Panther tennis teams sweep Shenandoah

In perhaps the biggest day of the season for the Creston/O-M tennis dual season to date, both the girls and boys squads picked up hard-fought victories over strong Shenandoah teams Thursday.

The Panther boys improved to 5-0 for the season by knocking off the Mustangs, 6-3, at the Southwestern Community College courts. Creston/O-M was on the verge of clinching the win after taking a 4-2 lead in singles competition, and then claimed for the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches. Shenandoah slipped to 2-5 for the season.

At Shenandoah, it came down to the No. 1 doubles match to break the 4-4 tie and the Panther senior duo of Jenna Taylor and Alli Thomsen prevailed, 8-3, for the one-point team victory. Creston improved to 5-1, while Shenandoah fell to 6-2.

“Tonight was a great team win for our girls program,” said Creston/O-M head coach Kevin Cooper. “It was 3-3 after singles, and that is a good spot for us to be in. We played doubles well. Shenandoah is one of the best programs we face year in and year out. Coach Daoust does a great job promoting tennis in Shenandoah, and they usually just reload each year. To go there and get a 5-4 win shows how well our girls played.”

Assistant coach Amanda Plymale accompanied the girls to Shenandoah and was pleased with how the Panthers identified their opponents’ weaknesses and attacked them.

“After singles wins by Alli Thomsen, Caitlin McIlravy and Ann Waigand we were tied at 3-3,” Plymale said. “We knew we needed to get two of the three doubles to win the meet. Sydney Dunphy and Caitlin McIlravy came out attacking the net and nailing their serves. After splitting in doubles, we were tied at 4-4 with Jenna and Alli still on the court. They were up 7-4 deuce point to close the match and seal the win for the team. This was good competition for us tonight and I’m excited to p;lay out the rest of our season and get into the conference tournament and postseason play.”

The ending of the boys meet wasn’t quite as dramatic, but the Panthers still had to win at least one doubles match to sew up the win after singles play. Shenandoah won the No. 1 doubles match on a 7-2 tiebreaker, but the Panthers took the next two matches.

“It was great to get a win with our boys team,” Cooper said. “We are still a pretty young team and I knew this was a dual that would be closely contested. Many of the matches were very close. We were 1-2 in those matches tonight and we have to get more resilient in finishing those close matches. Tomorrow night will be another big challenge for us when we face Clarke here in Creston. They are well-coached and are really playing well right now.”

GIRLS

Creston/O-M 5,

Shenandoah 4

Singles — Sarah Wood (S) def. Jenna Taylor (C/O-M), 8-5; Alli Thomsen (C/O-M) def. Jordyn Lembrick (S), 8-0; Caitlin McIlravy (C/O-M) def. Adriana Olague (S), 8-2; Marilyn Cepeda (S) def. Sydney Dunphy (C/O-M), 8-6; Jacee Hogue (S) def. Gracie Russell (C/O-M), 8-5; Ann Waigand (C/O-M) def. Delaney Bopp (S), 8-5.

Doubles — Taylor-Thomsen (C/O-M) def. Lembrick-Olague (S), 8-3; McIlravy-Dunphy (C/O-M) def. Wood-Bopp (S), 8-4; Cepeda-Hogue (S) def. Russell-Waigand (C/O-M), 8-3.

JV singles — Micayla Adkins (S) def. Megan Haley (C/O-M), 8-3; Paydon Whitehill (S) def. Mattie Wheeler (C/O-M), 8-1; Magi Jones (S) def. Chloe Hagle (C/O-M), 6-2; Mariah Munsinger (S) def. Ashley Bargstadt (C/O-M), 7-5; Preethi Reddi (S) def. Leah Stow (C/O-M), 6-2; Cheyanne Green (S) def. Macy Evans (C/O-M), 6-4; Madison Callahan (C/O-M) def. Hannah Ritchey (S), 7-6 (2); Maddie Woolery (S) def. Cassandra Anderson (C/O-M), 6-0; Doni Kinghorn (S) def. Mariah Harlan (C/O-M), 6-1; Britney Doyle (S) def. Livi Hartman (C/O-M), 6-1; Courtney Schuster (S) def. Katie Reed (C/O-M), 6-1; Rebecca Coleman (C/O-M) def. Alexus Willis (S), 7-5; Livi Hartman (C/O-M) def. Cydnee Kalkas (S), 6-3.

JV doubles — Adkins-Whitehill (S) def. Megan Haley-Mattie Wheeler (C/O-M), 8-3; Munsinger-Green (S) def. Chloe Hagle-Macy Evans (C/O-M), 6-2; Jones-Kinghorn (S) def. Stow-Bargstadt (C/O-M), 6-4; Ritchey-Redd (S) def. Madison Callahan-Ashley Bargstadt (C/O-M), 6-4; Woolery-Willis (S) def. Katie Reed-Mariah Harlan (C/O-M), 6-2; Kalkas-Schuster (S) def. Cassandra Anderson-R. Coleman (C/O-M), 6-3.

BOYS

Creston/O-M 6,

Shenandoah 3

Singles — Ryan Kucera (C/O-M) def. Dalton Stoaks (S), 10-2; Jacob Cook (C/O-M) def. Devon Ashenfelter (S), 10-5; Jaden Driskell (C/O-M) def. Brodie Jones (S), 11-9; Garrett lark (S) def. Triston Davidson (C/O-M), 10-2; John Laughlin (S) def. Sam Eagan (C/O-M), 10-8; Dustin Merritt (C/O-M) def. Jacob Buzzard (S), 10-4.

Doubles — Stoaks-Jones (S) def. Cook-Driskell (C/O-M), 11-10 (7-2); Kucera-Eagan (C/O-M) def. Ashenfelter-Clark (S), 10-2; Davidson-Merritt (C/O-M) def. Laughlin-Buzzard (S), 10-5.

JV singles — Jack Campbell (S) def. Dylan Anson (C/O-M), 6-4.

JV doubles — Mwezi Londa-Trevor Finnegan (S) def. Seth Maitlen-Joey Huntington (C/O-M), 6-4; Daniel Langley-Austin Perrin (S) def. Chris Foster-Dylan Nichols (C/O-M), 7-5; Jake Hitz-Clayton Davis (C/O-M) def. Carson Thompson-Mark Waigand (C/O-M), 6-1; Ethan Anderson-Walker Patterson (C/O-M) def. Gage Stanton-Jack Campbell (S), 6-0; Stanton-Perrin (S) def. Tucker Flynn-Kendall Crawford (C/O-M), 6-0; Londa-Finnegan (S) def. Izak Hribal-Brenton Barber (C/O-M), 6-1.