Two girls from Malton School are riding high in their success at tennis.

Fiona Marsden and Alice Brook, both students in Year 10, played in the North Area Inter-District Tennis Championships.

They were playing as a doubles partnership and faced tough competition from schools in each district - Ryedale, Hambleton/Richmond, Harrogate/Craven and York.

But the Malton duo won six out of seven matches to capture the area crown.

Now they go forward to represent the North Area at the Yorkshire Schools' tennis championships, which are to be held at the South Leeds Stadium in September.

Head of Malton School PE department Steph Hopkin was delighted at the duo's progress.

She said: "The girls are so committed, so reliable and so hard working that they deserved their success.

"They were thrilled to win the competition and now they can't wait to play in the next tournament in autumn."

Fiona is a member of the Malton Tennis Club and regularly features in the ladies team, while Alice practises at school.

The two 15-year olds have been playing together since Year 8 at school.

Teacher Steph Hopkin added: "They have played together a long time. They both rise to the matches and aren't over confident.

"The girls now know each other's game so I am confident they could do really well in September.

"The next step is to hopefully enter them in a winter league."

The Malton School PE head explained how the recruitment of a tennis coach had proved beneficial.

"We have brought in a tennis coach to the school and developed new links," she said.

"We want the girls to play more tennis and to keep improving."