Persistence finally paid off on Friday for the Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis team.
The Jaguars traveled to Fort Dodge for a non-conference meet and posted a 9-2 victory for their first win of the season. They improved to 1-8 overall, while the Dodgers’ record fell to 5-4.
“The victory was truly a collective effort from the whole team, with every player contributing to the outcome,” said Centennial coach Alli Gustafson. “It was especially rewarding to see the skills and strategies we’ve been refining in practice come together in our match play.”
Gustafson praised the play of junior Kaley Swanson, who posted a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles and then combined with Natalie Carr for another victory at No. 3 doubles.
“Kaley had a strong showing in both singles and doubles,” she said. “She maintained control of the points and made smart adjustments based on her opponents’ play. She teamed up with Natalie to do the same in doubles!”
Another junior, Imrie Hanson, also had a good day. She won both of her matches as well.
“Imrie, after battling to secure a super-tiebreaker in singles, paired up with Ella (Sutherland),” Gustafson said. “They had a great match in doubles. Their ability to communicate, cover the court, and support one another throughout the match made them a strong pair.”
The Jaguars will return to CIML Conference action on Tuesday when they travel to Johnston to face the Dragons (13-0).
Here are the match-by-match results from Friday’s meet:
Centennial 9, Fort Dodge 2
Singles: Rodriguez (FD) beat Baca, 6-1, 6-3; Muftillaeva (FD) beat Bhat, 6-1, 6-1; Hanson beat Behrens, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9); Sutherland beat Larson, 7-5, 6-4; Swanson beat Hensley, 6-3, 6-2; Carr beat Folsom, 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles: Baca-Bhat beat Rodriguez-Behrens, 6-2, 6-3; Hanson-Sutherland beat Muftillaeva-Larson, 6-1, 6-2; Swanson-Carr beat Hensley-Derrig, 6-1, 6-3; Bohnenkamp-Schulz beat Thompson-Gochee, 6-3, 7-6 (6); Zhang-Weesner beat Carpenter-Rivera, 6-4, 6-2.