The fifth-ranked Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis team rolled to an 11-0 victory over visiting North Polk in a non-conference meet on Monday.
The Jaguars won 10 of the 11 matches in straight sets. The only match that went to a third-set supertiebreaker came at No. 5 doubles, where Centennial’s Kalyani Bhat and Anna Brosnahan rallied from a one-set deficit to post a 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (9) victory.
The Jaguars played their third consecutive match without No. 1 player Abbie Peterson, who is out with an injury. Samara Peterson, Abbie’s sister, earned her first win at the No. 1 spot, posting a 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Abby Mangae.
Ara Lofgren cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 triumph at the No. 5 position.
“Ara used strategy to dominate in her control,” said Centennial coach Alli Gustafson. “She used approach shots to get to the net, and then finished the point with a volley with aim putting the ball away. Her volleys are such a strong aspect of her game, so it was great to see her playing with confidence and using them to her advantage!”
Gustafson also praised the play of the No. 4 doubles team of Mary Faidley and Mayci Rasmus.
“Mayci and Mary played great!” she said. “They used their cross-court groundstrokes to get their opponent out of position, and then finished the point at the net with a cross-court volley. We have been practicing that the past several weeks, so to see them apply it in the meet was exciting! Mayci and Mary are both so coachable and work hard to apply new things.”
Centennial raised its record to 3-1 on the season. The Comets dropped to 3-2.
The Jaguars will travel to Waukee on Thursday for a CIML Conference meet against the Warriors (4-2).
Here are the match-by-match results from Monday’s meet:
Centennial 11, North Polk 0
Singles–S. Peterson beat Mangae, 6-3, 6-0; Yuan beat Cakinberk, 6-2, 6-4; Baca beat Laib, 6-0, 6-1; Benkufsky beat Dillinger, 7-5, 6-2; Lofgren beat Aagard, 6-2, 6-2; Mixdorf beat Estey, 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles–S. Peterson-Yuan beat Mangae-Cakinberk, 6-1, 6-3; Baca-Benkufsky beat Laib-Dillinger, 6-4, 6-3; Lofgren-Mixdorf beat Aagard-Estey, 6-3, 6-1; Faidley-Rasmus beat Hyden-Keenan, 6-3, 6-2; Bhat-Brosnahan beat Sander-Crabb, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (9).