Iowa City Liberty girls getting recognition in tennis rankings, Linn-Mar teams rolling

IOWA CITY — Success is nothing new for the Iowa City Liberty girls’ tennis team.

Recognition on a statewide level has been slowly building.

Coach James Postman's team went 14-3 last year and 13-4 in 2022 with young rosters. The core players from those teams are now seniors and their experience is paying off.

After Tuesday's 7-2 win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy, the Lightning are 10-1, the only loss a 6-3 defeat to Dubuque Hempstead. Liberty is ranked No. 4 in the latest Iowa Girls Tennis Coaches Class 2A poll behind West Des Moines Dowling, Pleasant Valley and West Des Moines Valley.

“I am super proud of our team and for what they have accomplished on the tennis courts,” Postman said. “However, the quality of their character, always putting forth their best effort, and the memories that they have created as a team is what is truly important.”

Five seniors — Ella Gilbert, Leela Strand, Oriana Bloom, Lucy Lohman and Laney Robbins — along with freshman Vivian Kahler, make up the singles lineup. Gilbert has been a state tournament qualifier the past three seasons in singles, finishing seventh last year.

“Ella, Leela, Oriana, and Lucy have been in our top six for four years now,” Postman said. “Laney has been with us since her sophomore year. Adding Vivian this year as our No. 3 has only helped our lineup become more successful.”

Liberty's experience proved to be key in Monday's 5-4 win over No. 8 Iowa City West. Four of the nine matches went to the 10-point super tiebreaker. The Lightning prevailed in three of those, including two of the three doubles matches.

“I think our experience is a huge factor in our success this year,” Postman said. “Last year's match (with West) had several match tie-breakers as well and I think that experience definitely helped us (Monday) night.”

Linn-Mar tennis teams rolling

To see the Linn-Mar boys among the state's best is no surprise. After Tuesday night's 8-1 win at Western Dubuque, Coach Chris Wundram’s team is 10-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 2A behind Waukee Northwest.

The Lions are coming off a week to remember.

It started with a marathon, 5-4, win over defending state champion and fourth-ranked Iowa City West and finished last Saturday with an impressive, 7-2, triumph over defending Class 1A state champion Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Senior Malcolm Rice and sophomore Garrett Bauermeister, along with seniors Jackson Kramer and Jake Wallrichs, have been solid.

What is a surprise is to see the Linn-Mar girls among the state’s top 10. In his second year, Coach Bruce Croy already has seen his team surpass last year's seven-win total after Tuesday night's 5-4 home win over Western Dubuque The Lions (8-3) are ranked No. 9 in the latest state poll. Juniors Madeline Harris and Emily Brandt, along with sophomore Anna Schlesinger, hold down the top three spots in the lineup.

Rare feat for Dubuque Wahlert

Since 2011, the Iowa City West boys have won eight state titles in 11 tries (there was no season in 2020 due to COVID-19). Over that span, the Trojans had only lost dual meets to Ames, Linn-Mar, Waukee and Waukee Northwest.

Another team joined that elite group last week.

As mentioned above, Linn-Mar got the Trojans again last week. Class 1A No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert, which had lost 9-0 to West in every year since 2016, upset the Trojans, 5-4, at West. The Golden Eagles got a clinching win from Roan Martineau and Charlie Curtis at No. 1 doubles to seal the win. Earlier in the season, Wahlert also posted a 5-4 win on the road over Class 1A No. 2 Xavier.

Iowa high school tennis state rankings

Cedar Rapids Washington's Katelynn Kock (2A girls), Xavier's Gabi Fleming (1A girls) and Decorah's Caden Branum (1A boys) continue to hold the top singles spots in the latest Iowa High School Tennis website’s release on Tuesday.

Other top 10 players include:

• 2A girls: Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Lily Holland (4th), Iowa City West’s Maggie Shin (7th) and Liberty’s Gilbert (8th)

• 1A girls: Xavier's Avery Link (5th), Isabel Tobin (9th) and Ruby Smith (10th)

• 2A boys: Cedar Rapids Prairie's Anthony Schulte (2nd), Linn-Mar’s Rice (8th), Iowa City West’s Samir Singh (9th) and Iowa City High’s Abhay Anil (10th)

• 1A boys: Xavier's Charlie LeGrand (3rd) and Jacob Schmit (7th)