Senior Nic Mackaman fought off several match points to win the No. 3 singles match on Tuesday, sparking the Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team to a 6-5 victory over visiting Des Moines Roosevelt.
Mackaman rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the super-tiebreaker to defeat Alex Russell in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 13-11. That win proved to be the difference as the Jaguars improved to 4-3 on the season.
Roosevelt’s record dropped to 3-2.
“Nic came through with a clutch win,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “I was super proud of the guys and how they competed.”
Will Blevins, Caleb Peterson and Wesley Clark also won their singles matches for the Jaguars. Peterson and Mackaman then teamed up to win the No. 1 doubles match, while Blevins and Clark combined for a victory at the No. 2 spot.
“We won a hard-fought match,” Lewton said. “It is great to be back on the winning side! We showed great improvement in a lot of matches. I’m hoping this is the beginning of us performing to the level we are capable of.”
Centennial will play Ankeny on Thursday at the Prairie Ridge courts.
Here are the match-by-match results:
Centennial 6, D.M. Roosevelt 5
Singles–Blevins (AC) beat Brown, 6-0, 6-2; Peterson (AC) beat Borts, 6-0, 6-1; Mackaman (AC) beat Russell, 6-2, 2-6, 13-11; Dotson (R) beat Keenan, 6-1, 6-3; Zeff (R) beat Bhat, 6-0, 6-2; Clark (AC) beat Kempkes, 6-1, 7-5.
Doubles–Peterson-Mackaman (AC) beat Borts-Russell, 6-2, 6-1; Blevins-Clark (AC) beat Brown-Dotson, 7-6, 6-4; Zeff-Kempkes (R) beat Bhat-Ceplecha, 7-5, 6-2; Names unavailable (R) beat Keenan-Nelson, 6-4, 6-3; Names unavailable (R) beat Jones-Halverson, 7-6, 6-2.