Ankeny senior Kira Smith proved again on Tuesday that she’s one of the state’s top girls’ tennis players–even when she’s not 100 percent.
Smith provided the Hawkettes’ lone victory during a 10-1 loss to visiting Waukee Northwest. She posted a 7-6 (3), 6-2 triumph over Riley Hilton at No. 1 singles.
“Kira started cramping after she went up 3-0 in the first set, but she willed her way through the first-set tiebreaker and the second set,” said Ankeny coach Steve Smith, Kira’s father. “Being able to beat the No. 4 player in the state while cramping almost the entire match tells a lot about the type of competitor she is.”
Smith, a two-time state placewinner, has yet to drop a set this season. She remains unranked even though she has defeated three top-10 opponents.
“Kira also has the highest UTR in the state,” said coach Smith.
Kira was then pulled from the doubles lineup after her legs locked up following her singles match. That forced Ankeny to switch its lineup, since three of the five doubles matches were already underway.
“So, we had Lilith (Francel) and Sophie (Schmitz) play No. 1 and we had Rucsandra Vlad–our top JV player–move all the way up to No. 2 doubles,” Smith said. “Lilith and Sophie were pushing Northwest’s No. 1 team in the second set–it was a strong performance. Satviki (Gorrela) and Rucsandra played well despite playing against Riley at No. 2.”
Hilton is one of three Northwest players ranked in the top 10 of Class 2A. Lexi Moen is ranked sixth, and London Taylor is seventh.
The Wolves won the other 10 matches without dropping more than two games in any of them. They improved to 6-1 in the CIML Conference and 9-1 overall, while Ankeny’s records dropped to 2-4 and 3-6.
“We knew it would be tough to beat the best team in the state, but it’s always great to hear during warmups that tonight was the first time they had their full singles and doubles lineups,” Smith joked.
Northwest’s only loss came to Johnston, 6-5, on April 17. The Dragons remained unbeaten on Tuesday with an 11-0 shutout over visiting Ankeny Centennial.
Johnston finished 8-0 in the league and raised its overall mark to 15-0. The Jaguars fell to 0-7 and 1-9.
In boys’ action, Ankeny dropped an 11-0 decision at Waukee Northwest. It was the sixth shutout of the season for the Wolves, who have lost only four matches combined in 10 meets against opponents from Iowa.
Northwest improved to 7-0 in the conference and 12-0 overall. The Hawks’ records fell to 1-6 and 1-7.
Centennial, meanwhile, suffered an 11-0 loss to visiting Johnston. The Jaguars dropped to 0-7 in the conference and 0-9 overall.
The Dragons improved to 7-1 and 11-1. Their only loss came to Northwest, 11-0.
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meets:
GIRLS
Waukee Northwest 10, Ankeny 1
Singles: Smith (A) beat Hilton, 7-6 (3), 6-2; Moen beat Francel, 6-0, 6-0; Taylor beat Schmitz, 6-0, 6-0; Deines beat North, 6-0, 6-0; Steffensmeier beat Hanley, 6-1, 6-0; Osier beat Gorrela, 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles: Taylor-Deines beat Francel-Schmitz, 6-0, 6-2; Hilton-Steffensmeier beat Gorrela-Vlad, 6-0, 6-0; Moen-Osier beat North-Hanley, 6-1, 6-1; Everett-Weber beat Quirk-Doyle, 6-1, 6-0; Hammond-Paulsen beat Johnson-Ventura, 6-1, 6-0.
Johnston 11, Centennial 0
Singles: Peterson beat Baca, 6-0, 6-0; Launderville beat Bhat, 6-1, 6-1; Lu beat Hanson, 6-0, 6-0; Studer beat Sutherland, 6-0, 6-2; Holub beat Swanson, 6-3, 6-0; Cope beat Carr, 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles: Peterson-Studer beat Baca-Bhat, 6-0, 6-0; Launderville-Lu beat Hanson-Sutherland, 6-0, 6-2; Holub-Cope beat Swanson-Carr, 6-0, 6-1; Veeder-Elsberry beat Piper-Gorsh, 6-1, 6-1; York-Behn beat Bohnenkamp-Schulz, 6-2, 6-0.
BOYS
Waukee Northwest 11, Ankeny 0
Singles: Nelson beat Victor, 6-1, 6-3; Croatt beat Weichers, 6-0, 6-2; Panda beat Schlosser, 6-2, 6-1; Fenton beat Black, 6-1, 6-0; Leuck beat Riesberg, 6-0, 6-1; Elfers beat James, 6-1, 6-2.
Doubles: Beekhuis-Kothari beat Victor-Weichers, 6-2, 6-1; Flynn-Steffensmeier beat Schlosser-Black, 6-1, 6-1; Tingley-Wang beat Riesberg-James, 6-1, 6-0; Latta-Wetzel beat Geest-Stille, 6-0, 6-0; Clark-Poyser beat Garcia-Olson, 6-0, 6-1.
Johnston 11, Centennial 0
Singles: Kumaresan beat Malone, 6-1, 6-0; Patel beat Braun, 6-1, 6-2; Austin beat Dickinson, 6-0, 6-0; Huneke beat Earp, 6-0, 6-0; Mills beat George, 6-1, 6-1; Herrmann beat Sinclair, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles: Kumaresan-Patel beat Malone-Braun, 6-0, 6-0; Austin-Huneke beat Dickinson-George, 6-1, 6-2; Mills-Herrmann beat Earp-Sinclair, 6-3, 6-4; Jithendra-Zou beat Brazeau-Hurd, 6-2, 6-0; Keeling-Finken beat Goff-Zhang, 6-3, 7-5.
