Newton girls fall in quarters, eliminated from individual state tennis tourney

PELLA — The Newton girls tennis team got wins from both singles players and a pair of doubles teams during the Class 1A Region 3 individual tournament at Pella High School on Monday.

But the Cardinals ended their day in quarterfinals in all four brackets.

Paige Benson and Alexis Dirksen both finished 1-1 in singles, while Sloan Brodersen and Morgan Frehse teamed up to go 1-1 in doubles.

Emersyn Gross and Brooklyn Sterling did win twice for the day. They won a pigtail match 6-4, 6-1 against a team from Albia and then defeated a team from Saydel 6-0, 6-0 in the first round.

That Cardinal duo was eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by a team from Pella in the quarterfinals.

Brodersen and Frehse played two three-set matches. They defeated a Pella Christian duo 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (12-10) in the opening round before losing 7-6 (7-3), 0-6, 0-1 (10-3) to a team from Oskaloosa in the quarterfinals.

Benson downed Oskaloosa’s Loghan Edgar 6-3, 6-1 in the first round but lost 6-2, 6-0 to Pella’s Abby Hietbrink in the quarterfinals.

Alexis Dirksen’s 6-0, 6-0 loss in the second round came against Pella’s Claire Smock. Dirksen defeated Chariton’s Jazlyn Wesley 7-6 (7-3), 7-5) to advance.

Smock defeated Hietbrink in the championship match, but both Pella players advanced to state. Two Pella Christian players reached the semifinals and squared off in the third-place match.

The doubles representatives came from North Polk and Pella.

The Cardinals next play in the 1A Region 4 team tournament against North Polk at 1 p.m. on Friday in Alleman.

Newton 7, DCG 4

The top two singles players in the Newton lineup lost their matches against Dallas Center-Grimes on Thursday.

But the bottom part of the lineup gave the Cardinals momentum going into doubles, and Benson and Dirksen teamed up to grab a doubles win on Senior Night during a 7-4 victory at Aurora Heights Park.

The Little Hawkeye Conference matchup was completed after being suspended due to rain on May 1.

The two teams did not make it through singles the first time around, but the Cardinals went 4-2 against the Mustangs on Thursday before winning at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to complete the victory.

Sterling won her No. 3 singles match 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 and Frehse (6-3, 6-3), Brodersen (6-3, 6-4) and Gross (6-3, 6-1) posted straight-set wins at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles.

Frehse and Gross both completed their first sets on April 1, while Sterling’s match was stopped in a 6-all tie.

Benson lost her No. 1 singles match in three sets, but teamed up with Dirksen to win 6-0, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles.

Sterling and Brodersen won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 doubles and Frehse and Kaetlin McPartlin claimed a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles.

Gross and Camryn Andrew lost in straight sets but fell 7-6 (7-4) in the opening set. Olivia Bell and Anna DeVries lost their first set 7-5.

The victory finalized Newton’s LHC record at 2-4. Dallas Center-Grimes fell to 0-12 and 0-6 in the LHC.

The Cardinals could not have Senior Night on April 1 due to the rain but tried again on Thursday.

Newton honored its nine seniors after the match. That group included Benson, Dirksen, DeVries, Denise Castro, Liberty Cope, Lexin Earl, Tamika Rodenborn, Blaise Williams and Kila Williams.

Newton splits with Saydel, North Polk in road double dual

ALLEMAN — Newton competed in a road double dual on May 6 and returned home with an 11-0 win over Saydel. The Cardinals also lost 7-2-1 against North Polk.

Frehse scored a pair of wins in the loss to the Comets. She won her singles match 8-3 and then joined McPartlin in doubles and won 8-4.

Newton’s other win came in singles as Brodersen won 7-5. Benson’s singles match ended 6-6 because of darkness.

The Cardinals (4-6) had little trouble with Saydel. No. 2 Dirksen and No. 3 Sterling won their singles matches 8-1, No. 1 Benson scored an 8-2 win, No. 4 Frehse and No. 5 Brodersen both won 8-3 and Gross scored an 8-0 win at No. 6 singles.

Benson and Dirksen teamed up for win at No. 1 doubles, while Sterling and Brodersen as well as Bell and DeVries won 8-2 at No. 2 and No. 5 doubles, respectively.

Frehse and Gross as well as McPartlin and Andrew won 8-5 at No. 3 and No. 4 doubles, respectively.