Newton boys tennis stays unbeaten in LHC play

PELLA — Five Cardinals were part of two wins and the Newton boys tennis team stayed unbeaten in Little Hawkeye Conference action with a road win over Pella Christian on Thursday.

The Cardinals won five matches in both singles and doubles to down the Eagles 10-1.

“I’m really proud of how our guys played tonight,” Newton head boys tennis coach Jared Gerber said. “We battled against a delay due to wet courts and wind throughout the whole match.

“They stayed mentally strong and positive and supported their teammates the best since I’ve starting coaching.”

Newton, which won just four matches last season against the Eagles, went 4-1 in three-set matches and won six matches in straight sets.

Ethan Valtman, Evan Marshall, Harrison Oswalt, Andrew Wiles and Ezra Bartell all won in singles and got doubles victories to lead the Cardinals.

“Ethan dropped the second set but stayed mentally strong and came back to win the tiebreaker,” Gerber said. “Stone and Brady and Ethan (Freese) and Seth both lost their first set in doubles but battled back to win in the third-set tiebreaker, too.

“We have a lot of energy and momentum heading into next week when we have four matches.”

Valtman opened his No. 1 singles match with a 6-3 win. After a 6-0 loss in the second set, Valtman flipped the script to win the match after a 10-3 victory in the third set.

Wiles also needed three sets to win his No. 4 singles match. He opened with a 6-4 win, lost the second set 6-4 and then scored the win following a 10-7 victory in the tiebreaker.

Marshall won his match at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-2. Oswalt was a 6-3, 6-1 winner at No. 3 singles and Bartell won his No. 5 singles match 6-4, 6-2.

The lone loss for the day came at No. 6 singles where Damien Smith fell in three sets. The third set was 12-10.

The top three doubles teams all won in straight sets. Valtman and Marshall won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles, Wiles and Oswalt were 7-5, 6-0 winners at No. 2 doubles and Bartell and Smith scored a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles.

Ethan Freese and Seth Adams dropped their first set 6-2 at No. 4 doubles. But the duo rallied to win 6-3, 10-2 to take the match.

Brady Swihart and Stone Lillard fell 6-1 in their first set at No. 5 doubles. They also rallied to win 6-3, 10-5 to complete the victory.

Newton improved to 2-1 and 2-0 in the conference. Pella Christian dropped to 1-2 and 1-1 in the league.