Unbeaten Prairie marches to girls’ tennis final 4

ELDRIDGE - Last season's taste left them hungry for more.

Monday at the North Scott High School tennis courts, the Cedar Rapids Prairie Hawks girls' tennis team took another big bite towards a state championship.

Sisters Vale Caro and Magui Caro closed singles play with a pair of wins, then teamed up for the clinching doubles victory as Prairie advanced to the girls' team state semifinals with a 5-2 victory over Mississippi Valley Conference rival Linn-Mar.

'We started off doubles and we were super energetic,” Vale Caro said. 'We were like, ‘We need to come out strong and we need to focus and be on top of every point.' We came out focused and we did it as a team.”

Prairie (17-0) – ousted in the first round of the state tournament last year – got started with a pair of singles wins from Lauren O'Brian and Karleigh Schilling. For Schilling, her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Linn-Mar's Jamie Wantock was particularly impressive after dropping their head-to-head match a week ago.

'Recently I've just been moving the ball more,” Schilling said. 'Not being too aggressive because I might make an error, but more aggressive than I have been in the past and I think that helped me.”

Linn-Mar (17-3) received wins from Alice Kirsch and Megan Burr, which tied the dual at two matches apiece.

Prairie broke the deadlock when junior Vale Caro held off a late charge from Ellie Anderson, 6-3, 7-6, while older sibling Magui Caro was extended to three sets against Nicole Glanz and won, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6, which sent the dual to doubles with the Hawks leading, 4-2.

Prairie got the decisive fifth match when the Caro sisters, plus the team of O'Brian and Madie Renner collected simultaneous doubles wins.

'I thought they stepped up when it really counted there at the end,” Prairie Coach Scott Leggat said. 'They did face a little adversity. Linn-Mar came to play, they had a good game plan. Kind of mixed things up a little bit. Definitely pushed us to the limit. It was a good match and I'm happy to see the girls come through.”

In the other first-round dual, defending state runner-up Pleasant Valley eliminated Iowa City High, 5-2.

The Class 2A team state semifinals are June 4 at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center in Cedar Rapids.

'We're just going to go out, play loose, have fun and just see how we do,” Vale Caro said.

CLASS 2A TEAM STATE TOURNAMENT

At Eldridge

Cedar Rapids Prairie 5, Linn-Mar 2

Pleasant Valley 5, Iowa City High 2

AT ELDRIDGE

C.R. Prairie 5, Linn-Mar 2

Singles -

Vale Caro (CRP) def. Ellie Anderson, 6-3, 7-6; Magui Caro (CRP) def. Nicole Glanz, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6; Karleigh Schilling (CRP) def. Jamie Wantock, 6-1, 6-2; Megan Burr (LM) def Anna Postnikov, 7-5, 2-6, 10-6; Lauren O'Brian (CRP) def. Jessica Carpenter, 6-1, 6-1; Alice Kirsch (LM) def. Madie Renner, 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles -

V. Caro/M. Caro (CRP) def. Anderson/Burr, 6-3, 6-1; O'Brian/Renner (CR) def. Carpenter/Kirsch, 6-1, 6-1.

AT ELDRIDGE

Pleasant Valley 5, Iowa City High 2

Singles -

Lily Feldman (PV) def. Innes Hicsasmaz 6-2, 6-2; Hannah Humes (PV) def. Susanna Gianola, 6-2, 6-2; Bihozta James (ICH) def. Emily Nutt 6-2, 6-2; Lucy Wagner (ICH) def. Roshni Penmatcha 6-3, 1-6, 10-3; Sarah Oswald (PV) def. Amelia Prybil 6-3, 6-4; Abi Paravasthuramesh (PV) def. Izzy teDuits 6-0, 6-2.

Doubles -

Oswald/Paravasthuramesh (PV) def. Prybil/teDuits 6-3, 6-2.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com