Small plays big in debut

IOWA CITY - The stage wasn't too big for Iowa City High's Eve Small.

The Little Hawk freshman trotted around the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex like it was just another day of playing tennis. This day, however, was far from ordinary.

Small lost only one game Thursday in the Class 2A state singles tennis tournament as the tournament's No. 4 seed and won two matches en route to a semifinal berth.

She said it wasn't as easy as it appeared.

“I'm pretty good at hiding my emotions, but the nerves were definitely there today,” Small said.

Small will take on the tournament's top seed in Ames' Jessica King today. She defeated Bettendorf's Emily Speer, 6-0, 6-0, in the first round and Council Bluffs Lewis Central's Abby Bersten, 6-1, 6-0, in the quarterfinals.

“It doesn't matter about seeds in this tournament, because anyone can beat anyone at any given time,” Small said.

Cedar Rapids Washington's Katie Hammond joins Small in the semifinals. The tournament's second seed gutted her way to the final four while battling a left knee injury suffered in the Warriors' regional soccer game Wednesday night.

“When it buckle it hurts a lot,” Hammond said. “I knew I had to keep spin on the ball today to give me a chance.”

Hammond, who will play Johnston's Liera Bender in the semifinal round, defeated Katie Meyer of Dubuque Hempstead, 6-0, 6-3, and Angie Allgood of Muscatine, 7-6 (1), 6-2.

No area doubles teams remain in either bracket of the doubles tournament. Cedar Rapids Washington's duo of Kristin King and Olivia Brooks made it to the consolation bracket quarterfinals before falling to an Ottumwa pair.

King said they used consolation play as preparation for Saturday's team tournament.

“We don't get any singles practice and that's a totally different game, but this is still helpful,” King said.

Play resumes today with the consolation bracket semifinals for singles and doubles at 9:30 a.m. Championship bracket semifinals begin at 10 a.m.

Class 1A

In the Class 1A tournament at Waterloo, the Decorah duo of Kylie Kruse and Katrina Shindlar won a first-round match against a Pella Christian team, 6-0, 6-2, then lost to a team from Shenandoah in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-3.