By Sam Kombrink
Barstow took down Ladue High School 5-4 in the final round to capture the Class 2 State Championship, it’s third under Hall of Fame head coach Tom O’Brien. In the semifinal, Barstow escaped MICDS 5-3 and Springfield Catholic 5-0 in the first round.
Senior Sonya Shkuta returns to lead the Knights as the team captain and No. 1 player.
“Sonya is an exchange student from Kiev, Ukraine whose steely nerve to comeback and in the match tie-breaker down 5-9, she saved our chance at the team title,” said Knights head coach
Tom O’Brien, who has been coaching tennis since 1976, and at Barstow since 2007. “Sonya only arrived back from Ukraine after multiple days on the road and in the air from Kiev. Tough kid.”
Two sisters, Atra Biria and freshman Rose Biiria also went on to sweep the Class 2 Doubles title, winning 6-0, 6-1 in the state finals against the unbeaten Ladue Horton Watkins doubles team.
Other returners to the defending state champion tennis team are, No. 2 player sophomore Anya Stanojevic, No. 3 junior Duha Azaz, and junior Emilia Prier.
“Anya is a solid doubles and singles player who teamed with partner Atra Biria to beat Ladue last season,” O’Brien said. “Duha Azaz had two key doubles wins in districts to help the team to Springfield, and Emilia Prier who partnered with Rose Biria to win doubles matches in the state semis and the finals.”
Newcomers are; junior Mira Gupta and freshman Mara Hughes who look to fill out the lineup as the No. 5 and 6 players.
According to O’Brien, Barstow moved up a class due to recent success.
“Barstow is a class 1 size school by enrollment, but the reason we were in the higher and much, much tougher class is the system or penalty point the state assigns private schools with success in state tourney play,” O’Brien said. “Recent successful years moved us to the next class up.
This state title moved Barstow girls (same has happened with the boys) to the highest class tennis provides, class 3, (because most sports have six classes, class 2 in tennis is equivalent to class 3-4 in all other sports by size, and class 3 is equivalent to class 5 and 6 in enrollment).
“With an enrollment of 166 we will be the smallest school in Missouri history to ever play in an enrollment class of that size.”