Many of the Ankeny girls’ tennis players entered Tuesday’s season-opening meet without any varsity experience.
The Hawkettes ended the non-conference meet at Des Moines East/Hoover with a 10-1 victory–and some much-needed seasoning.
“It was great to get these young ladies some experience,” said new Ankeny coach Steve Smith. “I was proud of how they played in the tough, windy conditions and learned how to adapt their games based on which direction the wind was blowing when they would change sides of the court.”
Ankeny won all six of the singles matches in straight sets. The Hawkettes then captured four of the five doubles matches, losing only at the No. 3 spot.
Megan Sommerfeld rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles. She then teamed up with Abby Johnson for a 6-1, 6-0 triumph at No. 1 doubles.
“Megan really dominated,” Smith said. “She was calm, composed and confident.”
Anna Schmitz dropped the first two games of her No. 3 singles match. She then won the next 12 to post a 6-2, 6-0 win.
“Anna fought off some first career match nerves,” Smith said. “It was great to see her calm herself down, make some adjustments and get back to playing the way we see her play every day in practice.”
The Hawkettes will host Mason City in their home opener on Thursday.
“This was a great first step in our journey to continually learn and improve throughout the entire season,” Smith said.
Here are the match-by-match results:
Ankeny 10, D.M. East/Hoover 1
Singles–Sommerfeld beat Bos, 6-0, 6-0; A. Johnson beat Hagler, 6-1, 6-2; Schmitz beat Carmenatte, 6-2, 6-0; Rolow beat Huynh, 6-2, 6-1; Byrnes beat Thompson, 6-0, 6-3; O. Johnson beat Collier, 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles–Sommerfeld-A. Johnson beat Hagler-Carmenatte, 6-1, 6-0; Bos-Thompson (E/H) beat Schmitz-Brumm, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6; Rolow-Otto beat Huynh-D. Nguyen, 6-3, 6-1; Byrnes-O. Johnson beat Collier-Royce, 6-1, 6-0; Bovee-Laib beat Hochmutch-M. Nguyen, 6-4, 6-2.