Panther women’s tennis is halfway to another perfect conference season.
For the past two years Franklin has controlled the Mountain Seven, posting 12-0 records in the conference en route to trips to the State Semifinals. Having lost just one out of 45 matches in their first five conference contests this year, on Sept. 9 the team hosted West Henderson for their toughest test yet, improving to 6-0 in the conference with a 7-2 win.
Top Panthers Kate Phillips (#1) and Abigail Angel (#2) had their hands full Monday, both dropping narrow first sets 6-4 and 7-5, respectively. In the second set Phillips nearly forced a third-set tiebreak, but fell 7-5 along with Angel (6-2).
At #3 senior Maci Stork cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win, improving to a sterling 7-0 record this season. At #4 senior Caroline Deal won a hard-fought first set 7-5, then blanked her opponent 6-0 in the second to improve to 7-0 as well.
At #5 junior Clara Stork played the match of the day for Franklin, winning her first set 6-2 but dropping the second 6-4. Stork then won the third-set tiebreak convincingly 10-4, while junior Marlee Barnes claimed the #6 match 6-3, 6-4.
Having won four of six matches in singles, Franklin needed just one more win entering the doubles portion of the contest. There Phillips and Maci Stork doubled their opponents’ score at #1, winning eight games to four over West’s top two singles players. At #2 Angel and Deal cruised to a similar 8-3 win, while Barnes and Clara Stork completed the sweep 8-2 at #3. The doubles wins helped Franklin beat West 7-2 in the dual team contest, improving the Panthers to 6-1 overall.
Having played their first of two contests with each of their Mountain Seven rivals, Franklin turned their attention to the second half of their conference schedule. After playing just two contests in the first two weeks of September, Franklin planned to host East Henderson and Tuscola Sept. 16 and 18.