• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ankeny Fanatic

Your Ankeny Sports Resource

  • Home
  • About
    • Support Us
  • News
    • Podcast
  • Hawks
    • Boys’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Baseball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Softball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
  • Jaguars
    • Girls’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Baseball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Softball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
You are here: Home / Jaguars / Spring / Girls' Tennis / Rally falls short; Centennial doubles team earns 6th-place finish

Rally falls short; Centennial doubles team earns 6th-place finish

June 1, 2018 by Dan Holm

Ankeny Centennial’s Alli Gustafson and Alyssa Lewton earned a sixth-place finish in doubles at the girls’ Class 2A state tennis tournament on Thursday in Iowa City. (Photo courtesy of Emily Phommachack)

The Ankeny Centennial doubles team of Alyssa Lewton and Alli Gustafson nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback Thursday in the fifth-place match at the girls’ Class 2A state tennis tournament in Iowa City.

Dubuque Hempstead’s Erin Connolly and Joyce Sun built a 6-4, 5-2 lead before Lewton and Gustafson rallied to win five consecutive games, tying the match at one set apiece and forcing a super-tiebreaker. However, Connolly and Sun then regrouped to earn a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (5) victory.

“The whole thing was a lot of fun,” said Gustafson, a junior. “The fatigue really set in against Hempstead, and we just couldn’t win the long rallies. We had momentum to come back and win the second set after being down, but the super-tiebreaker just didn’t fall our way.”

Still, the sixth-place finish was the highest in Centennial school history. Lewton teamed up with Maddie Volk for an eighth-place finish last year.

“I think the key to our success was that we stopped worrying so much about the outcome and just wanted to have fun,” said Lewton. “We had surpassed our goals and at that point, everything else was an incentive. We had nothing to lose going into the match, and we just wanted to have a fun last hurrah.”

Lewton and Gustafson finished the season with a 15-8 record. They lost to eventual state champions Emma and Audrey Koch in Wednesday’s opening round.

The Koch sisters swept all four of their matches in straight sets, losing a total of just 14 games along the way. They dropped three games to Lewton and Gustafson, who had a chance to win several others.

“What an incredible experience for both players,” said Centennial coach Emily Phommachack, whose five-year tenure as the Jaguars’ coach came to an end. “I couldn’t have asked for a better fight than they have given the last two days.”

The Centennial duo won a pair of three-set consolation matches on Wednesday to assure themselves of a top-eight finish. They then posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Roshni Penmatcha and Kayla Nutt of Pleasant Valley in a consolation semifinal on Thursday morning.

“They definitely came out on the courts ready to play,” Phommachack said. “They played with patience, hard and consistent ground strokes, aggressiveness and amazing persistence and hustle. They deserved every point.”

The ensuing loss to Dubuque Hempstead did nothing to dampen Gustafson’s spirit.

“I am so happy with how we finished,” she said. “It was really cool to be able to give both Alyssa and Phomm the finish that we had worked so hard to achieve.”

Lewton called it a memorable year.

“I can’t thank Alli enough for making this experience so much fun and giving me an exhilarating senior season,” she said. “I also can’t thank Phomm enough for putting up with me these last three years. She’s taught me so much not only about tennis, but about myself as well.”

Filed Under: Girls' Tennis, Jaguars Tagged With: Alli Gustafson, Alyssa Lewton, Emily Phommachack

Primary Sidebar

Support Ankeny Fanatic

Recent Posts

  • Ankeny Fanatic Prep of the Week: Cal Wahlberg, Ankeny boys’ soccer
  • ‘It was the perfect way to end our careers’: Ankeny star goes out in style with father
  • Ankeny Fanatic Podcast: Episode 307
  • ‘We’re incredibly proud of her’: Peterson earns 8th-place finish at state tourney
  • Jaguars toss back-to-back no-hitters in doubleheader sweep over Lincoln girls

Find Us on Facebook

Ankeny Fanatic

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017

Categories

  • Hawks
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
        • Roster
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Boys’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Swimming
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Wrestling
  • Jaguars
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Wrestling
  • Top Sports Stories
    • Football
    • Volleyball
  • Baseball
  • Softball

© 2025 Ankeny Fanatic. All rights reserved.