The Carson High girls tennis team warmed up for the Northern 4A playoffs with a strong showing in an 11-7 loss to Manogue on Thursday at the CHS courts.
Carson (4-6, 4-4) is in the playoffs as the Sierra League's No. 4 seed based on Wooster beating Damonte Ranch on Thursday as expected. If Wooster beat Damonte, the Senators would receive the No. 4 seed in all the tiebreaker scenarios and would play at Galena in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.
The Senators showed how far they've come this year, playing Manogue on even terms. Carson trailed Manogue 4-2 after the first round, but could have easily been ahead 4-2 if it had pulled out two close matches. Tiffany Moore lost 6-7 in a tiebreaker in singles and Hannah Shaw and Alyssa Corda lost 5-7 in doubles.
Elise Hansen and Hannah Dudley, who swept their three matches, won 6-4 and Jena Greenburg and Joanna Xie won 6-4. In the second round, Moore won 6-1 in singles and Dudley and Hansen won 6-4 and Shaw and Corda won 6-3 leaving Carson down 7-5. Shaw and Corda won 6-2 and Dudley and Hansen won 6-2 in the final round.
"I'm so pround of all of them," Carson coach Linda Hixenbaugh said. "To make it into the fourth position is a great accomplishment for them."
MANOGUE 12, CHS BOYS 6
In what amounted to an exhibition match, Carson (7-3) rested its top players in the loss at Manogue. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday at Manogue in the first round of the playoffs.
In singles, Gordon Lee split his two matches, winning 6-2, Adam Whitt won 6-2, 6-2 and Matt McDaniel won 6-2. In doubles, Tyler and Alex Wing won 6-1, 6-2. Tom Dudley and Jordan Miller also played well in a 4-6 loss, Tyler Simms and Tyler Smith played well in close 3-6, 4-6 losses and Ian Gentner played well in close 3-6, 5-6 losses.