(Red Oak) The Atlantic Girl’s Tennis team fell short in the Individual Regional Tournament at Red Oak on Wednesday.
Malena Woodward of Atlantic defeated Anjali Kathikar of Red Oak in a first-round singles match, 6-2, 4-6, 10-8. Jessica Sun of Shenandoah eliminated Woodward in the second round, 6-0, 6-0, Jessica Lukehart of Red Oak defeated Keira Olsen of Atlantic 6-0,6-0 in a first-round singles match.
In doubles, the Atlantic duo of Tessa and Nellie Grooms topped Tonna Damewood and Kendi Graham of Southwest Valley, 6-2, 6-3. The Grooms’ twins came back and defeated Emma Stogdill and Ellison Lovitt of Clarinda, 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. The Atlantic pair fell out of the tournament with a loss to Rhen Rolence and Merced Ramirez in the semi-finals, 7-5, 6-1.
Addi Schmitt and Aspen Niklasen, of Atlantic, won a first-round match over Libby Ehlers and Cheyenne Gough of Shenandoah, 7-6 (3), 6-1, and dropped out of the tourney with a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Ann Hagen, and Madison McKoy of Clarke.
“I thought we got some great play out of our girls today, ” said Atlantic Head Coach Mike McDermott. “Our top doubles team of Tessa and Nellie Grooms made a good run to the semi-finals and lost to the number #2 seed Rolenc and Ramirez from Red Oak. I don’t know if they were really excited about their play. They left some shots on the court but that’s tennis.”
“Addi Schmitt and Aspen Niklasen had a nice set in the opening round,” said McDermott. “Malena Woodward debuted with a win in singles, and Kiera Olson lost her first match, but gained some valuable experience for the future.”
