Superior tennis sweeps Philipsburg in home dual

It’s a shame they don’t play tennis at many small Montana schools these days.

But then again, if you are a player on a team that isn’t named Superior Bobcats, it might be a good thing.

Such was the case this past week when the Bobcats, who have a really well-kept tennis court set-up, hosted the Lady Prospectors from Philipsburg in what was surprisingly Superior’s only home tennis match of the year.

Nonetheless, the match went very well for the Bobcats, who swept the days matches, allowing only one game point in one of the single’s matches, and one game point in the doubles match.

Oh, there was another match, a “Pro-set” where Superior’s Trina Azure recorded a quick, 8-1 win, but other than that, it was not a good day to be a Prospector.

The match got underway under mostly sunny skies on one of those days that hint Spring is just around the corner. And tennis is an excellent game to play and watch on a pleasant afternoon.

Superior’s sophomore standout Lanie Crabb, who is undefeated on the year, opened the match with a typical 6-0, 6-0 domination of her opponent, Lavinia Tenesch. Crabb was just too quick and had too much velocity on her serves and returns for Tenesch to keep up with.

Meanwhile, on the center court, Sicilia Slattendale was also busy dominating and out-running her opponent on the way to a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Maya Flores. Again, the Superior player was just too fast and had obviously learned well from head coach Angie Hopwood, who watched her team pick apart Philipsburg game by game.

The Bobcats won three other singles matches that went only one set, as Ireland Heinrich and Taylor Awbery both racked up 8-0 wins against their out-gunned opponents.

Superior completed the sweep when the Bobcat doubles team of Molia Dao and Brooke Bibler took down the Prospector duo of Marina Flores and Terese Buhr 6-1 and 6-0.

The Bobcats will next play in the state Divisional round in Bigfork this weekend.