The Boonville Pirates tennis team closed out its 2008 season over the weekend by competing in the Class 1 District 4 Tournament at Hannibal.

Although the Pirates know their fate while finishing with 6.5 points, head coach Stephanie Carey said the tournament was postponed until today to decide the top-four finishers in the tournament.

“Our losses were disappointing,” Carey said. “But even more disappointing was our lack of commitment. There’s no reason we should not have had a No. 2 doubles team. Because of a calf injury, we knew Nick Chapman couldn’t play, but still, no other player out of the remaining 10 stepped up to fill in. Andrew Davis missing Saturday hurt, too. He would have earned us some team points, but Elias Tsapelas, stepping into that spot did an excellent job against a tough MMA player. He played smart and forced a lot of errors, but  the MMA kid was just too consistent and moved too well. Grant Myers really beat himself with his errors, but did a better job of controlling his temper and staying focused. Austin Cauthon and Holden Smith knew they were going to have a tough match against the Fulton team because they are a good team, but they gave 100 percent and stayed positive.”

See Monday's Boonville Daily News for the rest of the story.