The Ankeny girls’ tennis team closed out its CIML Conference schedule with a 9-2 loss to fourth-ranked Valley on Thursday at the Prairie Ridge courts.
The Tigers improved to 6-2 in the conference and 9-3 overall. Ankeny finished 2-6 in the league.
“I was happy with how the team competed against one of the top teams in the state,” said Ankeny coach Steve Smith. “I was proud of how we came back after losing first sets to win second sets and force third-set tiebreakers in three matches.”
Madalyn Kolb provided the Hawkettes’ lone victory in singles. She posted a 6-1, 3-6, 10-4 decision over Alina Keshwani at the No. 4 position.
“Madalyn really battled and won a tough match,” Smith said.
Kira Smith and Sydney Otto teamed up to win another three-set match at No. 1 doubles. They posted a 7-6, 2-6, 10-8 triumph over Allexis Moen and Maddie Hockmuth.
“Those two played solid with a win over a team that I believe will place in the state doubles tournament,” Smith said.
Earlier, Smith dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Claire Gu at No. 1 singles. Gu is the defending Class 2A state champion in singles.
“I give Claire a ton of credit,” Smith said. “After losing the first game on a deuce point, she came back to win the next five deuce points in a tight first set. You can see why she’s the returning state champion.”
The Hawkettes will host a quadrangular on Friday against Marshalltown, Norwalk and Southeast Polk.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Valley 9, Ankeny 2
Singles–Gu beat Smith, 6-1, 6-2; Moen beat Otto, 6-1, 6-0; Shapiro beat Osburn, 6-2, 6-2; Kolb (A) beat Keshwani, 6-1, 3-6, 10-4; Tannenbaum beat Francel, 6-1, 2-6, 10-5; Tomar beat Gorrela, 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles–Smith-Otto (A) beat Moen-Hockmuth, 7-6, 2-6, 10-8; Gu-Tannenbaum beat Osburn-Rohlfing, 6-0, 6-1; Shapiro-Keshwani beat Kolb-Francel, 6-2, 6-7, 10-8; Tomar-Songer beat Gorrela-De Haan, 6-1, 6-0; Reuter-Bailey beat Feldhacker-Risk, 6-2, 4-6, 10-4.