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Jaguars fall short in semifinals as Valley girls dominate regional tournament

May 7, 2024 by Dan Holm

Ankeny Centennial’s Jenna Benkufsky reaches to hit a volley during Monday’s Class 2A regional singles and doubles tournament at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School. (Photo by Dan Holm)

A year ago, the Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis team qualified all six of its players for the Class 2A state tournament.

On Monday at Valley, the host Tigers accomplished the same feat and thus prevented Centennial from advancing any of its players to this year’s tournament.

Valley dominated the regional singles and doubles tournament, sweeping the top two places in both divisions. Lexi Moen posted a 7-5, 6-0 victory over teammate Sophie Tannenbaum in the singles final, while Masha Shapiro and Kate Songer defeated teammates Rory Bird and Raegan Reuter, 6-2, 6-2, to win the doubles crown.

Both of Centennial’s doubles teams reached the semifinals before losing to Valley. Talia Baca also advanced to the semifinals in singles before losing to Tannenbaum.

Ankeny Centennial’s Ara Lofgren waits at the net as teammate Jenna Benkufsky prepares to serve the ball during their semifinal match against Valley in Monday’s doubles tournament. (Photo by Dan Holm)

“The outcome of the day was not what we had hoped for,” said Centennial coach Alli Gustafson. “Going into the day, we were feeling confident and ready, especially after having each of the girls seeded. However, ultimately we let unforced errors and lack of ability to change strategy take over our play today. Valley played great, and we couldn’t measure up to close on the semifinal matches.”

Centennial’s Samara Peterson and Megan Yuan rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Cara Ronk and Rylee Perrine of Council Bluffs Jefferson in the quarterfinals. They then lost to Bird and Reuter.

Jenna Benkufsky and Ara Lofgren posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lydia Dix and Abby Eichenberger of Council Bluffs Lincoln in the quarterfinals. They then fell to Shapiro and Songer.

In the third-place match, Peterson and Yuan defeated Benkufsky and Lofgren, 6-1, 6-2. It was a rematch of last year’s regional final, which was also won by Peterson and Yuan.

Ankeny Centennial’s Talia Baca hits a backhand return from well beyond the baseline during her semifinal match against Valley’s Sophie Tannenbaum in Monday’s singles tournament. (Photo by Dan Holm)

Baca, meanwhile, rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Zoey Belt of Indianola in a singles quarterfinal. After losing to Tannenbaum, Baca posted a 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (3) victory over Emily Allen of Indianola in the third-place match.

“Talia had a good day of tennis,” Gustafson said. “She played with a strong pace of ball in her third match when she battled back in a third-set tiebreak. She also controlled the points in her first match as well. It was great experience for her during her freshman season.”

Gabby Mixdorf also competed in singles. She lost to Allen, 6-4, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.

The Jaguars again played without senior Abbie Peterson, a two-time state placewinner. She has been out with an injury since winning both of her matches in the season opener against Urbandale on April 4.

“Now we turn our efforts to the team portion of postseason and look ahead to (next week),” Gustafson said.

Jenna Benkufsky serves for @girlsjagtennis in the regional tournament at Valley. Both of the Jaguars’ doubles teams have reached the semifinals along with Talia Baca in singles. pic.twitter.com/0py4fpb7Ve

— ANKENY FANATIC (@AnkenyFanatic) May 6, 2024

Filed Under: Girls' Tennis, Jaguars Tagged With: Alli Gustafson, Featured

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