5 things to watch at Missouri girls state tennis

Missouri girls state tennis tournament1 Notre Dame de Sion will be playing for its third consecutive Missouri Class 1 team state title this weekend, but the first step will be getting past a talented MICDS squad in the semifinals today. Sion coach Karen O’Neal is pleased with her team’s chemistry — she said the underclassmen desperately want to help the seniors win another title — but O’Neal added that the Storm’s fate will likely be decided by its doubles play. The first three matches today will be in doubles, and Sion would like nothing more than to get off to a solid start.

2 St. Teresa’s joins Sion as the only other local team that still has an opportunity to win a team state title — the Stars face Ladue Horton Watkins in the Class 2 semifinals today. St. Teresa’s doesn’t have a marquee player, but it does have lots of depth. The Stars should also enter state with plenty of confidence, considering they are coming off a thrilling 5-4 victory against Park Hill in the quarterfinals, which they won on the last match of the day.

3 For the second year in a row, Amy Barnthouse of Notre Dame de Sion enters the Class 1 singles tournament with plenty of momentum. Barnthouse won her district and didn’t lose a game, a feat she accomplished last season. However, she’ll be trying to avoid what happened to her at last year’s state tournament, when she lost to Sydney Lehman of John Burroughs — the eventual state runner up — in the first round and wound up finishing fifth. Lehman is back this year, and Barnthouse won’t find out her first-round opponent until this weekend, but it’s safe to say she’ll have plenty of motivation to win her first match.

4 The state brackets haven’t been released yet, but there’s a chance two of the area’s best doubles teams in Class 1 could meet again at some point this weekend. Emily Bird and Bridget O’Connor of Sion topped Elena McCallister and Courtney McCray of Pembroke Hill in three sets in districts, but each team has two victories in the season series. Both have the potential to do well this weekend.

5 Misia Kedzierski of St. Joseph’s Academy is back to defend her Class 2 state title, but someone has to challenge her. Suzanne Barth of Park Hill won her district and has put together a good season, so it’s conceivable she could have a good tournament. It’s not like she doesn’t have experience — she won a state championship in doubles last year with former teammate Merritt Whitley. Emelia Andres from Lee’s Summit West is the only other district champion from the metro area in Class 2.

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