10TH REGION TENNIS TOURNAMENT

ALEXANDRIA – Friday’s 10th Region tennis tournament began with a 45-minute rain delay.

For Mason County’s Bailey Boone and Emily Wood, playing until nearly 9:15 p.m. was worth the wait. They advanced to Saturday’s third round at Campbell County by eliminating Bracken County’s Chloe Jarrell and Serenity Owens, 6-1, 6-4.

Boone and Wood, the fourth seeds, advanced to the third round for the second straight year. Boone didn’t mind hanging around for nearly 12 hours.

“I’ve been here since 9 a.m.,” Boone said. “It’s been a long day, so getting a win feels nice.”

Wood was happy with her serve.

“I like my flat serve,” she said. “The more pace I put on it, the easier for me to make it. It’s a lot easier for me to locate in the service box, but I do need to work on getting my toss in the correct spot so I can make it more often.”

Jarrell’s post-match analysis was as clearly expressed – and funnier – as anything Chris Evert, Mary Jo Fernandez or Mary Carillo will offer at the French Open on ESPN.

“It was frustrating,” Jarrell said. “Balls weren’t going over, and their balls were. Our balls kept going over the second set, but it didn’t matter because theirs were, too.”

Augusta’s Brayden Appleman and John Paul Cordle were supposed to play their second-round match Friday afternoon. Graduation ceremonies (Cordle is a senior) preempted that, which means they’ll take on Harrison County’s Jordan Pearson and Jeremiah Peveler at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Appleman said he and Cordle complement each other.

“(Cordle’s) more a back player, I’m good at the net,” Appleman said. “We both have decent serves… We got a good draw, we played good.”

It could be a busy weekend for Appleman and Cordle – both throw the discus and shot on the Panthers’ track team scheduled to compete in the Class A Region 5 meet at 3 p.m. Sunday at Trimble County in Bedford.

Appleman would like to go to Georgetown College for track. He said there’s not really a transferrable skill between throws and tennis.

“Just a lot of shoulder pain,” he said.

Augusta coach Tony Ruf said both the boys and girls teams exceeded expectations.

“We ended up having four girls and four boys come out, so we were able to set it up nicely, getting to play doubles and singles.”

Lady Panther sisters Laci and Reagan Tackett won their first-round match over Calvary Christian’s Parker Cox and Meredith Gilbert, 6-0, 6-0. They meet Jenna Easterwood and Megan Allen of Montgomery County at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Both Tacketts played singles last year; Reagan reached the second round.

“They like playing together, they play well together,” Ruf said. “They wanted to give doubles a try for regionals … they wanted to try to play together and get a chance to see how far they can move.”

If anyone deserved a celebratory hug, it was Mason County junior Claire McGuire.

McGuire fell in the second round to Campbell County’s Rylee Ritter, 6-0, 6-0. That wasn’t the story because of her first-round win over Scott’s Teagen Pattinson – 6-2, 3-6 and a marathon 22-20 in the third-set 10-point tiebreaker.

“I’ve been in three tiebreaks this year,” McGuire said. “None that long.”

Royals coach Clay Boone added: “That was one of the greatest high school first-round matches … the longest match I’ve ever been part of in third set.

What Boone loved: McGuire sending deep volleys, usually to Pattinson’s backhand most of the tiebreaker.

“We came in and executed against Scott High there,” Boone said.

There was a scary moment: An ambulance was called for St Patrick’s Kahdyn Kimball, in the second set of a doubles match with her partner Amanda Gilbert due to an unknown medical issue.

Kimball did not go to the hospital.

“She’s fine,” Saints coach Bettsy Kalb said. “She went home.”

Second-round matches that could not be completed Friday will begin at 9 a.m., Saturday. Third-round matches begin at 10 a.m.

For complete results, visit app.universaltennis.com.