Girls tennis places eighth at H10 tournament

DENISON — After being cut short due to rain Wednesday, the Hawkeye 10 girls tennis tournament concluded Friday in Denison with the Panthers placing eighth.

Kuemper Catholic and Clarinda split the win, each scoring 25 points. The Panthers scored eight.

The six varsity players were divided into No. 1 singles, No. 2 singles, No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles for the tournament. Placing in the top eight earns team points.

Playing in the No. 1 singles position was junior Ava Adamson. She placed sixth in the tournament to earn three team points for the Panthers.

In round one, Adamson defeated senior Lilly Barnes from St. Albert 8-3. In the second round, she faced Denison-Schleswig’s Kiana Schulz, the 2-seed. Schulz won the matchup 8-0.

“Playing number one singles in this tournament is a tough task; this was a very good bracket,” Coach Kevin Cooper said. “It was a great experience for Ava to get to play against some great competition throughout the day. She got the chance to play three number ones including a seeded player.”

Adamson went on to win 8-4 twice in a row, the first against McKenzie Morris of Lewis Central and the second against Erica Rust of Harlan. In the final round, Kaylie Simons of Kuemper defeated Adamson 8-0.

Sasha Wurster, the No. 2 singles player, scored two team points in finishing seventh. In the first round, Wurster defeated Grace Manz of St. Albert 8-5, but in the second round she lost a close 8-6 battle with Clarinda’s Emma Stogdill.

“It was a great tournament for Sasha playing in number two singles,” Cooper said. “Every match she played in was close, and that will help her out for the rest this year and going into next year. Her second round match was so close, she had a late lead and was just unable to close it out.”

She won her third match 8-5 against Reese Meaike of Lewis Central but again lost 8-6 in her fourth bout against Scarlett McGuinnes of Harlan. The final round was a rematch with Manz, this one going to a tiebreaker. Wurster won the tiebreaker 7-4 to win the set 9-8 and take seventh.

In doubles, the No. 1 team of senior Josie Mahan and freshman Violet Marcus had back-to-back losses to exit the tournament early. The first set against Claire Leinen and Lynnae Johnson of Denison was an 8-6 loss while the second was an 8-3 loss to the team from Shenandoah.

“Josie and Violet played a very close match in round one, that could have gone either way,” Cooper said. “They have played well together this year, and we asked them to play in one of the toughest, most exciting brackets.”

The No. 2 doubles team of seniors Kolbey Bailey and Abbie Wheeler took sixth place as they won three bouts.

“Kolbey and Abbie had a very good tournament for us placing sixth in the number two doubles bracket,” Cooper said. “Their first round was a close match, and they were able to get it closed out, and then lost to the two seed in round two. They have been great for us this year and have played doubles together all year.”

The duo won their first bout 9-7, third round 8-1 and fourth 8-5. The final round they fell 8-4 to the team from Shenandoah.

Results from Monday’s regionals will be in Wednesday’s CNA.