Although the Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team dropped a 6-5 decision at Waukee on Monday, the Jaguars got a big victory from Caleb Peterson at No. 1 singles.
Peterson posted a 6-0, 7-6 win over Quinn Monson in a matchup of two of the state’s top players. Monson placed fourth in the Class 2A singles tournament a year ago, finishing one spot ahead of Peterson.
“Caleb had a huge day,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “This is the first step for him in getting the No. 1 or 2 seed at state. I was super proud of him and how he battled in the wind. The weather was by no means ideal, but he just took care of business.”
Peterson improved his record to 11-0 this season. He avenged a loss to Monson in last year’s district final.
“My key was to play intelligently in the wind and to have a mindset of no excuses regardless of the weather conditions,” Peterson said.
The two teams split the six singles matches. Four of those matches were decided by a third-set super-tiebreaker, with each squad winning two of them.
The Warriors then won three of the five doubles matches to secure the victory. One of the wins came at No. 1 doubles, where Monson and Lewis Barry teamed up for a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Peterson and Holden Smith.
“Caleb’s lower back has been bothering him and after sitting for a bit after his singles match, it tightened up and he really struggled in doubles,” Lewton said. “That was our first loss at No. 1 doubles all season, but movement was definitely an issue.”
Nick Hiney and Brayden Wellendorf each won a three-set match in singles for the Jaguars. The duo then combined for another victory at No. 2 doubles.
“Nick and Brayden did a nice job in singles and doubles, and the No. 4 doubles team of Andrew Law and Ty Walker also played well and won,” Lewton said.
Waukee raised its record to 4-3 in the CIML Conference. Centennial dropped to 2-4 in the league and 3-5 overall.
It was the Jaguars’ third loss to a conference opponent by a 6-5 margin.
“The super-tiebreakers seem to be a problem for us,” Lewton said.
Centennial will host a conference meet against Southeast Polk (1-7) on Tuesday.
Here are the match-by-match results from Monday’s meet:
Waukee 6, Centennial 5
Singles–Peterson (AC) beat Monson, 6-0, 7-6; Hiney (AC) beat Barry, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5; Wellendorf (AC) beat Bajwa, 3-6, 7-6, 10-6; Sirohi (W) beat Smith, 4-6, 6-4, 11-9; Kayithi (W) beat Valerio-Garsow, 6-4, 6-1; Abbott (W) beat Halverson, 6-4, 4-6, 10-5.
Doubles–Monson-Barry (W) beat Peterson-Smith, 6-1, 6-2; Hiney-Wellendorf (AC) beat Sirohi-Kayithi, 6-3, 6-3; Bajwa-Abbott (W) beat Valerio-Garsow-Halverson, 6-2, 6-4; Walker-Law (AC) beat Crenshaw-McPike, 6-2, 6-1; Garimella-Sudman (W) beat Amin-Earp, 7-6, 7-5.