Natchez High School’s Kirdis Clark doesn’t let anything get in her way, and her individual record so far during her senior year is the perfect proof.

Clark kept calm and focused to remain undefeated, leading NHS (4-1) as it strolled to a 5-2 victory over Vicksburg Tuesday afternoon in a MHSAA tennis showdown.

“With tennis it easily can go either way, so we practice those kids hard,” Bulldog coach Kimula Turner said.

Clark pulled out a win over Faye Valerio in the No. 1 girls singles match, 6-3, 6-3, leaning on her sturdy mental game.

After trading the initial few games in the first set, Clark won the last two to pull ahead. She finished out with a traditional hard-hitting slam, just one of four during the match.

“Over the years I have learned and developed that I can hit the ball here or there,” Clark said. “I want to be the best I can be at all times. Even when I’m not having a good game, I want to show people that I am still good.”

Clark started with a commanding 3-0 lead to begin the second set, yet gave up the next three of four games.

She said in order to stay focused in the moment, practice is key.

“You can’t just go out there and expect something to happen the day of,” Clark said. “I just had to soften it up some, and she was able to hit it back to me. It was just about keeping the ball in the court and not hitting it so hard and out of control.”

The Bulldogs inner-toughness continued as Vincent Bonds fell in the No. 1 boys singles spot to Vicksburg’s Chris Albert, but didn’t go down without a fight.

Albert took the first set, 6-1, yet Bonds turned around to send the second in to a seventh-game tiebreaker, ultimately losing 7-6.

Turner said the determination was great to see, especially since Bonds is just a sophomore.

“After the first set his confidence dropped, and we just had to go to the fence and talk to him,” Turner said. “He started doing what he knew how to do. You can always come back and win if you don’t give up.”

Natchez will be back in action Monday when it travels to face Loyd Star High School.