Republic soccer shakes off skid with two wins/ Tennis Tigers split COC matches

Soccer
Republic soccer ended a six-game losing streak with impressive back-to-back wins against Webb City and Harrison, Ark.
At home Thursday, Republic's offense went wild with eight goals in just 60 minutes for an 8-0 win over Webb City. Kendra Phiri scored two goals in the first 19 minutes. Molly Blades and Cadence Lugar each scored in the first half, also, to give Republic a 4-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Lugar scored a second goal. Cameron Burton, Paige Elsenraat and Samantha Jaquess followed that up with one goal each. When Jaquess scored with 20:50 remaining, that made the score 8-0 and ended the game early.
Saturday at Kickapoo, Republic again got goals from Kendra Phiri and Cameron Burton in a 2-0 win over Harrison. It was the second consecutive shutout for the Lady Tigers.
"They're finding their groove," said coach Jesus Zuniga. "Our highlight of the season can't be in the middle of the season. (This is) just the beginning."
Republic improved to 4-7.

Tennis
Republic's tennis team split two Central Ozark Conference matches at home, sweeping Joplin before losing to Carthage, 6-3.
In the Joplin matchup, Austin Hardcastle earned his first career varsity win as he teamed with Garrett Carpenter for an 8-3 win. Carpenter won the closest singles match of the night, coming from behind to win 8-6 to secure the perfect finish for Republic.
Republic suffered its first COC loss of the season against Carthage. Two losses in the three doubles matches put Republic in a hole it couldn't climb out of. Caleb Long and Cooper Choate earned the only doubles win of the night. Gavin Collyott and Caleb Long each won their singles match.
"I thought Caleb Long played great start to finish in both singles and doubles," said coach David Smashey. "It's great to see a player like him to continue to develop. A year ago, he was kind of shocked and impressed when he hit a good shot. Now it's just expected and who he is...as a player."