Newton girls’ tennis team rolls past Oskaloosa

Notching their second dual victory in Little Hawkeye Conference tennis, Newton High’s Cardinal girls held serve, so to speak, on their home courts Tuesday.

“Osky plays a unique style that is very difficult to play against. Our practice got rained out Monday, so we didn’t get to cover it very much, but the girls did a great job adjusting on the fly and persevering,” Newton head coach Erick Zehr said.

“There were lots of tight matches and tense points, but they kept their focus and finished the points they needed to come away with the win.”

Oskaloosa’s Indians went home with just one match win, as the Cardinals won the meet, 10-1. The Cardinals captured all six singles matches, but two went to third-set tiebreakers.

Senior Kate Wyre bounced back after losing the second set to win 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 against Oskaloosa’s Macy Scharff at No. 2 singles.

Newton’s senior Sierra Griffith shook off a first-set loss to defeat Brooke Caves 1-6, 7-6 (3), 10-2 for the No. 3 singles match.

“Sierra dropped the first set, but hit her groove in the second and ended up cruising in the third,” Zehr said. “A lesser player might have folded after getting down early, but she did a great job grinding until the match swung in her favor.

“Kate got frustrated in the second down 2-5, but fought back to almost even up the second set and used that momentum to edge out the tiebreaker.”

Megan Pressgrove, a junior, netted a 6-2, 6-1 No. 1 singles win over Mary Yarkosky. Senior Madison Humphrey defeated Oskaloosa’s Shelby Briggs, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles.

In the No. 4 singles match, Newton’s Katherine Thorpe, a junior, beat Saydee Smith, 7-5, 6-1. Sophomore Bethany Baumgartner defeated Oskaloosa’s Jori VandenBerg, 6-1, 7-5, at No. 6 singles.

Zehr said there were changes among the Newton doubles teams with No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 having new partner pairs. He said the girls embraced the changes and focused on their new circumstances.

“All three played really well together and showed their flexibility,” he said.

Pressgrove and Wyre combined for a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 1 doubles for Newton over Yarkosky and Caves.

Oskaloosa’s lone win came at No. 2 doubles when Scharff and Smith outlasted Newton’s Griffith and Thorpe, 6-3, 2-6, 11-9.

At No. 3 doubles, Humphrey and Baumgartner racked up a 6-0, 6-4 win over the Indians’ VandenBerg and Josie Bunnell. Newton’s senior Elizabeth Myers and sophomore Kinzie Loree won the No. 4 doubles match, 6-1, 7-6 (4) over Kaity Richmond and Briggs.

Sophomore Natalie Camp and junior Leah Thomas gave Newton a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 doubles over Allison Chapman and Brynn Shaull.

Newton is 3-1 in duals and 2-1 in LHC play. The Cardinals play at 4:15 p.m. Thursday at Pella in conference action.

On Tuesday, the Newton junior varsity players saw action also.

Here are the junior varsity results:

Doubles matches

Rylie Bakalar and Stacie Sanger lost 6-4, Haley Walton and Sommer Markham won 5-4, Haley Rinehart and Anna Van Dam lost 6-3, Vlada Osadcha and Rachel Mullikin won 6-3, Bakalar and Sanger lost 6-1, Markham and Walton won 8-1, Bakalar and Sanger lost 6-2, Markham and Walton won 7-2, Rinehart and Van Dam won 7-2, Bakalar and Sanger lost 6-4, Osadcha and Mullikin won 7-0, Van Dam and Rinehart lost 5-4, Osadcha and Mullikin won 4-3.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com