Saturday marked the end of their high school tennis careers for several girls on the Ankeny Centennial squad, including two-time state qualifier Samara Peterson.
The Jaguars closed out their season with a 5-0 loss at Valley in the final of a Class 2A regional team tournament.
“We’ll certainly miss our seniors next year, but their impact will carry forward with this team,” said Centennial coach Alli Gustafson.
Centennial was hoping to avenge an 11-0 loss to the Tigers on Aug. 26. But Valley came out and swept the singles matches to improve its record to 15-0.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, finished the season at 7-8.
“Although our season has come to a close, the girls truly left everything on the court today,” Gustafson said. “We came in with the mindset to give it our all, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Peterson has battled a back injury all season, and it flared up again on Saturday. She withdrew from the No. 1 singles match after dropping the first set, 6-1.
Valley sealed the victory by posting straight-set wins at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 6 positions. The No. 5 match was then halted after Centennial’s Natalie Carr took a 1-0 lead in the second set after dropping the first set, 6-3.
Carr, Kalyani Bhat and Kaley Swanson also played their final matches for the Jaguars.
“Having faced Valley earlier in the season, we knew we needed to attack early to stay competitive, and the team rose to the challenge,” Gustafson said. “I couldn’t be prouder of how every player competed. Throughout the fall, we accomplished so much and achieved many of the goals we set at the start of the season.”
The state team tournament will be held on Oct. 6-7. Half of the Class 2A field will be comprised of CIML teams–Valley, Dowling Catholic, Johnston and Waukee Northwest.
Here are the Jaguars’ match-by-match results from Saturday’s meet:
Valley 5, Ankeny Centennial 0
Singles: Peterson 1-6, withdrew to injury; Baca 0-6, 0-6; Bhat 1-6, 1-6; Sutherland 1-6, 0-6; Carr 3-6, 1-0 (DNF); Swanson 0-6, 2-6.