Kyra Flint gets set to make the return in her singles match against her Corcoran opponent. Submitted photo.
The Lady Broncs tennis team battled, but came up short as they began their season at home.
Kern Valley entertained the Corcoran Lady Panthers on August 29. Both teams worked hard at gaining the advantage in the match, but it was Corcoran coming away with the 5-4 match victory. The head coach from each team decided to play the Pro-8 format in this match. The first player to score eight points wins the set and earns a team point for her team. This format speeds up the match in the interest of time.
In singles play, Kern Valley and the Lady Panthers split the six sets. The match score was sitting at 3-3 as they headed to doubles play. Corcoran was able to take two-of-three sets to claim the match and send the Lady Broncs to the loss in their opening match of the year.
Winning in singles competition for Kern Valley were Kyra Flint, Marissa Tate, and Elizabeth Davis. Flint took her set with an 8-4 win. Tate had to take it to the tiebreaker in order for her to gain the victory. The final score was 9-7 as Tate and her opponent went to a seven-point tiebreaker before a winner was decided. Davis claimed her singles victory by the score of 8-5. Falling short in singles play were the Lady Broncs Abby Phillips, Karsyn Liske, and Summer Santos. Phillips lost 2-8, while Liske fell 3-8. The final set score for Santos was 2-8.
Switching to doubles, the Lady Broncs team of Tate and Davis earned the hard fought 8-6 win to earn the last team point for Kern Valley. Flint and Phillips lost their set 4-8, while Taylor Beam and Kylie Griswold were beaten 0-8.
Head coach Sabine Mixon said, “I am so proud of these girls and saw growth on the court in all of the sets. In our team discussion following the match, we all agreed that we need more work at the net. We play Del Oro at home today beginning at 1 p.m. We hope to see you all come out and support us.”
They will play the following Tuesday when they Make the trip to Arvin as they continue their non-league portion of the schedule.
