Champions crowned in 1A and 2A at girls’ tennis state tournament

IOWA CITY — Some players reached new heights in the consolation bracket, while others took home much bigger hardware.

The girls' tennis individual state championships concluded Friday with meets at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City and Prairie Ridge Sports Complex in Ankeny.

CLASS 1A

At Iowa City, the Decorah doubles team of Anna Spencer and Carina Yee continued their strong first-day finish with victories over Pella and Dubuque Wahlert and finished fifth overall.

'Regionals is definitely more nerve-wracking than state just because the goal is to get here,' said Spencer, who placed seventh last season in doubles. 'And once we're here, we'll do what we can, but we made it.'

Cedar Rapids Xavier freshman Sarah Abu-Nameh split her two consolation singles matches and earned sixth place.

Fairfield won the first singles state title in school history when sophomore Anatta Charoenkul unseated defending state champion Olivia Fain of Waterloo Columbus, 6-1, 6-4.

Columbus did collect its 25th doubles crown when senior Lauren McManus and sophomore Taylor Hogan successfully defended their title from last season, 6-2, 6-1, over Waverly-Shell Rock.

CLASS 2A

Three Mississippi Valley Conference schools were represented in the two championship matches.

The Iowa City West doubles team of sophomore Emma Koch and senior Abby Jans vanquished the top-seeded team from Urbandale in the semifinal, then outdueled previously-undefeated Kelly King and Hannah Sherman of Cedar Rapids Washington for the title, 7-6, 6-3.

'I kept telling them they've got to do the basics,' West Coach Amie Villarini said. 'It's not shooting ourselves in the foot, just getting your first shots in and taking advantage of the opportunities ... They just executed everything that we drill in practice.'

For Koch, the doubles crown comes on the heels of a breakthrough freshman season in which she placed sixth in the 2A singles bracket. She will try to help West win a team tennis state championship Saturday in a semifinal against West Des Moines Dowling in Ankeny. The winner will play the winner of Pleasant Valley and Ames for the title.

'We're all really excited,' Koch said. 'We've had a really successful season so it's just going to be awesome to finish it like this.'

Cedar Rapids Prairie senior Vale Caro capped off a remarkable prep tennis career with a runner-up finish in the 2A singles bracket. After dispatching Lily Feldman of Pleasant Valley in the semifinal, Caro fell to Bettendorf's Emilia Porubcin in the final, 6-4, 6-2.

Caro will head to UNI in the fall as a state runner-up in both singles and doubles, plus the leader of the 2015 team state champions.

'She's been the motor for Prairie tennis the last four years,' Prairie Coach Scott Leggat said. 'She's definitely put us up where we are. We're definitely going to miss her next year.'

Prairie teammates Anya Postnikov and Madi Renner placed seventh in the 2A doubles consolation bracket.

After an eighth-place finish as a freshman and seventh last season, Linn-Mar senior Ellie Anderson placed sixth in 2A state singles, while Bihotza James-Lejarcegui of Iowa City High finished seventh.

Girls' tennis

State championships

CLASS 1A

At Iowa City

(Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex)

SINGLES

Semifinals —

Olivia Fain (Waterloo Columbus) def. Brooke Jorgensen (Pella), 6-2, 6-1; Anatta Charoenkul (Fairfield) def. Lily Roozeboom (Pella), 6-0, 6-0.

Third place —

Jorgensen (Pel) def. Roozeboom (Pel), 6-2, 6-3.

Fifth place —

Stephanie Bush (Davenport Assumption) def. Sarah Abu-Nameh (Cedar Rapids Xavier), 6-1, 6-2.

Seventh place —

Jacqueline Ingram (Denison-Schleswig) def. Gretchen Jones (Clear Lake) 6-3;, 7-6.

Final —

Charoenkul (Fair) def. Fain (WC), 6-1, 6-4.

DOUBLES

Semifinals —

Lauren McManus/Taylor Hogan (Waterloo Columbus) def. Marilyn Cepeda/Nichole Gilbert (Shenandoah), 6-1, 6-1; Chelsea Poesch/Madi Overmann (Waverly-Shell Rock) def. Brianne Eighme/Karlee Sinnott (Waterloo Columbus), 6-3, 6-3.

Third place —

Eighme/Sinnott (WC) def. Cepeda/Gilbert (Shen), 6-3, 6-2.

Fifth place —

Anna Spencer/Carina Yee (Decorah) def. Meghann Long/Anna Herrig (Dubuque Wahlert), 6-3, 6-1.

Seventh place —

Carolyn Conlon/Anna Freiburger (Dubuque Wahlert) def. Bronwyn Metcalf/Cecily Johnson (Pella), 6-3, 7-5.

Final —

McManus/Hogan (WC) def. Poesch/Overmann (WSR), 6-2, 6-1.

CLASS 2A

At Ankeny

(Prairie Ridge Sports Complex)

SINGLES

Semifinals —

Emilia Porubcin (Bettendorf) def. Davi Patterson (Boone), 6-3, 6-1; Vale Caro (Cedar Rapids Prairie) def. Lily Feldman (Pleasant Valley), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Third place —

Feldman (PV) def. Patterson (Boone) by injury default.

Fifth place —

Cari Naanep (Johnston) def. Ellie Anderson (Linn-Mar), 6-1, 6-0.

Seventh place —

Bihotza James-Lejarcegui (Iowa City High) def. Sydney Rottinghaus (Mason City), 6-2, 6-7, 1-0.

Final —

Porubcin (Bett) def. Caro (CRP), 6-4, 6-2.

DOUBLES

Semifinals —

Emma Koch/Abby Jans (Iowa City West) def. Abby Reis/Jackie Kaiser (Urbandale), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; Hannah Sherman/Kelly King (Cedar Rapids Washington) def. Anna Rose Corell/Anna Wanek (West Des Moines Dowling), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Third place —

Corell/Wanek (WDMD) def. Reis/Kaiser (Urb), 6-0, 6-4.

Fifth place —

Mylea Cole/Brooke Dannenfeldt (Urbandale) def. Anya Postnikov/Madie Renner (Cedar Rapids Prairie), 6-0, 7-5.

Seventh place —

Kaylyn Chleborad/Rockie Greenslade (West Des Moines Dowling) def. Alyssa Lewton/Maddie Volk (Ankeny Centennial), 2-6, 6-4, 1-0.

Final —

Koch/Jans (ICW) def. Sherman/King (CRW), 7-6, 6-3.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com