The following is a brief of the story. For the full version, see the Wednesday, Aug. 27 print edition of the BDN.

With a large turnout last night at the high school tennis courts for the conference opener against the Moberly Spartans, Boonville head tennis coach Stephanie Carey had hopes that that would translate into victories for the Lady Pirates tennis team.

But after dropping four of six matches in singles, the Lady Pirates came back and won only two of six matches in doubles to lose the match by a score of 8-4.

While the loss dropped Boonville to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the NCMC, Carey said the large turnout for the girls set the tone for some intense matches and that was a testament to the Pirate spirit.

“We didn’t show all we wanted to in this conference match,” Carey said. “We did make improvements and this match highlighted areas we need to work on like serving, endurance in a 10-game match, more footwork and our doubles play. It certainly wasn’t the outcome the girls wanted, but it did help them better understand how the conference works.

“We are still toying a bit with our doubles line-up but I like what we saw beginning between our teams. Probably watching Katerina Twenter and Paige Davis play doubles was one of the most exciting matches of the night. They moved well together and had good chemistry on the court. With some work they can become a very good doubles team. Our younger girls in the 4, 5 and 6 doubles spots are stepping up and looking more confident, too. In singles Emily Shipman stood out-not just because of her win but because of the level at which she played. Moving the ball all over and trying a varsity of techniques and strategies, she was able to adapt throughout the match. Katerina Twenter looks stronger each day and is playing at a higher level. She had a lot of confidence and ball movement and really controlled the court throughout the match. Adair, Leathers and Voss all adapted in their matches and put out intense effort, but we need to help them to adapt and take control of the court earlier.”