The Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis team didn’t quit on Tuesday after falling behind visiting Dowling Catholic, 5-1, in a CIML Conference meet at the Prairie Ridge courts.
The Jaguars won only one of the six singles matches but then rallied to win three of the five doubles matches, even though Dowling still posted a 7-4 victory.
“It was fun hosting Dowling–they are a top-10 team for a reason and have a lot of talent,” said Centennial assistant coach Dustin Rhoads. “We got down 5-1 after singles and easily could have just lost the meet 10-1, but this group continues to compete and battle out on the courts and they never give up. They enjoy being on the court with one another so I think that is why we have had more success in doubles than singles so far.”
Brayden Wellendorf provided Centennial’s lone win in singles at the No. 1 spot. He then teamed up with Nick Hiney for another triumph at No. 1 doubles.
The No. 2 doubles team of Holden Smith and Andrew Law also prevailed, and so did the No. 5 duo of Kylen Sanders and Zack Maloney. All four of the Jaguars’ wins came in three sets.
“I thought our top four really stepped up and played well, highlighted by Brayden Wellendorf,” Rhoads said. “He had big singles and doubles wins for us. He can compete with anyone in the state–he just has to have that confidence and belief in himself and continue to improve and work hard, and the good results will continue to show.”
The Maroons evened their records at 1-1 in the conference and 1-1 overall. Centennial dropped to 1-1 in the league and 1-2 overall.
“Even though we lost and there are no real moral victories, I think this was our best match of the year and we are continuing to improve,” Rhoads said. “We are still learning a lot about our team and figuring out lineup spots while giving many kids chances and managing around a couple injuries. There were six third-set supertiebreakers, which is crazy. We won more of those than we lost, but that just shows how close this meet was and how we were right there.”
The Jaguars will host another conference meet against Valley on Thursday. The Tigers (1-1, 3-1) are coming off a 10-1 loss to Waukee Northwest on Tuesday.
“We are excited to host another top-10 team in Valley!” Rhoads said.
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday:
Dowling Catholic 7, Centennial 4
Singles–B. Wellendorf (AC) beat Frye, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (6); Scott beat Hiney, 6-1, 6-2; Clark beat Smith, 6-0, 6-4; Seda beat Law, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (8); Townsend beat Walker, 6-2, 6-4; Beecher beat C. Wellendorf, 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles–B. Wellendorf-Hiney (AC) beat Frye-Scott, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (6); Smith-Law (AC) beat Clark-Seda, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-0 (7); Townsend-Cataldo beat Valerio-Garsow-Halverson, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (2); Beecher-Cody beat Walker-C. Wellendorf, 6-2, 6-2; Sanders-Maloney (AC) beat (names unavailable), 6-1, 6-7 (6), 1-0 (8).