West Newsmagazine 11-1-23

FACEBOOK.COM/WESTNEWSMAGAZINE
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
By WARREN MAYES
Parkway North seniors Yvonne Shannon
and Emily Koo scored an ace for the
Vikings tennis program.
The duo won the Class 2 doubles championship
in the Missouri individual state
tournament that was played at Cooper
Tennis Complex in Springfield. They
scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Villa Duchesne
sisters Alex and Katie Todorovich.
“I didn’t know we were the first team to
win a state tennis title until we won, but
knowing this fact made the victory feel so
much better,” Koo said. “It makes me feel
like I have a legacy that I’ve left for the
tennis team and it makes me happy that
Yvonne and I could end our final season so
amazingly.”
Shannon agreed.
“I’m glad we could leave a mark at
North,” she said. “Hopefully this will bring
more attention to North and encourage
other students to play tennis. Everyone
was really excited and proud of us.”
That includes Vikings coach Ron Lefcourt.
“Both myself and my assistant coach,
Isaac Pearlstone, were ecstatic,” Lecourt
said.
Shannon reached state in singles as a
sophomore and junior after she moved
to West County from Georgia, where she
went to school as a freshman. She picked
up medals in singles in both years, came in
seventh as a sophomore and finished fourth
as a junior.
The girls have been playing together for
three years with a record of 65-6.
During the regular season, they went
27-3 in doubles. In singles, Shannon went
November 1, 2023
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
12-2 and Koo finished 11-1.
“I happen to enjoy doubles more than I
do singles and I also was tired of being the
only one to go to state,” Shannon said. “I
knew immediately after the second year
of playing singles at state that I wanted
to play doubles and to share my win with
Emy. She’s not only a great doubles partner
but also one of my greatest friends.”
While Koo said she loves playing doubles
with Shannon, singles has always
been her favorite game.
Shannon was confident about their ability
to win a state championship.
Both girls credited their chemistry as
friends and teammates in helping to secure
their win. But their talent cannot be denied.
“We’re both very talented players with
complementing skills,” Koo said. “My
backhand stroke is my strongest and her
forehand is her strongest stroke, so we’re
able to cover both sides of the court very
well. We also make sure to keep up good
mentality by tapping racquets in between
points and communicate what our strategy
is for each point.”
To get to state, they had to get through
the district tournament. The Vikings earned
a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ladue’s Grace Qian
and Nephthys Protho in the semifinals.
Shannon and Koo defeated the Todorovich
I SPORTS I 29
Parkway North’s Shannon, Koo make school history with state doubles title
Parkway North seniors Yvonne Shannon
and Emily Koo at the Class 2 state doubles
championship in Springfield. (Photo provided)
sisters 2-6, 6-1, 10-5 to claim the district
championship.
In the state semifinals, the North tandem
beat Glendale’s Chloe Stenger and Ann
Beatty 7-6, 6-0.
“Personally I think this match was
tougher than the finals,” Shannon said. “I
could tell how badly they wanted to win
and they had a consistent level of confidence
within the entire match.”
Koo agreed.
“Our match with Glendale was definitely
difficult,” Shannon said. “Our opponents
were solid players and rarely made errors.
The wind played a huge part in this match
because it was blowing at around 20 mph.
This caused us to lose a lot of points due to
unforced errors, but we were also able to
use it to our advantage in the second set by
hitting shots that were higher and deeper.”
Their win meant a rematch with the
Todorovich sisters for the state title.
“Going into this I was a little nervous,
even though we had previously beaten
them,” Shannon said. “Anything could
happen in our match, so I had to go into
this match thinking everything is brand
new and not to underestimate them.”
Shannon will play in college at Missouri
Baptist. Koo has not decided on what she
will do yet.