Lady Hounds get to quarterfinals at tennis regionals

FAIRFIELD – The Fort Madison Lady Hounds made a nice showing at the Class 1A regionals Wednesday at Fairfield Middle School.
Athena Snook advanced to the quarterfinals with an opening round win in singles, downing Mt. Pleasant’s Katana Phangthanchong 7-5 6-1 before dropping a 6-0, 6-0 match to Fairfield’s Natalie Steele. Steele would go on to the finals where she lost to Poojita Mukadam in two sets.
In doubles action, the Lady Hounds fielded two teams.
Lucille Zimmerman and Sydney McEntee also got to the quarterfinals in a tough fought tiebreaker against Mt. Pleasant’s Lila Cook and Bella Dodds. Cook and Dodds ran away with the first set 3-6, but then the Hounds came back with a 6-2 win in the second set to force a tiebreaker. That match went extra points with Fort Madison getting the win at 10-8.
The win moved them into the quarters against Knoxville’s Bridgette Liston and Jordyn Counts. The Knoxville duo knocked out Fort Madison’s squad in straight sets at love. Liston and Counts would also go on to the finals in doubles action before falling to Fairfield in an exciting 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 three-set tiebreaker.

Savanna Sissel and Mady Emmett also participated in doubles action and found themselves against Fairfield’s Sriya Yammanur and Ria Ross. The Trojans would hand the Bloodhounds a two-set loss at love before winning the whole bracket.
“The girls did great. There were some last-minute changes to our lineup, but we did our best to make it work. The ladies adapted to those changes well,” said Head Coach MaShelle Knipe.
“Heat was definitely a factor for all the teams. Lucille Zimmerman and Sydney McEntee are an incredible team. They went through their regular matches and then went into a tiebreaker.”
Knipe said the girls are learning to work through tough spots in matches and that’s a focus for the team. This has been a point of growth for the girls.
“I've made a point throughout the season to let the ladies know that they can learn a lot in a sport that can help them branch into other parts of their lives,” Knipe said.
“I am seeing that more and more as the season goes on and I am incredibly honored to be able to encourage them to keep growing as not just players, but people. “