Competing without its top player, the Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis team posted a 6-5 victory at Urbandale in a CIML Conference dual meet on Friday.
The Jaguars improved to 2-0 in the conference after routing Waukee, 11-0, in their season opener on Thursday. The J-Hawks dropped to 0-1 in the league and 2-1 overall.
“It is great to begin with two wins,” said Centennial coach Alli Gustafson. “I am proud of all of my team for stepping in and being flexible today with the absence of Abbie Peterson. Rozzie Sterling stepped up and played singles, and Mayci Rasmus came in at our No. 5 doubles team and secured a win with Gabby Mixdorf.”
The two teams split the six singles matches. Centennial got dominant wins from Esther Guan at the No. 1 position, Samara Peterson at No. 3 and Megan Yuan at No. 5.
All three players moved up a spot in the lineup due to Abbie Peterson’s absence.
“Esther stepped back into our No. 1 singles spot without missing a beat,” Gustafson said of Guan, who played at the No. 1 position all last season. “She was in control of the entire match.”
The Jaguars then won three of the five doubles matches to earn the victory. The No. 1 team of Jenna Benkufsky and Ara Lofgren won in straight sets, and so did the No. 2 duo of Guan and Yuan and the No. 5 tandem of Mixdorf and Rasmus.
“Jenna and Ara pulled out another great win,” Gustafson said. “They played as a cohesive duo, relying on their combination of consistent groundstrokes and great communication.”
Centennial will host a conference dual meet against defending state champion Dowling Catholic on Tuesday.
Here are the match-by-match results from Friday’s meet:
Centennial 6, Urbandale 5
Singles–Guan (AC) beat Hinkhouse, 6-0, 6-0; Dykstra (U) beat Benkufsky, 6-2, 1-6, 10-8; S. Peterson (AC) beat Danenhauer, 6-1, 6-1; Venteicher (U) beat Lofgren, 6-2, 6-2; Yuan (AC) beat Noah, 6-2, 6-3; Heinen (U) beat Sterling, 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles–Benkufsky-Lofgren (AC) beat Hinkhouse-Dykstra, 6-1, 6-4; Guan-Yuan (AC) beat Danenhauer-Venteicher, 6-1, 6-3; Noah-Bolk (U) beat S. Peterson-Sterling, 3-6, 6-1, 10-8; Heinen-Cannon (U) beat Brosnahan-Price, 7-6 (4), 6-2; Mixdorf-Rasmus (AC) beat Noelle Getz-Pedersen, 6-1, 7-6 (5).