The scores from Tuesday’s meet at the Prairie Ridge courts didn’t reflect the progress of the Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis team.
The Jaguars opened CIML Conference play with an 11-0 loss to visiting Waukee Northwest, but Centennial coach Alli Gustafson felt like her team played much better against the Wolves than it did back on April 8.
Four months ago, Centennial opened the spring season with an 11-0 loss at Northwest, which won six of the matches without dropping a single game. The Wolves weren’t quite as dominant on Tuesday in their fall season opener.
“Our team made big strides from the spring and closed the gap in our play,” said Gustafson, whose team is now 2-2 overall. “Northwest is one of, if not the best, teams in the state. Compared to last season when we played them, today we saw better consistency, smarter play, and stronger court awareness across our lineup.”
The Jaguars won at least four games in four of the matches. They even won a set at No. 5 doubles, where Laura Schulz and Kali Snyder led much of the way before dropping a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (5) decision to Diya Kinariwala and Simone Johnson.
“Laura had some awesome movement in doubles,” Gustafson said. “She moved great, communicated well, and fought hard in a close super tiebreaker alongside her partner, Kali.
“We’re proud of the progress and are excited to keep building this season,” she added.
The Jaguars will face crosstown rival Ankeny on Thursday.
Here are the match-by-match results from Tuesday’s meet:
Waukee Northwest 11, Ankeny Centennial 0
Singles: Latta beat Peterson, 6-0, 6-0; Hilton beat Baca, 6-0, 6-1; Deines beat Bhat, 6-0, 6-0; Steffensmeier beat Sutherland, 6-1, 6-0; Weber beat Hanson, 6-1, 6-0; Sorrel beat Swanson, 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles: Hilton-Deines beat Peterson-Baca, 6-0, 6-0; Latta-Steffensmeier beat Bhat-Sutherland, 6-0, 6-0; Weber-Sorrel beat Hanson-Swanson, 6-1, 6-4; Stanger-Hammond beat Carr-Weesner, 6-2, 6-2; Kinariwala-Johnson beat Schulz-Snyder, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (5).