FHS women’s tennis is gearing up for its conference tournament.
In a final week of regular season matches against Smoky Mountain Oct. 4 and first-place West Henderson Oct. 9, the Panthers had one more chance to steal a match from West and move to first in the standings ahead of the Mountain 7 Conference tournament Oct. 14. Although they blanked Smoky Mountain nine matches to none, they fell narrowly to West Henderson for just their second loss of the season.
On Monday, Oct. 4, the team travelled to Smoky Mountain for a rematch of Franklin’s eight-matches-to-one victory in Franklin. Junior ‘Ones’ player Alyssa Smith won her match in a blowout ten games to zero, while freshman Maci Stork and sophomore Laura Holland both blanked their opponents 10-0. Senior ‘Twos” player Carmen Sgro played the closest match of the day, earning a victory in a narrow 12-10 tiebreak.
After making quick work of the Mustangs, the Panthers prepared for West Henderson and their perfect 10-0 M7C record. Franklin gave the Falcons all they could handle, coming up just short at four matches to West’s five. Freshmen Kate Phillips and Maci Stork earned big wins in the ‘Threes’ and ‘Fives’ matches, dispatching their opponents 10-5 and 10-2, respectively. On the doubles’ side, Alyssa Smith and Laura Holland earned an 8-3 victory in ‘Two’ doubles, while Stork and sophomore Logan Guynn followed Smith and Holland with an 8-5 win in ‘Threes.’
The match result was a repeat of West’s 5-4 victory in Hendersonville Sept. 13, with Franklin and Pisgah the only M7 teams who have come within a match of the Falcons this season. All seven of the conference’s teams will decide final bragging rights at the Mountain 7 Conference Tournament Oct. 14.