Superior tennis downs Mission

It’s often referred to as Karma.

A long held belief that fate and unknown forces are kind to those who do acts of civility and kindness.

Friday afternoon, with potentially chaotic storm clouds surrounding the town of Superior, the snow that was falling to the west in St. Regis and the east toward Missoula, held off.

In fact, the Lady Bobcats tennis team was able to get in a match versus visiting Mission.

The match ended with the spotlight of sunshine that lit up the Superior outdoor courts finally giving way to an early Spring Montana snow event.

The Karma?

Mission arrived with a team featuring only three players, not enough to qualify for any kind of team competition against Superior, in numbers and quality.

But in an age of gender disputes, two young men took to the court for a match against the number one Superior doubles team of Brooke Bibler and Maddy Drey.

And the reason behind such a match up made good sense.

“They don’t have enough players to play against our top doubles team,” Superior coach Angie Hopwood said prior to the beginning of the event and the threatening skies all around. “Rather than our girls not getting some playing time against tough competition, we thought they could play Mission’s number one boys’ doubles team, in a match that did not count any way. They could each have a good tennis match rather than not play at all”.

Mission (no pun intended) accomplished. No gender disputes emerged and no arguments erupted.

In the end, the match was a two-hour fight to the finish, with the Mission tandem eventually coming out on top via a third set tie-breaker. Bibler and Drey held their own throughout the grueling match.

“They (Bibler/Drey) lost but it was a fantastic match,” said Hopwood.

And overall, it was a win for Superior, the only high school in either Mineral or Sanders Counties to have a tennis team.

Superior officially won the match 3-1, which included a sweep of the singles competitions by the Lady Bobcats, led by number one singles player Lani Crabb, who dispatched of Mission’s Lanie Keast 6-1, 6-3.

The Cats also got wins from Trina Azure, who bested Natalie Herber 6-1, 6-3, and Ireland Heinrich, who took down Kariah Thomas 6-4, 6-3.

Mission’s doubles team of Emily Morigea and Evelyn Ferencz pulled out a tough 6-2, 6-4 win over Superior’s number two doubles team of Taylor Awbery and Olivia Greuter for the Lady Bulldogs only win.

“It was good to get in a match,” said Hopwood, who’s team has experienced some early season postponements due to weather. “The girls are all working hard and I think we will get better as the year goes by”.

Superior’s next scheduled match is this Saturday in Superior against Darby.