DES MOINES — The Marshalltown girls’ tennis team didn’t need to call on doubles to deliver against Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, but the Bobcats would have done anything to get that far against Dowling Catholic.

Tenth-ranked Marshalltown found its first loss of the season waiting in the form of a 5-0 defeat against No. 2 Dowling Catholic on Tuesday during the Class 2A regional finals at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center on the campus of Drake University.

Moved indoors due to the anticipated rain, Tuesday’s regional semifinals were over in a blur. Dowling Catholic blew through Lewis Central 5-0, while the Bobcats finished off Council Bluffs Jefferson 5-1.

In the contest to determine a state qualifier, the host Maroons made quick work of the Bobcats, too. But not as quick as even Marshalltown might have anticipated.

“We won a lot more games than I thought we would,” said MHS head coach John Fiscus. “It means that we can still compete or at least play tough and we don’t give up. This thing is a battle. Their girls are talented, very much so, and that’s why they’re No. 2 in the state, and our girls competed and played hard and got some games off of them so I was very proud.”

Marshalltown (13-1) racked up a relatively quick win over Council Bluffs Jefferson in Tuesday’s opener, prevailing 5-1 to avoid having to play doubles in the best-of-nine format.

Kennedy Feldman scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Alexis Poole at No. 1 singles, Kate Sandvick mowed down Alyssa Koppold 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2, and Kate Hauser scored a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Olivia Van Soelen.

Reese Jensen scored a 6-3 triumph at No. 5 singles to put the Bobcats on the verge of advancement with a 4-0 lead, but the Yellow Jackets (12-2) stole a match at No. 6 with Ida Bryan’s 6-4, 6-2 win over Ellie Downs.

It added some drama when Lily Zahnd lost her second set at No. 4 singles, but she rebounded in the third-set super-tiebreaker to beat Makenna Sorensen 6-2, 4-6, (10-5) to provide the finishing win for the match.

Marshalltown took at least one game in five of six singles bouts against Dowling Catholic, but the Maroons (10-3) were just too much in the end.

“Going into it we knew that Dowling was ranked and that they were really good, but like we said on the bus, maybe it’ll be an upset city so let’s try our best out there,” said Feldman. “I think we went out there and really did give it our all. I think we all play better when we’re playing against better people, so that was definitely really fun to do. And it’s cool to be inside at Drake too.”

The Bobcats put up most of their resistance in the first set of singles play, but the walls of the indoor courts started to close around Marshalltown in the second set.

Feldman fell 6-3, 6-0 to Grace Frye; Hauser lost 6-0, 6-1 to state singles qualifier Victoria Bakros at No. 3; Zahnd was downed 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4; Jensen was shut out 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5; and Downs was defeated 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6.

Sandvick was the last Bobcat standing at the end, trailing Juju Mauro 6-2, 4-3 when Dowling claimed its fifth and final singles win to bring the match to a close.

“We don’t see this competition and we haven’t seen it all year obviously because we beat everybody,” said Fiscus. “This is great competition and if this is the way it has to end, it’s not a bad thing.

“They’re all girls that do not want to lose and they’re always going to play hard because that’s the last thing they want to do. They don’t give up.”

Feldman and then-senior Rebekah Downs lost in the state doubles quarterfinals to Frye and Mauro last spring, 6-0, 6-0, and the Maroon duo went on to win the state title. Feldman and Sandvick were hoping to get a chance to see the same pair against on Tuesday, but Dowling didn’t seem as interested.

“Yeah we definitely wanted to get to doubles, that’s always the goal, but unfortunately that’s not what happened,” Feldman said. “But we tried our best.”

Feldman won three-straight games against Frye at No. 1 singles to prolong the first set after falling behind 5-0. Sandvick was still in the hunt at No. 2 against Mauro, even leading 3-2 during the second set.

“Singles will help them along the doubles route also because their girls came to the net just like you see in doubles,” Fiscus said, “so it forced our girls to try to go for passing shots and that was good and we had some. I cannot be disappointed at all.”

Feldman and Sandvick will take to the state doubles tournament on May 30-31 at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex in Iowa City, while the Bobcats’ team season is done.

Undefeated until Tuesday, the MHS squad was still smiling at the end of Tuesday’s play.

“It’s definitely sad because I love this team,” said Feldman, one of four seniors in the regional lineup. “We’re all such great friends and have good chemistry out there, so this being the last tennis meet ever for me is pretty said, but I’m glad it was against Dowling.”

The Maroons will face No. 6 Dubuque Hempstead (15-2) in the first round of state tournament play Saturday in West Des Moines.

Marshalltown 5, Council Bluffs Jefferson 1

SINGLES

Kennedy Feldman (MHS) def. Alexis Poole, 6-2, 6-2

Kate Sandvick (MHS) def. Alyssa Koppold, 6-0, 6-1

Kate Hauser (MHS) def. Olivia Van Soelen, 6-4, 6-1

Lily Zahnd (MHS) def. Rylee Perrine, 6-2, 4-6, (10-5)

Reese Jensen (MHS) def. Makenna Sorensen, 6-3, 6-0

Ida Bryan (CBJ) def. Ellie Downs, 6-4, 6-2

Dowling Catholic 5, Marshalltown 0

SINGLES

Grace Frye (DC) def. Feldman, 6-3, 6-3

Victoria Bakros (DC) def. Hauser, 6-0, 6-1

Ella Johnson (DC) def. Zahnd, 6-2, 6-0

Payton Blume (DC) def. Jensen, 6-0, 6-0

Mady Pierron (DC) def. Downs, 6-2, 6-1