Doherty earns first varsity medal at Pittsburg tourney

PITTSBURG -- First-year junior Brittney Doherty earned her first varsity medal in her second varsity tournament here Thursday.

Doherty finished third in No. 2 singles here, going 2-2.

"Brittney was a lot more confident than in her first outing," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "You could see it in her actions."

Doherty, 3-4 on the season at the varsity level, won her first match of the day, 8-5, over Erin Nelson of Columbus. She lost to Erin Farmer of Pittsburg, 8-1, and Nicole Stringer of Labette County, 8-0, before beating Preeya Patel, 8-6, in her final match of the day.

Jill Query played No. 1 singles but had to withdraw before she could play her final match because of pain in her back. She won her opening match, 8-0, over Bobbi Shanks of Columbus. She lost consecutive 8-3 decision to Janele Kranker of Pittsburg and Alahna Broadway of Labette County. Query, 6-9, was scheduled to play Amy Carr of Iola in her final match but had to give up an injury default.

"Jill played well at times," Barr said. "But she couldn't keep consistency because of she was uncomfortable. I think she rushed some points because she wanted to score quick and rest it."

Both doubles teams were 0-4 on the day. Danielle Miller and Molly Karleskint, 3-7, were in the No. 1 bracket. They lost 8-0 to Maddy Overman/Jordan Allen of Columbus, 8-5 to Sara Verga/Lindsey Collor of Pittsburg, 8-3 to Sierra Foster/Amanda Barrett of Labette County and 8-2 to Shawna Blakesley/Casey Tush of Iola.

Freshmen Taylor Bailey and Lauren Caulfield played their first varsity matches at No. 2 singles. They lost 8-0 to Malarie Mosler/Shayla Guinn of Columbus, 8-4 to Sammy Highfield/Chapri Stewart of Pittsburg, 8-2 to Kyla Smith/Arissa Utemark of Labette County and 8-2 to Kirti Ghandi/Erika Taylor of Iola, 8-2.

The Tigers travel to Nevada for a varsity/junior varsity dual at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, then host their varsity tournament at 3 p.m. Thursday.