Abbie Peterson’s high school tennis career isn’t over after all.
The two-time state placewinner had planned to skip her senior season at Ankeny Centennial in order to focus on preparing for her collegiate career at Northern Iowa. But Peterson had a change of heart and rejoined the Jaguars’ squad earlier this week.
On Thursday, Peterson won both of her matches without dropping a single game as Centennial opened its season with a 10-1 victory over visiting Urbandale in a CIML Conference meet.
“Abbie reconsidered and decided to play,” said Centennial girls’ coach Alli Gustafson. “We are glad to have her back.”
The Jaguars won all six singles matches in straight sets. They also won four of the five doubles matches in straight sets, losing only the No. 4 doubles match.
“It was a strong start to our season,” Gustafson said. “It was great to see everyone throughout the entirety of our lineup improve from the first game of the meet to the last. As a team, we have been focusing on how important each match is to our overall meet score, so to see everyone give their all was great!”
Talia Baca made her debut for Centennial. She won the No. 4 singles match and then teamed up with Jenna Benkufsky for another victory at No. 3 doubles.
“Urbandale is always strong in doubles,” Gustafson said. “It was great to see Jenna and Talia work together, use strategy to improve point to point, and have fun on the court. It was Talia’s first high school meet, and she has been a great addition to our team!”
Gustafson also lauded the play of Megan Yuan, who played at No. 6 singles a year ago but has moved up to the No. 3 spot.
“In singles, Megan had great control of her match,” Gustafson said. “She was able to be aggressive with the pace of her ball when needed, while also using placement and her net play to stay in control.”
The Jaguars will travel to Dowling Catholic on Tuesday for another conference meet against the Maroons, who handed Centennial two of its three losses a year ago. One of those defeats came in the semifinals of the Class 2A state team tournament.
“We have our eyes forward, ready to put in the work to continue to grow. We are just getting started!” Gustafson said. “We get back to practice (Friday) to prepare for next week’s meets and the rest of the season. I am proud of our team’s start, and I can’t wait to see all of the things these girls accomplish on and off of the court this spring!”
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Centennial 10, Urbandale 1
Singles–A. Peterson beat Noah, 6-0, 6-0; S. Peterson beat Pederson, 6-1, 6-0; Yuan beat Venteicher, 6-1, 6-4; Baca beat Cannon, 6-2, 6-4; Benkufsky beat Kain, 6-0, 6-2; Lofgren beat Dykstra, 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles–S. Peterson-Yuan beat Noah-Pederson, 6-2, 6-0; A. Peterson-Lofgren beat Venteicher-Dykstra, 6-0, 6-0; Baca-Benkufsky beat Cannon-Kain, 6-3, 6-0; Richmond-Getz (U) beat Faidley-Mixdorf, 7-6 (5), 6-4; Rasmus-Bhat beat Thielman-White, 6-4, 6-3.