Five of the six varsity singles players won their matches, while the Bobcats (1-0) grabbed three of the five doubles sets to sit the Scarlets (0-1) down Tuesday afternoon. No. 1 Emily Miller jumped up to the top spot from being the No. 4 last year, and got her first win, 6-4, 7-5 against Michaela Verwos, as the Bobcats’ top dog.

Weather was mildly forgiving Tuesday, but it did more to hinder Tuesday’s match in the practices leading up than it did on the actual meet day.

The Bobcats got just five days of practice outside prior to the Des Moines East (0-1) meet, and head coach Blake Cutright said that might have had to do with some of the inconsistencies in the first meet of the year.

“It’s a practice thing,” Cutright said. “We haven’t had a whole lot of time outside and we’ve spent a little more time on singles than we have doubles. We’re about where I thought we would be, we just need to keep focusing on our footwork and playing smarter. We have to be able to get outside and practice and get into a rhythm.”

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • Sarah Jacobs returns a serve from Des Moines East’s Raceal Reidsora on Tuesday in her singles match. Jacobs won on a tiebreaker 6-2, 6-7, 11-9, and the Bobcats won 8-3 as a team.

The Bobcats closed out the afternoon with three doubles wins between Miller and Kaitlyn Martin, Maggie Grimm and Immaculate Edwin and Libby Loney and Sydney Mann. The duo of Loney and Mann helped clinch the meet for MHS, as it secured the sixth match win Tuesday.

Sarah Jacobs had a bit of a battle on her hands in her singles match. The junior paraded through her first set against Racheal Reidsora 6-2, but fell 7-6 (7-4) in the second set, heading to a super-tiebreaker. Jacobs even needed a little extra there, winning 11-9 in a first-to-10 points decider.

Martin had no troubles with Mailyn Haynl, winning 6-1, 6-1 in her singles matches.

Grimm edged out her first set 7-5 before trouncing to a 6-2, two-set win. Edwin also took care of business 6-1, 6-2 as well. Olivia Ryan had the only singles loss of the afternoon, 6-2, 7-5 to Tera Richardson.

Application of what they’re learning in practice to matches is the next step for the Bobcats in getting consecutive wins down the road. After winning their first game of the season last year, the Bobcats dropped 11-straight to finish 1-11. To avoid similar runnings, the girls will have to keep grinding, despite whatever Mother Nature throws at them.

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD

“I’m happy for our team for a win,” Cutright said. “It’s nice to come out and win our first match of the season. Hopefully that will give us a little confidence going into the rest of this week.”

It’ll be a stout week ahead for the Bobcats, as they head to Fort Dodge on Thursday and host Newton on Friday to cap off a three-meet week. Thursday’s meet begins at 4 p.m.

Marshalltown 8, Des Moines East 3

At Marshalltown

Singles

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD

Emily Miller (MHS) def. Michaela Verwos 6-4, 7-5

Kaitlyn Martin (MHS) def. Mailyn Haynl 6-1, 6-1

Maggie Grimm (MHS) def. Han Doca 7-5, 6-2

Immaculate Edwin (MHS) def. Valeria Cruz 6-1, 6-2

Sarah Jacobs (MHS) def. Racheal Reidsora 6-2, 6-7, 11-9

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD

Tera Richardson (DME) def. Olivia Ryan 6-2, 7-5

Doubles

Miller and Martin (MHS) def. Verwos and Haynl 4-6, 6-1, 10-5

Grimm and Edwin (MHS) def. Doca and Reidsora 6-3, 6-4

Cruz and Richardson (DME) def. Jacobs and Ryan 6-4, 6-1

Leslie Tiengkham and Anna Lui (DME) def. Aubrey Hala and Acacia Brown 7-5, 6-4

Libby Loney and Sydney Mann (MHS) def. D. Coutes and E. Youngwirth 6-2, 6-0.