The Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team lost for only the second time this season on Tuesday, dropping a 7-4 decision at Waukee in a battle for second place in the CIML Central Conference.
The Warriors won four of the six singles matches and three of the five doubles contests. They finished 4-1 in the conference and improved to 8-3 overall, while the Jaguars’ records dropped to 3-2 and 7-2.
“We came very close to beating them,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “We had some super close matches, but unfortunately couldn’t pull this one out. We knew we needed to be 3-3 coming out of singles. Their doubles teams are tough.”
Centennial got singles victories from Will Blevins at the No. 1 spot and Joel Unick at the No. 5 position. Blevins, a freshman, posted a 6-4, 6-2 win over Noah Burmeister to raise his record to 10-2 on the season.
“Will again proved that he is one of the best players in the state,” Lewton said.
Unick, meanwhile, rallied from a one-set deficit to beat Eric Stradling, 2-6, 7-6, 1-0. He then teamed up with Samson Densmore for another three-set win at No. 3 doubles.
“James Cole was sick so Joel stepped in and did a fantastic job,” Lewton said. “He lost the first set and was down in the second set, 5-1, in both of his matches, but rallied to win them both. It was just his night. He was a beast and would just not take a loss as an answer.”
The Jaguars also got a victory from the No. 4 doubles team of Zach Peterson and Matt Tressel.
Here are the match-by-match results:
Waukee 7, Centennial 4
Singles–Blevins (AC) beat Burmeister, 6-4, 6-2; Ecklund (W) beat Marold, 6-1, 6-4; Weyers (W) beat Lofgren, 6-2, 6-1; Fouts (W) beat Densmore, 6-1, 7-5; J. Unick (AC) beat Stradling, 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (1); Karras (W) beat Peterson, 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (5).
Doubles–Ecklund/Weyers (W) beat Marold/Lofgren, 6-4, 6-2; Burmeister/Fouts (W) beat Blevins/Cole, 7-6, 6-1; Densmore/J. Unick (AC) beat Stradling/Karras, 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (5); Peterson/Tressel (AC) beat Danna/Lavastida, 6-3, 6-1; Akula/Ummadi (W) beat A. Unick/DenAdel, 6-1, 6-4.