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KIRKSVILLE — Heading into the Class 1 state consolation semifinal match, Kirksville senior Jean Ochs was up against the ropes.

Matched up with team champion MICDS’ No. 2  Katherine Desloge and facing elimination, Kirksville head coach Steve Smith knew Ochs would have to play the best tennis of her career to win, and have a chance at a fourth-straight year as a state medalist.

After dropping the first set  6-2, Ochs rallied back to win the next two, 6-3, 6-1, and eventually finish sixth overall.

“For her to win, she had to play the best tennis of her high school career in that match to get to the consolation finals,” Kirksville head coach Steve Smith said. “I was very impressed with what she did [against Desloge]. People were not expecting her to do that, but I knew she could. She had to play well and really smart. I knew what she could do when she was faced with elimination.”

Ochs, the 2009 Daily Express Tennis Player of the Year, finished her Kirksville tennis career as one of the most accomplished players in the state. Only 29 others prior to the 2009 season had medaled at the state meet all four years of their high school career, and now Ochs can lay claim to that feat. Along with a sixth-place finish in 2009, Ochs finished third as a junior, sixth as a sophomore, and sixth in doubles with Havilah Noll as a freshman.