Girls tennis splits home meets

Creston girls split a pair of home meets against Southwest Valley and Clarke, while the Panther boys fell to a veteran-laden Southwest Valley team in tennis action early this week.

The Creston girls defeated Southwest Valley Monday, 6-3. Ava Adamson was one of four Panther singles winners, prevailing over Karissa Richey by tiebreaker, 7-3. Adamson also won her singles match by tiebreaker against Clarke on Tuesday.

Monday’s team win was clinched by taking two of three doubles matches, including a a dominant 8-1 performance by senior Josie Mahan and freshman Violet Marcus. Kolbey Bailey and Abbie Wheeler combined for an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles after each won their singles match.

“Assistant Coach Micayla Taylor said Richey played really hard, and came so close to pulling off a big win over a very good number two player in Adamson,” Southwest Valley head coach Steve McGrew said. “Charlee [Larsen] and Maddie [Bevington] stay undefeated for the season as both are now 6-0 in doubles and 3-0 in singles, respectively.”

“It was great to get on the court and come out with a victory,” Creston coach Kevin Cooper said. “It is early in the season and we have a chance to improve. We had some close matches that went our way and that was the difference in the dual.”

The Southwest Valley boys, led by senior state qualifier Evan Timmerman, topped the Panthers 7-2 at Corning. Creston was without No. 1 singles player Conner Wiley, who has been hampered with an elbow injury that sidelined him from basketball.

“It was a great start for Evan to shut out his opponents in both singles and doubles,” McGrew said. “Comparison scores in singles, especially, are scrutinized when it comes to determining district individual seeds. I felt very confident that we would handle our business at one and two singles and one doubles. I was curious to see how we would do in the rest.”

Damion Meyer was the lone Panther singles winner and teamed with Ben Hill for an 8-2 victory at No 2 doubles.

“Meyer was a very good mover around the court, and I think Slate pressed too much,” McGrew said. “He did rally from 2-7 to 5-7, but just wasn’t consistent enough on the groundstrokes. But he is a great player with veteran experience. I truly believe he will bounce back strong tomorrow.”

“It was a tough day for our boys team,” Cooper said. “We were missing a few kids and others moved up and filled in for us. Southwest Valley won a few close matches that had a big impact on the dual score. We have to continue to work to get better as we progress throughout the season.”

Clarke’s veteran girls squad defeated Creston 6-3 on Tuesday. Panther seniors Josie Mahan, Kolbey Bailey, Abbie Wheeler and Abby Collins were honored prior to the match with their parents.

Adamson won her second tiebreaker singles match of the week, and Bailey and Wheeler also picked up singles victories for the Panthers, now 1-2. Clarke swept the doubles matches.

“It was a perfect night for tennis, but we faced an uphill challenge playing Clarke tonight,” Cooper said. “They are always good, and they had five seniors on their team. We played singles really well and won some close matches. Our doubles shots continue to be way too inconsistent and passive. We have to improve on that facet of our game.”

Creston girls host Red Oak today (Thursday).

GIRLS

Creston 6, Southwest Valley 3

Singles — Charlee Larsen (SWV) def. Josie Mahan (Cr), 8-2; Ava Adamson (Cr) def. Karissa Richey (SWV), 9-8 (7-3); Maddie Bevington (SWV) def. Sasha Wurster (Cr), 8-3; Kolbey Bailey (Cr) def. Natalia Zimmerman (SWV), 8-5; Violet Marcus (Cr) def. Deklyn Mullen (SWV), 8-4; Abbie Wheeler (Cr) def. Layla Konecne (SWV), 8-2.

Doubles — Larsen-Bevington (SWV) def. Adamson-Wurster (Cr), 8-3; Mahan-Marcus (Cr) def. Richey-Zimmerman (Cr), 8-1; Bailey-Wheeler (Cr) def. Mullen-Ray Helvie (SWV), 8-6.

JV singles — Hollyn Rieck (Cr) def. Ray Helvie (SWV), 4-0; Kennedy Strider (Cr) def. Mailee Templeton (SWV), 4-0.

JV doubles — Rieck-Strider (Cr) def. Konecne-Templeton (SWV), 4-1.

Clarke 6, Creston 3

Singles — Maddy McCoy (Clarke) def. Josie Mahan (Cr), 8-4; Ava Adamson (Cr) def. Ava Hagen (Clarke), 9-8 (7-5); Maisy McCoy (Clarke) def. Sasha Wurster (Cr), 8-6; Kolbey Bailey (Cr) def. Marissa Bakley (Clarke), 8-6; Ali Henry (Clarke) def. Violet Marcus (Cr), 8-4; Abbie Wheeler (Cr) def. Maisey White (Clarke), 9-8 (11-9).

Doubles — Maddy McCoy-Hagen (Clarke) def. Adamson-Wurster (Cr), 8-1; Maisy McCoy-Bakley (Clarke) def. Mahan-Marcus (Cr), 8-6; Henry-White (Clarke) def. Bailey-Wheeler (Cr), 8-2.

JV singles — Hollyn Rieck (Cr) def. Mylee Miller (Clarke), 4-0; Emily Glenn (Clarke) def. Kennedy Strider (Cr), 4-3; Abby Collins (Cr) def. Kiera McLain (Clarke), 4-0; Jana Peavler (Cr) def. Aryanna Hewlett (Clarke), 4-0; Emma Williams (Clarke) def. Alexis Bendt (Cr), 4-2; Collins (Cr) def. Emma Arnold (Clarke), 4-0; Caytlyn Wipperman (Cr) def. Hannah Russo (Clarke), 4-0; Angela Zaragoza-Rosales (Clarke) def. Savannah Jaques (Cr), 4-3; Liliana Landerous-Rosales (Clarke) def. Alexis Bendt (Cr), 4-0.

JV doubles — Rieck-Strider (Cr) def. Miller-Glenn (Clarke), 4-2; McClain-Hewlett (Clarke) def. Collins-Peavler (Cr), 4-0; Jaques-Wipperman (Cr) def. Williams-Arnold (Clarke), 4-1; Peavler-Bendt (Cr) def. Russo-A. Zaragoza-Rosales (Clarke), 4-0; Wipperman-Jaques (Cr) def. Arnold-Liliana Landerous-Rosales (Clarke), 4-0.

BOYS

Southwest Valley 7, Creston 2

Singles — Evan Timmerman (SWV) def. Gavin Millslagle (Cr), 8-0; Owen Paul (SWV) def. Lucas Rushing (Cr), 8-3; Damion Meyer (Cr) def. Slate Goodvin-Kinnaird (SWV), 8-5; Parker Boswell (SWV) def. Ben Hill (Cr), 8-5; Lucas James (SWV) def. Spencer Brown (Cr), 9-7; Matthew Means (SWV) def. Ben Rushing (Cr), 8-1.

Doubles — Timmerman-Paul (SWV) def. Millslagle-Rushing (Cr), 8-0; Meyer-Hill (Cr) def. Kinnaird-Boswell (SWV), 8-2; Means-Quaid Eddy (SWV) def. Brown-Rushing (Cr), 8-3.

JV singles — Quaid Eddy (SWV) def. Wesley Wires (Cr), 8-6; Wires (Cr) def. Ashton Boswell (SWV), 8-2.