The third-ranked Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis team avenged last year’s loss to Ankeny with an 11-0 victory over the No. 9 Hawkettes on Thursday at the Prairie Ridge courts.
The Jaguars won 10 of the 11 matches in straight sets. The only exception came at No. 6 singles, where Ankeny’s Sophie Schmitz lost by injury default after dropping the first set to Megan Yuan.
“We were definitely motivated to win!” said Centennial senior Esther Guan, who earned wins at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles. “Losing to them last year for the first time stung, but we were able to use that as motivation today to pull out some tough matches. A win is a win, but to sweep them after losing badly to them last year feels very nice.”
The Jaguars improved to 5-1 in the CIML Conference and 6-1 overall. Ankeny’s record dropped to 2-4 in the league.
“It’s always a fun night supporting the American Cancer Society at our annual Pink-Out meet!” said Centennial coach Alli Gustafson. “It was great to see our team as a whole have a solid performance as we prepare for postseason play. Every player tonight got a win from the top of our lineup to the bottom, and we were able to flip the outcome from last season’s matchup.”
The Hawkettes continue to battle injuries. In addition to Schmitz’s withdrawal, Ankeny’s top player aggravated a shoulder injury and did not play doubles.
Sophomore Kira Smith put up a strong fight in the No. 1 singles match before dropping a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Centennial’s Abbie Peterson.
“I kind of felt it,” Smith said. “I’ve got an inflamed rotator cuff in my right shoulder.”
Peterson placed fourth in the Class 2A singles tournament as a freshman in 2021. Smith duplicated that feat a year ago, when Peterson skipped the high school season in order to focus on the club circuit.
“I really enjoyed playing her,” Peterson said. “We’ve been friends for a long time, and we’ve always practiced a lot. It was a good challenge, and she’s improving so it was good to play her.”
Peterson had lost only five games combined in her previous five victories this season.
“I think I definitely gave her a run for her money,” Smith said. “I just have to trust my shots and know that I can beat her.”
Peterson thinks she could have played better.
“I feel like I was a little bit tight with my strokes,” she said. “I would like to have more confidence in hitting hard and going for my shots, but overall I think I played smart to win the match based on how I was feeling with my emotions.”
Only one match went to a tiebreaker, and that came in the second set at No. 3 doubles, where Yuan and Samara Peterson outlasted Ankeny’s Sophie Rohlfing and Mallory De Haan.
“Samara and Megan dominated in their tiebreak with a 7-0 win,” Gustafson said. “They were able to stay composed and confident to win the match. Overall, I was extremely proud of the team!”
Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday against conference opponents. The Hawkettes will host Urbandale (4-5), while the Jaguars will play at Southeast Polk (4-5).
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Centennial 11, Ankeny 0
Singles–A. Peterson beat Smith, 6-4, 6-4; Guan beat Otto, 6-4, 6-1; Benkufsky beat Osburn, 6-1, 6-1; S. Peterson beat Francel, 6-3, 6-0; Lofgren beat Kolb, 6-3, 6-3; Yuan beat Schmitz, 6-1, 1-0, injury default.
Doubles–A. Peterson-Guan beat Otto-Osburn, 6-0, 6-1; Benkufsky-Lofgren beat Francel-Kolb, 7-5, 6-2; S. Peterson-Yuan beat Rohlfing-De Haan, 6-1, 7-6; Sterling-Mixdorf beat Feldhacker-Gorrela, 6-4, 7-5; Price-Rasmus beat Risk-Quirk, 6-2, 6-2.