Tennis searching for first H10 win

Friday the Panthers hosted Clarinda in a tennis dual, losing in a 9-0 sweep to the conference foe.

“Today was a tough day for our team; Clarinda is a really good team and really well coached,” coach Kevin Cooper said. “We just weren’t consistent enough and weren’t able to sustain rallies for a longer duration.”

Senior Carson Beer held the most competitive match, falling 8-4 against fellow senior Aidan Johnson in No. 3 singles. In No. 2 doubles, Beer and Dylan Dornack lost 8-4.

This season, the tennis team has been strongest in middle singles, led by Beer and Dornack who have accumulated 39 and 33 game wins, respectively.

At the top of the lineup, Tim Bartlett and Wesley Wires were defeated 8-0 and 8-1, respectively. In No. 1 singles, they fell 8-1 to the junior duo of Creighton Bird and Hayden Hash.

Seniors Malachi Webber and Wyatt Hitz rounded out singles play, both losing 8-0. In No. 3 doubles, the Webber and Hitz were able to come away with two game wins, falling 8-2 to Ian Smith and Eli Cox.

Today the Panthers travel to Shenandoah where they will compete in a triangular with the Mustangs and Harlan. The dual scheduled for Tuesday at home against Kuemper Catholic was canceled due to low numbers.

Thursday, the Panthers play at Clarke, their last dual of the regular season.