Lafayette County’s Elena Williams is two wins away from a state title in Springfield.

Williams won her two contests Thursday, Oct. 24 at the MSHSAA Class One State Tennis Singles Tournament at the Cooper Tennis Complex to advance to the semifinals Friday morning. The Husker dropped the first set against Elizabeth Smith of Monett 5-7, but then hit her stride as she convincing won the next two sets, 6-1 and 10-3. Williams then cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Hannibal’s Aubrielle Krigbaum.

Williams faces Naiyah Wurdeman of Carl Junction to start Friday, while the other semifinal contest has Zaylee Rose of Columbia Independent challenging Julia Cramer of Clayton. Semifinals will begin at 8 a.m., with championship matches expected to begin around 11:30.

Lafayette County’s doubles pairing of Madison Cunningham and Emma Gillilan went 1-2 on Thursday to see their podium bid fall short. The two fell in their opening contest to Riley Zimmerman and Ellie Cohn of Clayton, 6-1 6-1, but won their first consolation match in three sets over Katherine Lumsden and Lillian McKay of St Louis Notre Dame. The duo of Violet Villa and Vivian Cissna from Clayton ended the Huskers’ state campaign with a three-set scoreline of 7-6, 5-7, 10-2.