Wednesday was an up-and-down day for the Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team.
The Jaguars hosted a pair of opponents at the Prairie Ridge courts and came away with a split.
After dropping a 7-4 decision to sixth-ranked Marshalltown in a CIML Iowa Conference matchup, Centennial rebounded with an 11-0 victory over Des Moines Hoover in a non-conference meet.
“Against Hoover it was our Senior Night,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “We played all of our seniors, and it was a fun night to be able to cheer on these guys. Whether they have been on the team one year or four years, they got to play!”
The Jaguars won all 11 matches in straight sets. They lost a total of just four games in singles.
Hoover dropped to 0-3 on the season. The Huskies have yet to win a match this season, having lost to Southeast Polk and Des Moines Roosevelt by the same score.
Earlier, Marshalltown swept the five doubles matches to erase a 4-2 deficit. It was the seventh straight victory for the Bobcats, who improved to 2-0 in the conference and 9-1 overall.
“It was a bit frustrating,” said Lewton, whose team is now 1-2 in the league and 4-5 overall. “We were up 4-2 after singles, and our team played so well! All we needed was two of the five doubles matches, but doubt raised its ugly head. Marshalltown played well, but we did not play our best. However, I feel like that match shows that the only thing holding us back is our own doubts and experience.
“It’ll be so rewarding to see the guys achieve what I know we can,” she added.
The Jaguars will host an Iowa Conference matchup against No. 4 Waukee Northwest on Thursday.
Here are the match-by-match results from Wednesday’s meets:
Marshalltown 7, Centennial 4
Singles–Peterson (AC) beat K. Strand, 6-4, 6-3; J. Strand (M) beat Jones, 6-1, 6-3; Jablonski (M) beat H. Smith, 6-0, 6-0; Wellendorf (AC) beat Christensen, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (6); N. Smith (AC) beat Schmit, 6-2, 6-2; Nelson (AC) beat Benscoter, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (7).
Doubles–K. Strand-J. Strand (M) beat Peterson-Nelson, 6-4, 7-6 (5); Jablonski-Christensen (M) beat Jones-Wellendorf, 6-3, 6-4; Schmit-Thiessen (M) beat N. Smith-Hiney, 6-1, 6-1; Benscoter-Loney (M) beat H. Smith-Lacey, 6-4, 6-3; Greazel-Christen (M) beat Halverson-Miller, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (5).
Centennial 11, D.M. Hoover 0
Singles–Nelson beat Thar, 6-0, 6-2; Hiney beat Reh, 6-0, 6-1; Lacey beat Moo, 6-1, 6-0; Miller beat Skinner, 6-0, 6-0; Halverson beat Leh Htoo, 6-0, 6-0; Law beat Hu Plar, 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles–Peterson-Jones beat Reh-Skinner, 6-0, 6-0; Brustkern-Green beat Thar-Moo, 6-1, 7-6 (3); Rounds-Grim beat Leh Htoo-Tran, 6-2, 6-2; H. Smith-Beam beat Dang-Naing, 6-1, 6-0; Hiney-Keahna Harris won, 6-0, 6-1.