great seeing both seniors play together and was proud of how the team competed on senior night.

“Overall, it was a big win for the girls,” Massey said. “This is our stepping stone for the week, and we will build on our successes on the court as we continue throughout the season.”

The Lady Mules will hit the road on Tuesday to play Sikeston.