It was do-or-die for both the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial boys’ tennis teams on Thursday.
Both squads needed victories in their final CIML Conference meets to have any hope of advancing to substate play in Class 2A, and the Hawks and Jaguars came through in the clutch.
Ankeny posted a 6-5 win over visiting Urbandale on its Senior Night. The Hawks got victories from Garrett Weichers at No. 1 singles, Michael Black at the No. 3 spot and Perez Perez at the No. 5 position to seal the triumph.
“It was nerve-wracking for sure,” said Ankeny coach Ron Miller, whose team had earlier won a trio of three-set matches in doubles.
Ankeny finished 2-6 in the conference and improved to 4-6 overall. The J-Hawks’ records dropped to 2-6 and 5-9.
Miller thinks the Hawks will be among the 32 teams selected for postseason play.
“It should be (enough),” he said. “We hope to find out today.”
Centennial coach Grant Menadue was also optimistic about his team’s chances after the Jaguars rolled to a 10-1 victory at Southeast Polk. The Rams’ lone win came at No. 1 singles.
Centennial finished in a sixth-place tie with Ankeny and Urbandale in the conference. The Jaguars improved to 2-6 in the league and 4-7 overall, while Southeast Polk fell to 0-8 and 0-11.
Nine of Centennial’s 10 wins came in straight sets. The only three-set match came at No. 4 doubles, where Tate Brooks and Michael May teamed up for a 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (8) win.
“We are certainly hoping to get in (to substate), but the criteria they are using to determine the top 32 teams is not entirely clear so we will see,” Menadue said. “We should know today!”
Here are the match-by-match results from both meets:
Ankeny 6, Urbandale 5
Singles: Weichers (A) beat Danenhauer, 6-0, 6-0; Malone (U) beat Schlosser, 6-4, 6-4; Black (A) beat Versteeg, 6-2, 6-0; Hull (U) beat Riesberg, 6-1, 6-2; Perez (A) beat Small, 6-2, 6-3; Nelson (U) beat Garcia, 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles: Weichers-Riesberg (A) beat Danenhauer-Malone, 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (3); Schlosser-Black (A) beat Versteeg-Hull, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (9); Perez-Garcia (A) beat Nelson-Burns, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 1-0 (6); Small-Siskow (U) beat Geest-Neal, 6-1, 6-2; Ruden-Reed (U) beat Sungren-Johnson, 6-3, 6-2.
Ankeny Centennial 10, Southeast Polk 1
Singles: Christiansen (SEP) beat Braun, 6-0, 7-5; George beat Marshall, 7-6 (4), 6-3; R. Dickinson beat Fuller, 6-1, 6-3; Goff beat Cech, 6-1, 6-3; Brazeau beat Peters, 6-2, 6-2; Kolars beat Knutzon, 7-5, 6-0.
Doubles: Braun-George beat Marshall-Fuller, 7-6 (5), 6-0; R. Dickinson-Goff beat Christiansen-Cech, 7-6 (5), 6-0; Brazeau-Kolars beat Peters-Schulte, 6-4, 6-2; Brooks-May beat Knutzon-Smith, 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (8); B. Dickinson-Law beat Thostenson-Johnson, 6-3, 6-2.