LEXINGTON — North Laurel’s Eva Clark reached second round action of the 2023 KHSAA Girls’ State Tennis Tournament before falling to Greenwood’s Arden Dethridge, 6-0, 6-0.
Clark won her first round matchup against Corbin’s Kaiden Walden in a three-set thriller, 6-7, 6-1, and 1-0(10-3).
“Eva had to dig deep to advance in her match against Kaiden,” North Laurel coach Bobby Smith said. “Third time they’ve played this year, and it’s always a long, tedious match. I was proud of how she kept her composure after losing a close first set to play really well in the second set and superbreaker to advance.
“We had some early chances against Arden in the second round with several game points in three of the first four games,” he added. “We just weren’t able to capitalize on them. Then Arden picked up her game and controlled the match. But Eva fought hard to the end and that’s all I can ask for.”
In girls’ doubles action, Molly Hamm and Meg Brock fell to Assumption’s Abby McClellan and Addison Littlefield, 6-0, 6-9, in first round play.
North Laurel’s Jasper Jones and Derek Vaughn dropped their first round doubles match to Lafayette’s Zachary Thompson and Charlie Mooney, 6-0, 6-0.
“Jasper and Derek just ran into a buzzsaw against a really good Lafayette team,” Smith said. “Best team we’ve seen all year. Meg and Molly also ran into a seeded team right off the bat. Had some chances, but Assumption was too good.
“ Really proud of all five,” he added. “They’ve had great seasons capped off by advancing to state and representing North Laurel well.”
