The Ankeny tennis teams both lost to Waukee, 7-4, in CIML Conference action on Thursday. In both meets, the Warriors won four of the five doubles matches to seal the victory.
In the girls’ meet at Ankeny, the Hawkettes got singles wins from Sophie Schmitz, Olivia North and Satviki Gorrela. After dropping the first set, Schmitz rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to prevail in three sets at the No. 2 position.
“I challenged Sophie to believe she could win,” said Ankeny coach Steve Smith. “When she plays with fire, she can beat anyone she plays. She dug deep, found some confidence and then crushed it to come back and win her match.”
Gorrela also won a super-tiebreaker at the No. 5 spot.
“Satviki has played more tiebreakers and close sets than anyone I know, but prior to this match she’s lost the close ones,” Smith said. “So, we tried to flip the script with her after the Centennial match (on Tuesday). We kept reminding her she’s the most experienced tiebreak player around.
“It was great to see Satviki’s smile after she persevered!” he added.
North won in straight sets at the No. 3 position. She then teamed up with Kira Smith for another victory at No. 2 doubles, but it wasn’t enough.
“After putting ourselves back into a position to win in singles, what’s been our strong suit this year let us down as we dropped all but one doubles match,” Smith said. “But I’ve coached some of the Waukee players in the past, and I knew they were a deep team. Their No. 4 player is as good as their No. 2.”
Waukee improved to 1-1 in the league and 2-2 overall. The Hawkettes’ records dropped to 1-2 and 2-3.
In the boys’ meet at Waukee, those two teams were also tied at 3-3 after singles. The Warriors then dominated the doubles to even their record at 1-1 in the league.
Ankeny got wins from its top three singles players in Dylan Victor, Garrett Weichers and Grady Schlosser. Victor and Weichers then teamed up for another victory at No. 1 doubles, but Waukee took the other four doubles matches.
The Hawks, who dropped to 1-2 in the conference and 1-3 overall, have struggled in doubles all season. They are now a combined 5-22 in doubles play.
The Ankeny Centennial teams were also in action on Thursday. In the boys’ meet at Ankeny, the Jaguars suffered a 6-5 loss for the fourth time this season.
Centennial dropped to 0-4 in the league and 0-6 overall. The J-Hawks raised their records to 1-2 and 3-5.
In the girls’ meet, the Jaguars dropped an 11-0 decision at Urbandale. The J-Hawks are now 1-2 in the conference and 3-2 overall, while Centennial’s records fell to 0-3 and 0-4.
“Tonight’s meet was another test of resilience as our varsity lineup continued to battle through illnesses and injuries,” said Centennial girls’ coach Alli Gustafson. “Despite the setbacks, our team showed determination, stepping up in every match. With every player moving up in the lineup for singles, and several moving up in doubles, it was a great opportunity for our lower varsity and upper JV players to gain valuable experience in higher positions. Urbandale is a great team, and overall we just couldn’t close on the opportunities we had. We’re continuing to grow as a team and are proud of the effort shown on the court!”
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meets:
BOYS
Waukee 7, Ankeny 4
Singles: Victor (A) beat Abbott, 6-0, 6-2; Weichers (A) beat T. Nguyen, 6-0, 6-1; Schlosser (A) beat R. Nguyen, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; Sirohi beat Black, 6-2, 6-0; Krehbiel beat Riesberg, 7-5, 6-1; Thole beat James, 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles: Victor-Weichers (A) beat Abbott-T. Nguyen, 6-4, 6-2; Sirohi-Peterson beat Schlosser-Black, 7-5, 6-4; R. Nguyen-Thole beat Riesberg-James, 6-1, 6-2; Krehbiel-Schmidt beat Johnson-Geest, 6-4, 6-2; Jernberg-Bryan beat Neal-Gray, 6-0, 6-0.
GIRLS
Waukee 7, Ankeny 4
Singles: Suresh beat Francel, 6-1, 6-4; Schmitz (A) beat Nurre, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4); North (A) beat Stewart, 6-2, 7-5; Mizushima beat Hanley, 6-3, 6-3; Gorrela (A) beat Mineck, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6); Mullick beat Quirk, 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles: Suresh-Nurre beat Francel-Schmitz, 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (12-10); North-Smith (A) beat Stewart-Mullick, 6-1, 6-2; Mizushima-Mineck beat Hanley-Gorrela, 6-1, 6-4; Maddy-Rosebrook beat Quirk-Dietrich, 6-2, 6-2; Shukla-Cuestro beat Ventura-Doyle, 6-4, 6-3.
Urbandale 11, Ankeny Centennial 0
Singles: Pederson beat Hanson, 6-0, 6-1; Venteicher beat Swanson, 6-1, 6-3; Cannon beat Sutherland, 6-0, 6-2; Thielman beat Piper, 7-5, 6-1; Kazazic beat Carr, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8); Negley beat Bohnenkamp, 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles: Pederson-Cannon beat Hanson-Bhat, 6-2, 6-1; Venteicher-Dykstra beat Swanson-Sutherland, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Thielman-Kazazic beat Piper-Carr, 6-2, 6-1; Negley-White beat Bohnenkamp-Schulz, 6-1, 6-0; Darla-Spurgin beat Zhang-Brooks, 6-0, 6-2.