Tami Lewton would have been proud of her team’s effort.
The Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis squad closed out the season on Wednesday with a 5-0 loss at fifth-ranked Valley in the final of a Class 2A substate team tournament. The Jaguars finished with a 4-9 record.
Lewton missed the entire season as she wages a battle against cancer.
“We are very proud of this group and their resilience through all the adversity this season,” said Centennial assistant coach Dustin Rhoads, who stepped in to help replace Lewton. “They continued to have fun, stay positive, and compete hard even when things didn’t always go our way. Tami was greatly missed this season by all, but we continued to never give up and hope we made her proud.”
Rhoads said the Jaguars learned this season that there is a lot more to life than winning or losing a match.
“This game teaches you a lot of life skills and forms special bonds and connections,” he said. “We were all fortunate to play or coach a sport we love this season–something that was taken away from coach Tami. It’s always a little sad and weird when a season ends, but I am thankful for this team and their efforts especially our great group of seniors.”
The Tigers (12-1) earned the victory by winning the first five singles matches to be decided. Centennial’s Andrew Law was involved in a tight battle at the No. 4 spot when the match was halted.
Valley, which posted an 11-0 triumph over the Jaguars during the regular season, advanced to the state team tournament on May 30-31 at Waukee Northwest. The Tigers qualified for state for the 35th in 41 years.
“We knew Valley would be a tough match for us,” Rhoads said. “We were excited to play them again for a shot at making team state. The goal was to try to get it to doubles to put some pressure on them, but unfortunately their depth was better in singles. Congrats to them.”
Here are the match-by-match results:
Valley 5, Centennial 0
Singles–Sissel beat B. Wellendorf, 6-1, 6-0; Berg beat Hiney, 7-5, 6-1; Fratianni beat Smith, 6-2, 6-1; Singaram led Law, 6-2, 2-3; Scott beat Halverson, 6-0, 6-2; Rogers beat Valerio-Garsow, 6-4, 6-3.