Morgan City girls tennis team is regional runner-up

The Morgan City High School girls tennis team finished as regional runner-up at the Region II 4A Regional Tennis Tournament earlier this week at Renaissance Family Fitness in Houma.
In the process, the Lady Tigers qualified two girls’ doubles teams and one singles’ competitor for the state tennis tournament, which will be held in Monroe April 30-May 1.
Morgan City qualified the doubles’ teams of Bailee Hoggatt and Krystina Pitre, and Niki Pennison and Jamie Scioneaux, as well as Harleigh Price in singles’ action.
“We are very excited for our accomplishments in the regional tournament and this year,” Morgan City tennis coach Kelly Aucoin said. “I am very proud and excited for my whole tennis team. This team (has) come a long way from the beginning of the season. I have learned from this team, and they learned from each other. For this team being the first tennis team I ever coached, these young players are very determined and motivated to do what they put their hearts to.”
In girls’ doubles action, Pitre and Hoggatt drew a first-round bye and won 6-0, 6-0 in their first match against a doubles’ team from South Lafourche, which qualified them for state tournament competition.
They continued their success in the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against a team from Vandebilt Catholic before winning 7-6-4 and 6-2 in the semifinals against a duo from Lutcher.
Pitre-Hoggatt dropped the first set 6-2 before bouncing back with a 6-1 win in the second set.
While Morgan City took a 3-1 lead in the third set, Vandebilt Catholic came back and eventually took the set and match.
Nicole Ring and Jamie Scioneaux also drew a first-round bye, before playing a team from Ben Franklin in a match that lasted nearly three hours, Aucoin said.
Morgan City came from behind 3-0 in the first set of the match for a 6-3 win.
In the second set, Ring and Scioneaux lost a tie breaker 7-6 before winning the third set of the match 6-4, rallying from a deficit for victory.
With the win, Ring and Scioneaux also qualified for the state tournament.
After a 45-minute break from their previous match, Ring and Scioneaux won their next match against a team from South Terrebonne, 6-4, 6-3. Ring and Scioneaux came from behind in both sets.
In the semifinals, Ring and Scioneaux fell 6-3, 6-3 to a duo from Vandebilt Catholic.
In singles’, Price won her first match 6-0, 6-0 against a competitor from Vandebilt Catholic and in the process, qualified for the state tournament.
In the quarterfinals, she again was victorious 6-0, 6-0 against an opponent from South Lafourche.
In the semifinals, she fell 6-3, 6-3 to a competitor from Assumption, although Morgan City coach Kelly Jo Aucoin noted that Price had faced her semifinal opponent earlier in the season and showed a lot of improvement in Tuesday’s matchup.
In other singles action, Morgan City’s Faith Crappell fell 6-2, 6-1 to an opponent from Lutcher.
In boys’ singles, Andre Steckler fell 6-1, 6-1 while Johnny Ha fell 6-1, 6-1, both to different opponents from South Terrebonne.
In other girls’ doubles’ action, Caylee Deshotel and Emily LaCoste won their first-round matchup 6-1, 6-1 against a doubles team from Ellender before falling in the second round, 6-0, 6-0, to a duo from Assumption.
In boys’ doubles action, Omar Ledezma and Luke Matherne made it to the second round of the tournament after knocking off their first-round opponents from South Terrebonne, 6-2, 6-3.
In the second round, they fell to a duo from Ben Franklin, 6-0, 6-0.
Also, Mason Rutledge and Zachary Ingram fell in the first round to a team from South Terrebonne, 6-0, 6-2.