The Marshalltown boys’ tennis team had no illusions about its opponent.

Southeast Polk entered Monday’s match winless in dual meet action, but the Bobcats refused to acquiesce.

A pair of come-from-behind barnburners closed out singles play as the exclamation point at the end of Marshalltown’s 11-0 statement win over Southeast Polk on Monday at the Marshalltown Court Complex.

The Bobcats (7-0) remained unbeaten themselves while turning back the Rams (0-7) in a far more combative contest than the final score indicated.

“Southeast Polk played well, and it took us a little bit to get going,” said MHS head coach James Christensen. “Doubles started off a little sketchy, but we kind of kicked it into gear, and then in singles play, when we needed to we had it. Sometimes it took a little prodding, whether it was a sketchy call or just a stretch where we forgot how to play tennis, but we were able to figure it out and kick it back in when it mattered.”

Marshalltown swept all five doubles bouts to start the dual, which was slightly delayed due to rain that fell in the hour leading up to the match. The Bobcats put work in on the courts to clear the saturation before taking up their rackets, and the result was a rocky start almost across the board.

The most convincing victory of the day for MHS came at No. 5 doubles, where Max Scheier and Zachary Rasmussen notched a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Bennet Bartels and Darren Thostenson. It kickstarted Marshalltown’s move to a 5-0 sweep as all five doubles bouts were decided in straight sets, but Southeast Polk took plenty of points of its own.

The non-conference clash remained up in the air for a while before Marshalltown’s No. 1 singles player Caleb Rasmussen finished off Micah Christiansen in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-0.

The rest of the singles matches started to fall in the Bobcats’ favor despite a number of games going to the Rams, but two battles raged on.

Marshalltown senior Kyle Smith and junior Elliot Kodis both came back from first-set losses, sparked in one way or another by the outcome of those openers. Smith traveled the comeback trail at No. 3 singles to finish off Cohen Fuller, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, (10-7), while Kodis rode the momentum of frustration for a 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, (10-6) victory over Jacoby Marshall at No. 2 to close out the dual.

A disputed line call closed out the first-set tiebreaker in Marshall’s favor, and Kodis looked like a different player the rest of the way. Smith, an all-conference basketball player for the Bobcats, simply doesn’t like losing.

“I didn’t want to say it until the match was over, but I was happy that Elliot lost a set there and had to dig himself out,” said Christensen. “Same with Kyle. Those are positions that they hadn’t been in this year at all, and to be able to come back, that’s going to come in handy for us later.

“They’re not going to feel good about it today, but it’ll help them later on.”

Both comeback wins were celebratory cherries on top of Monday’s cold and windy clash against an opponent far better than its record.

“These guys are 0-7, but look at who they’ve played,” Christensen said. “They just got done with Waukee Northwest and this school and that school, but we know they’re always competitive guys. They’re a gritty team to play against and that’s fun.

“Aside from Caleb, everyone else got to play against some similar players to themselves, which is tough to replicate in practice because we only have one Elliot Kodis, we only have one Kyle Smith. To be able to play against somebody similar to them was nice.”

The Bobcats are back at it again today with a 4 p.m. contest at home against Des Moines Lincoln, and Marshalltown hosts a four-team meet on Friday as Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Mason City and West Des Moines Valley come to visit.

Marshalltown 11, Southeast Polk 0

SINGLES

Caleb Rasmussen (MHS) def. Micah Christiansen, 6-2, 6-0

Elliot Kodis (MHS) def. Jacoby Marshall, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, (10-6)

Kyle Smith (MHS) def. Cohen Fuller, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, (10-7)

Evan Roush (MHS) def. Tyler Cunningham, 7-5, 6-1

Jacob Seberger (MHS) def. Kyle Cech, 6-3, 6-4

Parker Christen (MHS) def. Landon Knutzon, 6-3, 7-5

DOUBLES

Rasmussen and Smith (MHS) def. Marshall and Fuller, 6-3, 6-2

Kodis and Roush (MHS) def. Christiansen and Cech, 6-2, 6-1

Seberger and Christen (MHS) def. Cunningham and Lincoln Peters, 6-2, 7-5

Jacob Hayes and Aaron Hunter (MHS) def. Knutzon and Gage Schulte, 6-4, 6-2

Max Scheier and Zachary Rasmussen (MHS) def. Bennet Bartels and Darren Thostenson, 6-0, 6-1