The Mexico girls got more than warmed up on Friday.

In the first girls duals tournament that the Lady Bulldogs hosted on their new courts and at Fairgrounds Park, they finished fifth out of eight schools participating in the hot temperatures. Mexico won half of its duals, defeating Knob Noster 3-2 and Fulton 4-1 but losing to Richmond 3-2 and St. Charles 5-0. 

The format included three singles and two doubles matches per dual and two pools with four schools each. Mexico hosted St. Charles, St. Charles West, Richmond, Potosi, Knob Noster, Fulton and Battle.

“It was really hot, so it was a test physically and mentally, but we had a good day and finished in fifth place out of eight teams,” head coach Kim Costley said. “We had three girls who had never played a match before and were playing at the varsity level, so we learned a lot and gained valuable experience.”

Mei Zou won her first match 6-1 against Richmond, Abbey Christianson got her first win 7-6 (7-5) against Knob Noster, and Erika Pech Cordova and Chelsea Gifford won their varsity and tennis debut 7-6 (7-2) in a double match against Richmond. Costley was proud that all of the girls had at least one win.

Cordova and Gifford also won against Knob Noster 6-4, and Tesla Ingram and Layla Gardner won the other doubles match against Knob Noster 7-5. Christianson and Zou won singles matches against Fulton 7-5 and 6-4, respectively, and Jackie Lucas won 6-4 against Fulton.