Short-handed Cardinals fall to Indianola in conference play

INDIANOLA — The Newton girls tennis team couldn’t overcome a short-handed lineup against Indianola on Tuesday. But the Cardinals had a few things to celebrate in their 9-2 loss.

The Indians finished off Newton in the Little Hawkeye Conference matchup after a 5-0 stretch in doubles action.

But Camryn Andrew and Makenzie Clark both won their first-ever varsity singles matches during the first part of the dual.

Newton (0-2, 0-2 in the LHC) did not have the services of No. 2 singles player Brooklyn Sterling due to an illness and No. 1 Morgan Frehse was limited to doubles in the matchup.

That pushed every Newton player up in the singles lineup and Andrew rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5) win over Alana Moser at No. 4 singles.

Clark spent 2 hours and 20 minutes on the court for her match at No. 6 singles and downed Raegan Burrows 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

It was the first career varsity singles wins for both Andrew and Clark.

Kenzly Brant came up just short in her varsity singles debut, falling 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5) to Kendall Hibbs at No. 5 singles.

At No. 5 doubles, Alieya Owen and Sadie Stiles lost in straight sets but the first set was 7-6 (7-3). It was the varsity debut for Stiles.

Indianola improved to 2-2 on the season but is now 2-0 in conference play.