Newton girls tennis finishes fourth at conference tournament

PELLA — Three fourth-place finishes led the Newton girls tennis team to fourth as a team during the Little Hawkeye Conference tournament on Wednesday.

Lauryn Garrett and Madison Rinehart both finished fourth in their singles brackets and a Cardinals’ doubles team also took fourth. That helped Newton score 24 points in fourth.

Host Pella won the conference championship with 52 points, while Norwalk and Indianola both scored 36 to complete the top three. The Cardinals were five points better than Dallas Center-Grimes (19), seven clear of Oskaloosa (17) and 10 ahead of Pella Christian (14) in the final standings.

Garrett was seeded fourth in Flight 1 singles and won her first match 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). She fell to top-seeded and eventual champion Emily Blom of Pella in the semifinals and then injury defaulted the third-place match.

Rinehart also went 1-2 at Flight 2 singles. She was seeded third and opened the tournament with a 6-3, 6-1 win before losing twice in straight sets.

Ella Swarts and Olivia Hotchkin were seeded seventh but finished fourth at No. 1 doubles. They opened with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the No. 2 seed from Pella Christian before suffering a pair of three-set losses.

Izzy Wilson and Paige Benson were seeded sixth and finished sixth at Flight 2 doubles. Their 6-1, 6-1 win was sandwiched between a pair of three-set losses.