ANKENY — The Marshalltown girls’ tennis team got another taste of tournament play with a 1-2 showing at Ankeny’s Hawkette Invite on Friday at the Ankeny Tennis Center.

The Bobcats (6-4) beat the host Hawkettes, 8-3, before falling to Indianola, 11-0, and Southeast Polk, 7-4.

“Super competitive day in Ankeny,” said MHS head coach James Christensen. “It’s so fun to see the girls improve and the players that were able to jump into the lineup today proved they belong.”

One of those moments came in the clinching win for the Bobcats against Ankeny, as the No. 5 doubles team of Ciomara Villela and Briley McGrew got their first varsity wins with an 8-2 triumph over Morgan Olson and Tess Buffington.

Marshalltown took control of the dual with a 5-1 advantage in singles play, and the No. 5 team was the first of three doubles wins to finish off the victory.

Even without three regular varsity players in the lineup, the Bobcats scored triumph over the Central Iowa Metropolitan League foe.

“It was a great 8-3 win over Ankeny,” Christensen said. “Starting 5-1 in singles was clutch, and having our No. 5 doubles team clinch it on their first day playing varsity together was pretty special.”

The Bobcats got singles wins from positions 2-6, with No. 1 Ellie Downs suffering an 8-4 defeat to Liv North. Jorja Janssen eked out an 8-6 win at No. 2, while Lilyia Christen collected an 8-7 triumph at No. 3. Kaelyn Coleman battled out an 8-6 win at No. 4, and Trista Bratland got her first varsity singles win with an 8-7 victory at No. 6.

Hanna Osgood got the most lopsided singles win of the match, beating Emily Doubleday 8-2 at No. 5.

After Villela and McGrew clinched the team win, MHS added doubles victories at No. 2 from Downs and Coleman and at No. 3 doubles from Bratland and Ellison Wittkop.

Indianola aced the Bobcats on the team tally, but many of the head-to-head matches were hotly contested. Coleman put up the most fight at No. 4 singles, falling 8-7 to Ashley Schultz. Osgood lost 8-5 at No. 5 singles, while Janssen and Christen fell 8-4 at Nos. 2 and 3 singles.

Villela and McGrew had the best doubles battle against Indianola, falling 8-4 to Alana Moser and Kendall Hibbs.

A 7-4 defeat at the hands of Southeast Polk closed out the day for the Bobcats, who will have their lineup in full for Monday’s home dual against the Rams.

“Indianola was a very solid team and the girls are ready to get some revenge on Southeast Polk this Monday when we have our full lineup,” Christensen said.

Janssen and Christen captured singles wins against Southeast Polk, and the same duo teamed together for one of two doubles wins for Marshalltown. Janssen and Christen outlasted Jordan Evans and Kadie Cech for an 8-6 victory.

Wittkop and Bratland claimed an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles as well for MHS, beating Audra Doty and Emily Wall.

Vellila and McGrew got to within 8-7 of Ryen McRoberts and Claire Williams at No. 5 doubles, while Marshalltown’s No. 2 pairing of Downs and Coleman lost by the same score to Evans and Allie Schlickbernd.

Marshalltown’s home meet on Monday against Southeast Polk starts at 4 p.m.