The Marshalltown girls’ tennis team again experienced something new in this inaugural fall season: defeat.

The Bobcats suffered their first dual meet loss on the back end of Thursday’s Iowa Alliance Conference triangular, slamming Mason City before falling to Ottumwa at the Marshalltown Court Complex.

The loss ends a remarkable run of success for Marshalltown, which didn’t lose a regular-season dual meet in the spring of 2025 or 2024. The Bobcats’ last such setback was on May 5, 2023, against Norwalk at the Ankeny Quad.

It wasn’t a dispiriting loss for Marshalltown, rather a viable lesson in the team’s continued rebuild from a lot of roster turnover.

“This match was a great learning experience for the girls and showed them what it takes to compete at that next level of play,” said MHS head coach James Christensen.

The Bobcats (3-1, 2-1) began the day with a beatdown of Mason City, 11-0. The visiting Riverhawks had only seven girls in tow, forcing them to forfeit the last two doubles positions.

Marshalltown didn’t need the help, sweeping all six singles matches to take the meet before it reached doubles play.

MHS allowed no more than three games in any set victory over the Riverhawks (0-3, 0-2), and that only happened once. Two singles wins — at No. 1 by Kate Sandvick and No. 6 by Taylor Bear — were 6-0, 6-0 sweeps. The win for Bear was her first in varsity singles competition.

Ellie Downs, Lilyia Christen, Jorja Janssen and Kaelyn Coleman helped Marshalltown complete the singles sweep, and the Bobcats finished it off with three more match victories in doubles action.

Sandvick and Downs racked up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Estella Huesman and Avery Fiser at No. 1, while Christen and Janssen scored a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Tammy Nguyen and Ryleigh Penn at No. 2. Coleman and Hanna Osgood closed out the win with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jenna Foreshoe and Lexi McGill.

Wins were a lot harder to come by against an Ottumwa squad that returned six members of the starting lineup during the spring season.

Sandvick improved to 3-1 at No. 1 singles with a 6-4, 6-0 sweep over Jordan Lee, while Janssen moved to 4-0 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ilana Vascouez.

The visiting Bulldogs (2-0, 2-0) won all of their eight matches in straight sets.

“Ottumwa was a very solid, experienced squad,” said Christensen. “Kate and Jorja fought hard for their victories in singles, placing the ball really well.

Marshalltown’s lone doubles win came from the top spot as Sandvick and Downs remained undefeated at 4-0 this season with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 triumph over Lee and Madalynn Sertterh.

“Kate and Ellie continue to be a bright spot in doubles,” Christensen said. “They really bring out the best in each other.”

Marshalltown’s next three meets are away from home, starting with Tuesday’s dual meet at Des Moines East. The Bobcats play another triangular on Thursday, Aug. 21, alongside Des Moines Hoover at Boone, and Ankeny’s Hawkette Invite is Friday, Aug. 22, at the Ankeny Tennis Center.

Marshalltown 11, Mason City 0

SINGLES

Kate Sandvick (MHS) def. Estella Huesman, 6-0, 6-0

Ellie Downs (MHS) def. Avery Fiser, 6-1, 6-1

Lilyia Christen (MHS) def. Tammy Nguyen, 6-2, 6-0

Jorja Janssen (MHS) def. Ryleigh Penn, 6-1, 6-1

Kaelyn Coleman (MHS) def. Berlin Iles, 6-0, 6-3

Taylor Bear (MHS) def. Genevieve Foreshoe, 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES

Sandvick and Downs (MHS) def. Huesman and Fiser, 6-2, 6-2

Christen and Janssen (MHS) def. Nguyen and Penn, 6-1, 6-1

Coleman and Hanna Osgood (MHS) def. Foreshoe and Lexi McGill, 6-1, 6-0

Bear and Grace Diggins (MHS) won by forfeit

Trista Bratland and Ellison Wittkop (MHS) won by forfeit

Ottumwa 8, Marshalltown 3

SINGLES

Sandvick (MHS) def. Jordan Lee, 6-4, 6-0

Madalynn Sertterh (O) def. Downs, 6-0, 6-0

Sonya Lundgren (O) def. Christen, 6-1, 6-2

Janssen (MHS) def. Ilana Vascouez, 6-1, 6-4

Ava Barnes (O) def. Coleman, 6-1, 6-3

Emerson Keith (O) def. Diggins, 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES

Sandvick and Downs (MHS) def. Lee and Sertterh, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4

Vascouez and Keith (O) def. Christen and Janssen, 6-2, 6-0

Barnes and Naw Clay (O) def. Coleman and Osgood, 6-2, 6-1

Lundgren and Abigail Ellison (O) def. Diggins and Bear, 6-3, 6-4

Jaslyn Parsypo and Ana Toloza (O) def. Bratland and Wittkop, 6-4, 6-2