Tigers defeated by rallying Columbus in finals

 IOWA CITY — The chase continues for the Red Oak girls tennis team for the elusive state championship.

The Tigers fell short of winning their first state team title Saturday in Iowa City as Waterloo Columbus rallied from a 4-2 deficit to sweep three doubles matches and get the 5-4 win.

“It’s the best effort we’ve put into a final,” Red Oak tennis coach Dan Martinez said. “I didn’t think we came out very focused, but we turned it around and made it a match.”

The Tigers had won four of the six singles matches to take the lead entering doubles, needing one win to clinch the title.

It was the win in singles by Sarah Behrens, who rallied after a first set loss to win set two and the third set super tiebreaker. to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead entering doubles. Behrens defeated Karlee Sinnott 3-6, 6-4 and 1-0 (7).

Behrens jumped out to an early lead in the super tiebreaker and held off a late rally by Sinnott.

The win was critical for Red Oak as it gave Red Oak the advantage going into doubles.

The challenge was there as Waterloo Columbus’ doubles had a strong weekend up to that point.

On Friday, their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles took home third and fifth from the 1A state doubles tournament.

They also had to rally earlier on Saturday to hold off Cedar Rapids Xavier in the team semifinals.

With the McManus sisters (Lindsay and Lauren) leading the charge, Waterloo Columbus began their comeback at No. 1 doubles as they defeated the pairing of Kate Walker and Grace Blomstedt 7-5, 6-4.

“Honestly, we had to have that No. 1 double. I had the team set up for that,” Martinez said. “That was going to be the one.”

In No. 2 and 3, Red Oak had to fight back in both instances.

The No. 2 doubles featured a battle between Paige Vannausdle and Erica Sherman versus Gaby Greco and Maggie Weber.

Greco and Weber took the first set 6-4. Vannausdle and Sherman rallied in the second set to force a super tiebreaker, winning 6-4.

Red Oak’s No. 2 doubles team struggled out of the gate as Columbus scored six of the first seven points. Soon Greco and Weber had an 8-4 lead, needing two points to get the super tiebreaker win.

Sherman started a rally with a serving ace and both  her and Vannausdle fought back to eventually tie the tiebreaker at 8-8.

Greco and Weber however scored the final two points to win 10-8 and tie the match at 4-4.

It all came down to No. 3 doubles.

Behrens and Micayla Taylor stayed close with Sinnott and Breanne Eighme, but dropped the first set 6-4.

The No. 3 doubles team fell behind in the second set as Sinnott and Eighme broke serve to take a 5-3 lead.

Behrens and Taylor denied Columbus the opportunity to serve for set as Red Oak crushed them in the ninth game, complete by a winner at the net by Behrens.

In the 10th game, Taylor had two serving aces, while Behrens had another winner as they were tied with Columbus 5-5.

Red Oak won a third straight game as they took a 6-5 lead. Columbus however forced a second set tiebreaker.

The Tigers were unable to force a third set super tiebreaker as Sinnott and Eighme won the tiebreaker 7-4 to clinch the title for Columbus for the second straight year.

In addition to Behrens’ win in singles, the Tigers picked up an additional one through a super tiebreaker.

Vannausdle, who lost her first set 6-1 to Weber, rallied to crush the Columbus player 6-0 in the second to force the tiebreaker.

Red Oak requested a line judge for the super tiebreaker after questionable calls.

“Too bad we had to get a line judge, that’s not right,” Martinez said. “That’s just how hungry they were. That really leaves a bad taste in my  mouth.”

After falling behind early in the super tiebreaker, Vannausdle rallied and matched Weber point for point.

Vannausdle smashed an ace to take the lead at 6-5. The senior proceeded to smash winner after winner, allowing Weber to score one point as Vannausdle won the super tiebreaker 10-6.

“When it first started, we were not too confident, I think,” Martinez said about the final. “We were able to force it into tiebreakers.”

The first win of the day for Red Oak came courtesy of Blomstedt, who defeated Greco 6-4, 6-4. 

Sherman had the other singles win when she defeated Haley Cannon 6-4, 6-4.

The losses in singles were for Walker and Taylor. Walker lost 6-1, 6-1 to Lindsay McManus, while Taylor lost to Lauren McManus 6-1, 6-3.

“That was [Waterloo Columbus’] guarantee to get to doubles,” Martinez said about Lauren McManus playing as the fifth seed. “We still had a chance.”

The loss in the finals for Red Oak was the first for the Tigers this season.

Earlier in the day, Red Oak cruised through Camanche 5-1 to advance from the semifinals.

The Tigers won all five of their matches in singles.

Blomstedt defeated Lindsey Grams 6-2, 6-1, while Vannausdle defeated Maddie Parker 6-1, 6-3. Sherman defeated Brett Hilgendorf 6-1, 6-0. Taylor defeated Page Edens 6-1, 6-3. Behrens completed the meet with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Alexa DeVries.

Walker had the only loss as she fell to Kylie Vogel 6-1, 6-1.

It’s the second straight year Red Oak has finished second at team state.

Last year, Red Oak lost to Columbus 5-2.

Individual tournament

The Red Oak girls tennis program continued to add to their hardware for the weekend as all the individual qualifiers placed in the top eight.

The effort was led by Walker, who was the state runner-up for 1A girls.

Walker lost in three sets to Haley Resnick of Davenport Assumption in the finals Friday afternoon. The junior took the first set 6-4. However, Resnick rallied to win 6-0 and 6-4 in the second and third set. It was a rematch from last season when Resnick defeated Walker in the quarterfinals in three sets. Resnick entered the tournament as the defending state champion.

Walker started the tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Hannah Fox of Waverly-Shell Rock in the first round. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Stephanie Wills of West Burlington, Notre Dame 6-0, 6-0.

Walker reached the finals with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Courtney Schneider of Dubuque Wahlert.

Red Oak also had another finisher in singles courtesy of Vannausdle, who took home fifth in 1A singles. 

The only loss for Vannausdle in the entire tournament came in the first round when the senior had the unenviable task of facing the top seeded Resnick. Resnick defeated Vannausdle 6-0, 6-0.

Vannausdle hit the ground running in the consolations, defeating Lily Peterson of Fort Dodge 6-0, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Wills 6-3, 6-0.

In the semifinals, Vannausdle defeated Emily Jurgensen of Ballard 6-3, 6-1. She won the fifth place match by defeated Emily Ahlers of LeMars 6-4, 6-3. It’s the first individual medal for Vannausdle.

Red Oak also medaled in 1A doubles courtesy of the team of Sherman and Blomstedt.

The team finished fourth after losing to the McManus sisters in the third place match in three sets. The McManus team won the first set 6-3. Sherman and Blomstedt rallied to force a third set super tiebreaker when they won the second 6-3. Columbus won the super tiebreaker 10-2.

All the consolation matches played a super tiebreaker third set.

In the semifinals, Sherman and Blomstedt also went three sets with Grams and Vogel of Camanche.  Grams and Vogel won 6-3, 4-6 and 6-1 over Sherman and Blomstedt.

The tournament for Sherman and Blomstedt began when they defeated Chelsea Posch and Emma Friedly of Waverly-Shell Rock 6-0, 6-1. In the quarterfinals, the pairing knocked off Greco and Weber in three sets, 6-3, 2-6 and 6-4.

It’s the second straight year for Blomstedt finishing fourth in the state doubles tournament. Last season, she finished fourth with then-senior Zoey Baker. It’s the first individual medal for Sherman.