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Repeat state title for Cedar Rapids Washington doubles team denied by Cedar Falls
Zylstra, Kock finish runner-up at Class 2A state tennis tournament
Mike Condon
May. 27, 2023 7:31 pm, Updated: May. 27, 2023 8:51 pm
IOWA CITY — Phil Williams had been there.
The Cedar Rapids Washington girls’ tennis assistant coach and father of Warrior senior Kathryn Zylstra watched his daughter and Katelynn Kock pick a bad time to have an off day.
“I remember when I was in (NCAA Division III at Coe) and it happened to me,” he said. “They just couldn’t find their ‘A’ game today. The couldn’t just step up like they did last year”
The defending Class 2A doubles champions were down from the start and could never get back into Saturday’s Class 2A final against the Cedar Falls duo of Maya Mallavarapu and Madison Sagers, falling 6-1, 7-6.
Try as they might, the Warrior tandem couldn’t get anything going on a consistent basis.
“I think the nerves got to us more than we expected,” Zylstra said. “We won last year and even though we were the No. 2 seed, the expectations were there for us to repeat and we just didn’t have it.”
The Cedar Falls team showed why it was seeded No. 1, jumping to a quick 4-0 advantage in the first set. Koch and Zylstra were able to get a game, but quickly dropped the next two to fall a set down.
“Their start was just slow and they were shaken up,” Washington Coach Nina Marquardt said. “They never really played their best tennis all day, but even while not playing their best they were still coming back.”
Kock and Zylstra had leads in the second set, but Cedar Falls fought back to take a 6-5 lead and actually had a pair of match points. The Wash pair fought back to force a tiebreaker, but were not able to extend the match to a third set.
“I think if they could have got it to a third set, they might have relaxed a little,” Williams said. “To get to a third set while playing C-minus tennis could have changed things, but give credit to Cedar Falls. They made the shots they had to make to win.”
The Washington pair will have one more chance to compete together in the 2A team competition on Tuesday in Johnston. The Warriors are the No. 1 seed and will meet West Des Moines Valley in the semifinals.
“Katelynn and I have already talked about hitting together tomorrow to get ready,” Zylstra said. “We know we are capable of playing much better than we did today.”
In singles play, Iowa City West’s Julianna Mascardo finished fourth, dropping a pair of matches Saturday. She lost her semifinal to Ankeny Centennial’s Abbie Peterson, 6-3, 6-1, and fell to West Des Moines Valley’s Claire Gu, 6-3, 6-1. Cedar Rapids Jefferson freshman Lily Holland split her two consolation matches to finish sixth. Iowa City Liberty junior Ella Gilbert split her two matches Saturday, finishing seventh.
Marion’s Michaela Goad and Natalee Hartman finished third in Class 1A doubles at Byrnes Park in Waterloo. They defeated Presley Blommers and Lucy Roach of Oskaloosa 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 in the third-place match after falling 6-3, 6-3 to Davenport Assumption’s Ella Dilulio and Helen Sons in the semifinals. Haley Gossmann and Annalise Skrade of Decorah split their matches to finish sixth. Xavier’s Ruby Smith and Isabel Tobin lost both of their matches and ended up eighth.