Girls tennis: Bulldogs open season
WATERLOO — The Ottumwa High School girls tennis team got the program's first fall season off to a competitive start, returning to Byrnes Park for the Chuck Schupbach Memorial Invitational on Saturday.
Ottumwa finished in fourth place with 13 points in the tournament, including third-place finishes from four individuals in singles play. Jordan Lee, making her debut as Ottumwa's top singles player, matched by Madalynn Sertterh who finished in third in the No. 3 singles portion of the tournament.
Ilana Vasconez, making her varsity girls tennis debut, also ended up third in the No. 5 singles missing out on a runner-up finish on a tiebraker. Emerson Keith also finished third due to a tiebreaker in the No. 6 singles tournament.
Keith and Vasconez, playing as a doubles team for the first time, finished fourth in No. 3 doubles play. Several Bulldog players experienced success in doubles play, including three wins in three matches by Yasmine Ghazal-Monohon and Devin Kozak as well as 2-0 marks by the teams of Abigail Ellison and Jaslyn Parsypo as well as Giselle Cordova and Harper Bradley.
"All 12 players were able to find success, build confidence and get some great match experience," Ottumwa head girls tennis coach Leanna White said. "All of our top six girls played so many games that came down to deuce points. This was all about starting our season off on a great note. The players definitely accomplished that."
Ottumwa picked up a pair of wins on Thursday in an Iowa Alliance triangular at Marshalltown with the Bobcats and Mason City. After sweeping the short-handed Mohawks, who were playing without two of their starters, the Bulldogs put away an 8-3 win over Marshalltown winning four of five matches in doubles play to clinch the second dual win of the day.
"The girls played a high level of tennis," White said. "We have created some great combinations of girls that are aggressive, great at communicating and are strong."
Ottumwa (2-0) heads to Des Moines Roosevelt on Monday in a pivotal battle between the top team teams in the Iowa Alliance Conference's south division. The Bulldogs play their first home dual of the new fall season on Tuesday against Ames.
GIRLS TENNIS
Ottumwa 9, Mason City 0
Singles results
Jordan Lee (O) def. Estella Huesman (MC), 6-2, 6-0; Madalynn Sertterh (O) def. Avery Fiser (MC), 6-2, 6-0; Sonya Lundgren (O) def. Tammy Nguyen (MC), 6-1, 6-1; Ilana Vasconez (O) def. Ryleigh Penn (MC), 6-1, 6-1; Ava Barnes (O) def. Berlin Iles (MC), 6-1, 6-0; Abigail Ellison (O) def. Genna Foreshoe (MC), 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles results
Barnes and Naw Clay (O) def. Huesman and Fiser (MC), 6-3, 6-0; Jasyln Parsypo and Analia Toloza (O) def. Nguyen and Penn (MC), 6-1, 6-1; Harper Bradley and Giselle Cordova (O) def. Iles and McGill (MC), 6-0, 6-0.
Ottumwa 8, Marshalltown 3
Singles results
Kate Sandvick (M) def. Lee (O) 6-4, 6-1; Sertterh (O) def. Ellie Downs (M), 6-0, 6-0; Lundgren (O) def. Lilyia Christen (M), 6-0, 6-2; Jorja Janssen (M) def. Vasconez (O), 6-1, 6-4; Barnes (O) def. Kaelyn Coleman (M), 6-3, 6-0; Emerson Keith (O) def. Grace Diggins (M), 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles results
Sandvick and Downs (M) def. Lee and Sertterh (O), 7-6 (2), 6-3; Vasconez and Keith (O) def. Christen and Janssen (M), 6-2, 6-0; Barnes and Clay (O) def. Coleman and Hanna Osgood (M), 6-2, 6-1; Lundgren and Ellison (O) def. Diggins and Taylor Bear (M), 6-3, 6-2; Parsypo and Toloza (O) def. Trista Bratland and Ellison Wittkop (M), 6-3, 6-1.
