Alli Gustafson wasn’t worried about the wins and losses on Friday.
The Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis coach was just happy that her team was able to compete in the Valley Invitational.
Facing some of the state’s top teams, the Jaguars won only five of 20 matches in the tournament. But it was still a productive day.
“Our competition today was amongst the best in the state,” said Gustafson. “The experience the girls gained was fantastic, especially heading into districts next week. We received a tough draw with Valley, so it was great to be able to compete against such a high level of players to prepare for that.”
The tournament featured four of the top 10 teams in Class 2A, including No. 10 Centennial. No. 2 Valley, No. 3 Cedar Falls, No. 5 Johnston and Waukee also competed.
Centennial was led by Esther Guan, who went 2-2 at the No. 1 singles position. One of her victories came against Maya Mallavarapu of Cedar Falls, 6-2.
“Esther had an amazing match against Mallavarapu, playing some of her best tennis this season,” Gustafson said. “She played smart and confident, which sealed her win with ease.”
Madison Price posted a win against Johnston at No. 2 singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Jenna Benkufsky and Ara Lofgren earned a victory against Waukee, and so did the No. 2 doubles team of Rozzie Sterling and Morgan DenBeste.
Here are the match-by-match results:
No. 1 singles–Guan beat Mallavarapu (CF), 6-2; beat Jensen (J), 6-0; lost to Gu (V), 6-0; lost to Roeth (W), 6-3.
No. 2 singles–Price lost to Sagers (CF), 6-0; beat Curry (J), 6-4; lost to Myneni (V), 6-0; lost to Martens (W), 6-2.
No. 1 doubles–Benkufsky-Lofgren lost to Kalala-Seger (CF), 6-2; lost to Christensen-Svitashev (J), 6-0; lost to Wang-Hockmuth (V), 6-0; beat London-Hirshy (W), 6-3.
No. 2 doubles–Sterling-DenBeste lost to Remmert-Boevers (CF), 6-4; lost to Monson-Gano (J), 6-0; lost to Brown-Rickert (V), 6-1; beat Martens-Castronovo (W), 6-3.
No. 3 doubles–Mixdorf-Rasmus lost to Gesell-Patel (CF), 6-4; lost to Blackford-Saravanan (J), 7-6 (0); lost to Keshwani-Shapiro (V), 6-2; lost to Bawja/McCray (W), 6-3.