(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
With the score all knotted up at 5-5, the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis teams huddled around as Tuesday’s dual meet came down to No. 2 doubles to decide which squad was going to come out of the rivalry matchup with its first win of the season.
In the end, it was the Hawk tandem of sophomores Grady Schlosser and Michael Black that bested Centennial’s duo of seniors Riley Earp and Mason Sinclair to fend off the Jaguars’ rally in doubles for a 6-5 Ankeny victory.
“(Centennial) is going through what Ankeny has gone through for several years,” said Ankeny coach Ron Miller. “It’s a rebuilding year and getting better. I was hoping we’d do a bit better than that, but everybody says a win is a win and we’ll take it.”
The Hawks improved to 1-1 in the CIML Conference and 1-2 overall. Centennial’s records dropped to 0-3 and 0-5.
“I was happy with how the guys battled,” said Centennial’s first-year coach Grant Menadue. “Obviously, it’s not the outcome we wanted. We’ve had a couple of those this year and 5-6 seems to be a score we find ourselves in a lot. But we’re a young team and that just comes down to the pressure points and inexperience, so that’s something we’ll work on and hopefully get better at. Overall, it was a cool day and a really special event to be a part of.”
The Hawks found themselves in a good spot after emerging with a 4-2 edge with wins from their top four singles players. Dylan Victor won in straight sets at the No. 1 position, and so did Garrett Weichers at No. 2, Schlosser at No. 3 and Black at No. 4.
Centennial junior Reece Dickinson and sophomore Owen George pulled out victories at the Nos. 5 and 6 spots, respectively. That gave the Jaguars a fighting chance going into doubles play.
Despite having the lead, Ankeny had struggled to close things out in doubles play in its previous two meets. The Hawks held a 4-2 advantage over Valley before being swept in doubles, then lost two of three doubles matches against Cedar Rapids Jefferson after splitting the singles.
“We’re really tough in singles,” Miller said. “We’ve been up 4-2 a couple times and our doubles has struggled, but we did fight back a little better today.”
Centennial attempted to muscle its way back into the contest with three big wins in doubles.
Aaron Braun and Dickinson split the first two sets against Ankeny’s Treyton Riesberg and Trent James before coming out on top in a tight third set at the No. 3 position.
Kale Hurd and Caden Kolars cruised to a straight-set victory at No. 4, and so did the No. 5 duo of Nathan Goff and Crew Brazeau.
“Our No. 4 doubles (Hurd and Kolars), I always call them our ‘guaranteed win’ because they’re very consistent,” Menadue said. “(Goff and Brazeau) came out and played very well for one of their first few varsity matches.”
Ankeny just needed two wins on the doubles court to secure the victory, and the pairing of its top two singles players in Victor and Weichers ended up earning the Hawks a 6-3, 7-5 win over Zach Malone and George.
So all that was left to decide which team was getting its first win was a very close matchup at No. 2 doubles.
Schlosser and Black managed to take the first set, 7-6 (8-6), before clinching the win for Ankeny with a 7-5 triumph in the second set.
Miller is hoping for some more consistent play in doubles going forward to combine with his team’s strong singles performances.
“We played at Johnston on Saturday and (Victor) had a blister in his hand and couldn’t play very well, but today he played really well again and seems to be back,” he said. “When we have any combination of those first six (singles) and we get four of those every time, we’ll be sitting pretty.”
On the Jaguars’ end, they’re focusing on getting a little more experience playing in close meets and simulating those kind of matches in practice, especially with a young core rising up the program.
“We’re going to try to get a handle on it yet this season,” Menadue said. “But that’s something that comes with experience, especially match experience. That’s why we always encourage them to play challenge matches.”
Both teams will face conference opponents on Thursday, with Centennial hosting Urbandale (1-4) and Ankeny traveling to Waukee (0-1). The Hawks will then host the Jaguars and six other teams in the Dennis Hoefle Invitational on Friday.
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:
Ankeny 6, Ankeny Centennial 5
Singles: Victor (A) beat Malone, 6-1, 6-1; Weichers (A) beat Earp, 6-0, 6-1; Schlosser (A) beat Braun, 6-3, 6-0; Black (A) beat Sinclair, 6-0, 7-5; Dickinson (AC) beat Riesberg, 6-4, 6-3; George (AC) beat James, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6).
Doubles: Victor-Weichers (A) beat Malone-George, 6-3, 7-5; Schlosser-Black (A) beat Earp-Sinclair, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; Braun-Dickinson (AC) beat Riesberg-James, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6); Kolars-Hurd (AC) beat Johnson-Geest, 6-0, 6-2; Goff-Brazeau (AC) beat Neal-Gray, 6-4, 6-1.
