Red Oak wins inaugural tennis tourney
RED OAK— It was a big Saturday for the Red Oak girls tennis team as they won their inaugural Red Oak Invitational Tennis Tournament, which took place at multiple locations, including Red Oak High School.
Red Oak defeated West Des Moines Valley and Dowling Catholic, both by 3-2 scores, to win the first ever tournament.
“I’m real pleased at how well the girls played,” Red Oak tennis coach Dan Martinez said.
The tournament was a team-based format with five matches, instead of the usual nine.
It broke down as three singles and two doubles matches, meaning players would either play one or the other.
“It’s a format I’ve wanted to use for a long time and part of it is because the two teams didn’t come and we had two byes,” Martinez said.
Ottumwa, Atlantic and Bellevue East were the other teams competing in the tournament.
It was a blind draw as Red Oak had a first round bye and would take on West Des Moines Valley in the semifinals.
“I wanted them to get some challenges,” Martinez said. “You understand that you’ve got to stay focused, you understand you’ve got to stay sharp.”
The Tigers got two wins in doubles and a third in singles from Paige Vannausdle to qualify for the championship match.
The No. 1 doubles team of Grace Blomstedt and Erica Sherman defeated Sarah Thompson and Brooke Beatty 6-0 and 6-1, while Micayla Taylor and Sarah Behrens defeated Ashlyn Shumaker and Carson Oakleay 6-2 and 6-1.Vannausdle got her singles win 6-1 and 6-0 by defeating Kelsie Peterson.
Kate Walker and Makelti White, the other two Red Oak singles players, had the losses. Walker lost 6-0, 6-0 to Chloe Jefferies, while White fell 6-0 and 6-0 to Lauren Hoffart.
It was Walker, however, who would make the difference in the championship match versus Dowling Catholic.
Walker rallied late in the second set to force a tiebreaker and defeat Cali Anderson 6-2 and 7-6(3). The dual between Red Oak and Dowling Catholic had been even at 2-2 as Walker’s win proved to be the difference.
“Kate’s the one that needed those kinds of matches,” Martinez said. “Now she realizes that she needs to focus.”
Vannausdle picked up the win in singles for Red Oak, defeating Claire Harmeyer 6-1, 6-1. Blomstedt and Sherman won the only doubles match for Red Oak versus Dowling Catholic, defeating Zoe Henderson and Anna Rose Corelli 6-1, 6-0.
White was in a close first set with Kristin Sutor, but lost 7-5, 6-2. Taylor and Behrens had the other loss for Red Oak, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Halie Dickinson and Olivia Feldman.
The weather was able to hold off for Red Oak, despite threatening clouds moving into the area.
Martinez was pleased with the tournament on a whole.
“I’m trying to sell this format to the state,” he said.
Red Oak vs. Kuemper Catholic
The Red Oak boys tennis team lost Friday night to Kuemper Catholic 8-1.
Jordan Nelson had the only win for the Tigers as he defeated Robby Steffes 10-8.
Hayden Berry lost 10-0 to Mitchell Behrens, Weston Rolenc lost 10-5 to Mathew Irlbeck, Dean Smith fell 10-2 to Tyler Schroeder, Keatis Kunze fell 10-5 to Joseph Mohr and Donnie Torbett lost 10-6 to Collin Vetter.
The Red Oak doubles teams lost all three of the matches by a 10-3 score.
Red Oak vs. Harlan
The Red Oak girls team continued their undefeated record with a win Thursday at home versus Harlan 9-0.
With Walker at conference track, Blomstedt was the No. 1 seed as she defeated Teresa Arkfield 8-1. Vannausdle defeated Tara Knudson 8-0, which was the same score for Sherman, who beat Katie DuVal.
Taylor won 8-0 against Jesssica DuVal, while Behrens defeated Taylor Fah 8-5. White completed the singles sweep with an 8-2 win against Halley Horne.
In doubles, Blomstedt and Sherman defeated Arkfield and Knudson 6-0. Vannausdle and White beat the DuVal’s 6-4, while Taylor and Behrens defeated Fah and Horne 6-3.
The boys were scheduled to compete at Harlan, but the meet was postponed. No make-up date has been announced.
Red Oak vs. Creston
Both Red Oak teams were in action as they got the 8-1 wins versus Creston. The boys were home, while the girls were on the road.
For the boys, Red Oak won five of six in singles, as well as swept in doubles.
Nelson won 6-4 and 6-2 versus Garrett Taylor. Rolenc won 6-2, 1-6 and 1-0(7) against Ryan Kucera. Smith won 6-1 and 6-0 against Tyler Waddington and Kunze beat Triston Davidson 6-2 and 6-1. Torbett rallied to win 1-6, 6-4 and 1-0(4) versus Seth Maitlen.
Berry fell short 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(8) against Chantz Davidson.
In doubles, it was Nelson and Berry beating Taylor and Davidson 10-6. Smith and Kunze won 10-7 against Kucera and Waddingham. Rolenc and Marc Enderes beat Davidson and Maitlen 10-8.
In the girls meet, Walker won 8-0 against Audrey Fyock. Blomstedt beat Jenna Taylor 8-2, while Vannausdle won 8-1 against Alli Thomsen. Sherman beat Ashley Harris 8-3, while Taylor defeated Angela Sorensen 8-2. Behrens had the only loss as she fell to Caitlin McIlravy 8-2.
In doubles, Blomstedt and Sherman beat Fyock and Harris 8-1. Walker and Behrens defeated Taylor and McIlravy 8-1. Finally, Vannausdle and Taylor defeated Thomsen and Sorensen 8-3.
The Red Oak boys tennis team will take part in the Hawkeye 10 tournament Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Carroll.
The boys will be home Thursday as they host the district tournament, which starts at 9 a.m. Southwest Valley will also be among the teams competing.
The girls postseason begins Saturday with the varsity regional tennis tournament. They play at 9 a.m. at Red Oak High School.