Ankeny Centennial girls’ tennis coach Alli Gustafson tried to look on the bright side.
Although the Jaguars dropped an 11-0 decision to visiting Dowling Catholic on Thursday, Gustafson was proud of her team’s effort against one of the state’s top squads.
“Today was a challenging meet against a very strong Dowling team,” Gustafson said. “While the overall score didn’t go our way, we had some great individual wins and strong moments throughout the meet.”
Dowling won 10 of the 11 matches in straight sets. The Maroons improved to 2-1 in the CIML Conference and 3-2 overall, while Centennial’s records fell to 0-2 and 1-5.
“Across the board, it was great to see the girls putting into action what we have been working on in practice, especially at the net,” Gustafson said. “There were several strong volleys and aggressive plays that showed their continued growth and willingness to take advantage of opportunities.”
The closest match of the day came at No. 5 doubles, where Centennial’s Brinnlie Erickson and Lillian Evans won the second set before the Dowling duo of Anne Gabrilson and Abby Lanigan held off the Jaguars’ rally for a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6) victory.
“Brinnlie and Lilly had a great doubles match, forcing a super-tiebreaker after battling back to take the second set,” Gustafson said. “They worked well together as a team and competed hard throughout the match. Although the super-tiebreaker didn’t fall our way, they had a very strong showing!”
The Jaguars will travel to Southeast Polk on Tuesday for a conference meet against the Rams, who are 0-2 in the league after dropping a 6-5 decision to Ankeny on Thursday.
“We will take what we learned today and continue working hard as we prepare for our next meet,” Gustafson said.
Here are the match-by-match results from Thursday’s meet:
Dowling Catholic 11, Ankeny Centennial 0
Singles: Shell beat Baca, 6-1, 6-0; B. Johnson beat Sutherland, 6-0, 6-1; Edward beat Schulz, 6-1, 6-0; Frye beat Bohnenkamp, 6-0, 6-0; J. Johnson beat Oliver, 6-0, 6-0; Valverde beat Pedersen, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles: Shell-B. Johnson beat Baca-Bohnenkamp, 6-0, 6-0; Edward-J. Johnson beat Sutherland-Schulz, 6-3, 6-3; Frye-Claypool beat Pedersen-Makovec, 6-2, 6-2; Valverde-Smith beat Oliver-Heyer, 6-2, 6-1; Gabrilson-Lanigan beat Erickson-Evans, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6).
