LONDON — Bob Smith’s North Laurel boys’ tennis teams have been busy on the hard courts with matches against Clay county and Barbourville.
The girls’ team dropped a 6-3 decision to Clay County, but bounced back with a 9-0 win over Barbourville.
The boys’ team picked up two wins, defeating Clay County, 8-1, while rolling past Barbourville, 9-0.
In the girls’ match against Clay County, Kaylee Moore (8-4), and Kendal Ward (8-1) won in singles action while the doubles team of Taylor Vaughn and Alyssa Lowe won, 8-4.
“Clay is strong at the top of the lineup, and we were stronger at the bottom of the lineup with Kaylee, Brooke, and Alyssa/Taylor getting us on the board,” Smith said. “The difference was Clay was just a little better in the middle of the lineup matches.”
The boys’ team cruised five singles victories with Jackson Gilbert (6-0), Austin Van (9-8), Gavin Martin (8-1), Tucker Hamilton (8-0), and Ethan Carter (8-3) each winning.
In doubles play, the teams of Finn McArdle/Gilbert (6-3, 6-4), Joe Clay Durham/Carter (2-6, 6-2, 1-0), and Elza/Van (8-3) each won.
“This was a good result for the boys, again winning a few close matches in route to the team win over a good Clay team,” Smith said. “Austin in singles along with Joe Clay/Ethan in doubles got us crucial tiebreaker wins while Jackson/Finn won against a strong team in Coots/Finley.”
In the girls’ match against Barbourville, North Laurel won all six singles matches — Adelyn Maxey (8-1), Natalie Robinson (8-1), Sofia Begley (8-3), Alyssa Lowe (8-0), Kaylee Moore (8-0), and Brooke Hubbard (8-0).The Lady Jaguars won all three doubles matches as well — Robinson/Moore (6-3, 6-0), Lexi Hildebrand/Begley (8-0), and Taylor Vaughn/Lowe (8-0).“
The girls played solid in getting us our first team win,” Smith said. “All our girls except Adelyn are playing in the regular lineup for the first time. So we may take some lumps early on in the season, but tonight was a good match for the girls to gain some confidence and keep getting better.”
The boys’ team dominated in singles and doubles action as well.
The Jaguars cruised to six singles wins — Carson Elza (6-0, 6-0), Gavin Martin (8-2), Tucker Hamilton (8-0), Ethan Carter (8-0), Finn McArdle (8-0), and Trenton Bray (8-1).
In doubles play, North Laurel won all three matches — Elza/McArdle (8-2), Joe Clay Durham/Carter (8-0), and Martin/Hamilton (8-0).
“Barbourville is rebuilding this year after losing several key players, and we were able to win comfortably,” Smith said.
