‘It was a super fantastic night’: Jaguars rely on doubles for 6-5 win over Waukee

Ankeny Centennial’s Caleb Peterson celebrates after winning a point during his No. 1 singles match against Waukee’s Quinn Monson on Tuesday at the Prairie Ridge courts. Peterson won in three sets to help the Jaguars to a 6-5 victory. (Photo by Dan Holm)

The Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team posted a 6-5 victory over fifth-ranked Waukee on Tuesday, defeating the Warriors for the first time in school history.

The Jaguars (3-4) won three of the five doubles matches to pull out the non-conference win. Waukee dropped to 1-4 on the season.

“Our doubles teams continue to be our strength,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “Caleb (Peterson) was cramping at No. 1 so that match was tough, but Kellen (Jones) and Brayden (Wellendorf) dominated after coming out flat in the first set (at No. 2) and Nick (Hiney) and Nathan (Smith at No. 3) and Holden (Smith) and Jack Lacey (at No. 4) played really well and won in straight sets. It was a super fantastic night for Jag tennis.”

The two teams split the six singles matches. Centennial got wins from Peterson at No. 1, Nathan Smith at No. 5 and Joel Nelson at No. 6.

Peterson survived his toughest match of the season to remain unbeaten. He defeated Quinn Monson in three sets.

“That was very important for Caleb,” Lewton said. “Quinn really played well and pushed Caleb. It was a good test for him, and he came through in the third set.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Kellen Jones hits a forehand return during his No. 2 singles match against Waukee’s Ayush Jha on Tuesday. (Photo by Dan Holm)**

“Nathan and Joel both played very well and took care of business in straight tests. We could have come out of singles 5-1, but Holden and Brayden lost close matches in super-tiebreakers. It was nice to see the guys play so well in singles!” she added.

Centennial will host a doubleheader on Wednesday at the Prairie Ridge courts. The Jaguars will face No. 6 Marshalltown (8-1) in a CIML Iowa Conference matchup at noon, then will play Des Moines Hoover (0-2) in a non-conference meet at 4 p.m.

Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:

Centennial 6, Waukee 5

Singles–Peterson (AC) beat Monson, 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (9); Jha (W) beat Jones, 6-2, 6-1; Kayithi (W) beat H. Smith, 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (7); Barry (W) beat Wellendorf, 7-6 (6), 5-7, 1-0 (7); N. Smith (AC) beat McPike, 7-6 (5), 6-2; Nelson (AC) beat Pinna, 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles–Monson-Jha (W) beat Peterson-Nelson, 6-2, 6-3; Jones-Wellendorf (AC) beat Kayithi-Barry, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (3); N. Smith-Hiney (AC) beat McPike-Crenshaw, 6-3, 6-4; H. Smith-Lacey (AC) beat Bower-Sirohi, 6-2, 6-2; Pinna-Garimella (W) beat Halverson-Miller, 6-2, 6-3.