The conditions weren’t conducive to clean, quality tennis, so the Bobcats were happy to win and win convincingly.

The Marshalltown boys’ tennis team overcame the elements and Des Moines East on Tuesday at the Marshalltown Court Complex, prevailing 10-1 in an Iowa Alliance Conference clash amid 40-degree temperatures and winds gusting up to 23 miles per hour.

The chill was ever-present for both teams, MHS head coach James Christensen reminded his squad, so it was going to be the tougher team that won on this day.

“When we were warming up this afternoon, we talked about how cold is a mindset and we just need to forget the wind, forget the cold because it’s the same for everybody,” Christensen said. “And I think for the most part everybody did a pretty good job of following through on that.”

The Bobcats (2-0) opened with a 5-0 sweep in doubles competition, sparked by a 6-0, 6-0 shutout for Jacob Seberger and Parker Christen at No. 3. Aaron Hunter and Ben Wirin recorded the next-best win for Marshalltown at No. 4 doubles, scoring a 6-0, 6-1 win over Andy Vasquez-Banegas and Zane Augustin. The No. 5 doubles pairing of Micah Goodwin and Zach Rasmussen claimed victory by the same score over Fahti Ahmed and Austin Heilman.

Elliot Kodis and Kyle Smith captured a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at No. 2, while Caleb Rasmussen and Evan Roush rattled off a 6-1, 6-4 triumph at No. 1.

The Bobcats kept the momentum going into singles play, where they scored straight-set sweeps in five of six contests to seal the dual. The lone loss came at No. 3 singles, where Roush fell to Jaylin Luong, 6-4, 6-4.

“Evan ran into a guy who played out of his mind today,” Christensen said. “He was just a couple shots away from turning it around from 4-6, 4-6 to 6-4, 6-4.”

Caleb Rasmussen represented MHS at the top of the singles lineup with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Julian Camacho, while Kodis came away with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Keegan Beattie-Cerveny.

Smith secured a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Logan Craigmile, while Seberger and Christen closed out the lineup with 6-0, 6-0 wins at Nos. 5 and 6.

“Caleb had a really good match at No. 1 and No. 1 doubles,” Christensen said. “He played within himself, used the wind to his advantage and didn’t overextend himself. Just played really smart tennis.

“I think Elliot, Evan and Kyle all had moments where they played fantastic, and they all had moments where they made it tough on themselves and had to find ways to battle their way out of that.”

In the end, Tuesday’s win went a long way to justify all the practice time spent outside on days of similar conditions.

“This is the reason why we don’t practice inside if it’s just cold, typically,” Christensen said. “If it’s dry and over 32 (degrees), we’ll be out here for at least a little while because we know we’re going to have to play in these conditions, and I think it gives us a leg up on some of the teams that tend to go inside a little bit more.

“High level tennis doesn’t get played today. This is survival tennis. Can you gut out a win? I didn’t learn a whole lot about physically what we’re capable of, but I did see a lot about their mental game.”

With Thursday’s match at Des Moines Hoover already wiped out by anticipated wet weather, Marshalltown’s next outing is back at home on Tuesday, April 14, with a home quadrangular including Hoover, Mason City and Ottumwa.

Marshalltown 10, Des Moines East 1

SINGLES

Caleb Rasmussen (MHS) def. Julian Camacho, 6-0, 6-0

Elliot Kodis (MHS) def. Keegan Beattie-Cerveny, 6-2, 6-0

Jaylin Luong (DME) def. Evan Roush, 6-4, 6-4

Kyle Smith (MHS) def. Logan Craigmile, 6-1, 6-2

Jacob Seberger (MHS) def. Angel Rojas, 6-0, 6-0

Parker Christen (MHS) def. Henry Montes-Rosales, 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES

Rasmussen and Roush (MHS) def. Camacho and Luong, 6-1, 6-4

Kodis and Smith (MHS) def. Beattie-Cerveny and Craigmile, 6-1, 6-1

Seberger and Christen (MHS) def. Rojas and Montes-Rosales, 6-0, 6-0

Aaron Hunter and Ben Wirin (MHS) def. Andy Vasquez-Banegas and Zane Augustin, 6-0, 6-1

Micah Goodwin and Zach Rasmussen (MHS) def. Fahti Ahmed and Austin Heilman, 6-0, 6-1