It was a deceiving 10-1 loss for the Ankeny girls’ tennis team on Thursday at second-ranked Dowling Catholic.
Down three of their top six players due to injuries, the No. 9 Hawkettes put up a strong fight against the defending state champion Maroons.
“It might seem odd given the score, but I think this is the best we’ve competed this year,” said Ankeny coach Steve Smith. “We knew we had to step up our games against one of the best teams in the state, and we did.”
Ankeny was already playing without Kira Smith and Payton Blume. Then, Sophie Schmitz suffered an injury during Tuesday’s win at Southeast Polk.
“Everyone played up again, and I was very happy with how we played,” Smith said. “It’s a great sign for the rest of this season and even next season to see these players get some experience in a big-time moment.”
Ankeny’s lone victory came at No. 5 doubles, where Samara Feldhacker and Zoe Ferree teamed up for a 7-5, 6-0 win.
“Those two played lights out winning in straight sets,” Smith said. “Zoe did great competing in her first varsity match.”
Lilith Francel, Mallory De Haan and Satviki Gorrela played well for the Hawkettes in singles, Smith said.
“Lilith stepped into the No. 4 position and nearly won,” he said. “Then she and Madalyn Kolb took Dowling’s No. 2 doubles team down to the wire.”
The Maroons improved to 5-0 in the CIML Conference and 7-1 overall. Ankeny’s record dropped to 1-3 in the league.
The Hawkettes will host a conference dual meet against Waukee Northwest on Tuesday.
“Now we just need to get healthy!” Smith said.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Dowling Catholic 10, Ankeny 1
Singles–Petersen beat Otto, 6-0, 6-1; Frye beat Osburn, 6-0, 6-0; J. Mauro beat Kolb, 6-0, 6-0; Sackett beat Francel, 6-0, 6-7, 10-0; Edward beat De Haan, 6-1, 6-1; Johnson beat Gorrela, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles–Frye-J. Mauro beat Otto-Osburn, 6-0, 6-2; Sackett-Edward beat Kolb-Francel, 6-3, 7-5; Johnson-Bakros beat Rohlfing-Risk, 6-0, 6-4; Branstad-Pierron beat De Haan-Gorrela, 6-3, 6-4; Feldhacker-Ferree (A) beat Rice-Murphy, 7-5, 6-0.