MHS netters split a marathon
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown senior Kate Sandvick lunges to make a backhand return during the No. 1 doubles match against Ottumwa on Thursday at the Marshalltown Court Complex. Sandvick and teammate Kaelyn Coleman traveled the comeback path to beat the Bulldogs’ Madalynn Sertterh and Sonya Lundgren, 3-6, 6-3, (10-6).
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown’s Hanna Osgood reaches to play an overhand smash during No. 2 doubles action against Ottumwa on Thursday at the Marshalltown Court Complex.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown’s Kaelyn Coleman hits a backhand return during No. 1 doubles action against Ottumwa on Thursday morning at the Marshalltown Court Complex.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Trista Bratland finishes off a forehand smash at the net during No. 2 doubles play against Ottumwa on Thursday morning at the Marshalltown Court Complex.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown senior Kate Sandvick lunges to make a backhand return during the No. 1 doubles match against Ottumwa on Thursday at the Marshalltown Court Complex. Sandvick and teammate Kaelyn Coleman traveled the comeback path to beat the Bulldogs’ Madalynn Sertterh and Sonya Lundgren, 3-6, 6-3, (10-6).
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown’s Hanna Osgood reaches to play an overhand smash during No. 2 doubles action against Ottumwa on Thursday at the Marshalltown Court Complex.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown’s Kaelyn Coleman hits a backhand return during No. 1 doubles action against Ottumwa on Thursday morning at the Marshalltown Court Complex.
T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Trista Bratland finishes off a forehand smash at the net during No. 2 doubles play against Ottumwa on Thursday morning at the Marshalltown Court Complex.
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The Marshalltown girls' tennis team hosted the antipodes of the Iowa Alliance Conference and came away with two equally disparate results.
The Bobcats split a pair of conference duals on Thursday at the Marshalltown Court Complex, falling 9-2 to Ottumwa before beating Mason City 10-1 in the nightcap.
The conference triangular featured a pair of lengthy duals, both of which involved the Bobcats. Marshalltown's No. 1 doubles team of Kate Sandvick and Kaelyn Coleman found momentum in the second set of their eventual three-set triumph, keeping the day's first dual on the courts long after the match had been decided. Sandvick and Coleman came back to beat Ottumwa's Madalynn Sertterh and Sonya Lundgren, 3-6, 6-3, (10-6), and Sandvick's 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sertterh was the Bobcats' only singles win as well.
Ottumwa (7-3, 4-0) took the rest of the matches in straight sets before beating Mason City in the second dual of the day.
Marshalltown (2-2, 1-1) and Mason City (1-4, 1-1) closed down the courts just before 8 p.m. after the Bobcats began the day at 10 a.m.
"A long day of tennis for sure," said MHS head coach James Christensen. "The girls showed a lot of determination today, with several girls stepping up to fill in for dinged-up Bobcats higher in the lineup."
Against the Riverhawks, Marshalltown took 5-of-6 singles bouts before sweeping all five doubles matches to score their first Alliance win of the season.
Three matches in the day's finale went into third-set super-tiebreakers, keeping the 'Cats on the court from sunrise to sunset.
Sandvick mowed down Mason City's Estella Huesman, 6-0, 6-0, in the No. 1 singles match.
"Kate was locked in for singles again and is going to be a problem for anyone she faces," Christensen said. "Kaelyn battled through some hip flexor issues and was great in doubles today."
Coleman came together with Hanna Osgood for a No. 1 doubles win over Mason City's Huesman and Lilly Geving, 6-0, 6-1, and Osgood got a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Berlin Iles at No. 2 singles.
"Hanna moved up a spot and was so fierce," Christensen added."
Geving outlasted Karolina Cross at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), (10-8) to get the Riverhawks' only win, but the Bobcats won Nos. 4-6 behind Sophie Boone, Trista Bratland and Melanie Sardina-Hernandez. Boone's 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Genevieve Foreshoe was her first varsity victory. Bratland took down Allison Long in a marathon match, 3-6, 6-4, (11-9), while Sardina-Hernandez tallied a 6-1, 6-3 win over Isobella Villarreal.
Bratland and Amairra Johnson got a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), (11-9) victory at No. 4 doubles, while Sardina-Hernandez and Devinny Stolzman teamed up for a 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) win at No. 3 doubles.
Cross and Boone cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Iles and Long, while Airi Hoven and Faith Rasmussen collectively earned their first varsity win with a 7-5, 6-2 decision at No. 5 doubles.
"Ottumwa was a very deep team that is the best we've seen so far," Christensen said. "Mason City gave us all we wanted with Trista and Amairra coming up clutch to finish the night with a super tiebreaker win."
Marshalltown dives right back into action today with the Hawkette Invite on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Ankeny Tennis Center.