Republic pair wins Central Ozark Conference tennis doubles title

    Seniors Taylor Massey and Izzy Wells teamed up to win the doubles tennis championship at the Central Ozark Conference tournament in Springfield. Massey and Wells came from behind in both their final two matches. They fell behind 3-0 in the semifinal and clawed back to win in a tiebreaker. In the championship match, the deficit was even bigger. They were behind 7-2 before putting things together and earning the COC title.
    The team's season came to an end Monday, however, in a district loss to Springfield Central. Republic had split two previous meetings with Central earlier in the season, but that was before losing top player Jasmine Howard to an injury. Competing with players out of position throughout the lineup, Republic lost Monday's district matchup 5-0 — although the Lady Tigers led in all four remaining matches that were halted when Central clinched.
    First-year coach David Smashey said he will remember this team for its ability to bounce back through adversity.
    "I thought we were really resilient through the ups and downs. We had some really encouraging big moments. We beat a couple really good teams, and we were close to beating a couple even better teams," Smashey said. "And when we didn't, we didn't quit. We didn't quit playing and we continued through illness and injury."