Girls tennis: Bulldogs battle Bobcats in the wind
Apr. 17—MARSHALLTOWN — Nellie Morgan secured Ottumwa's only win on Monday during an Iowa Alliance girls tennis dual at Marshalltown.
Morgan battled her way to a sweep in the No. 2 singles match with Kennedy Feldman, winning both sets 6-4. The win prevented the Bobcats from the sweep as Marshalltown secured the remaining five matches in singles play before sweeping through all five matches in doubles play to clinch the 10-1 win over the Bulldogs.
Jordan Lee nearly pulled off a second win in singles play for Ottumwa, winning the opening set of the No. 3 match over Ava Lucas 7-5. Lucas, however, rallied to force a 10-point third-set super-tiebreaker with a 6-3 win in the second set before winning 10-7 in the third-set tiebreaker.
"Morgan did a great job of moving (Feldman) around the court and coming up to the net to close out the volleys," Ottumwa head girls tennis coach Leanna White said. "Jordan had a long, close match. The had so many long points and so many close games that went to deuce. She remained consistent and gained confidence in placing the ball."
Julia Cordon Diaz De Entresotos fell 6-1 and 6-0 to Rebekah Downs in the top singles match while Elli Bishop fell 6-3 and 6-0 in the No. 4 singles match, Emerson Keith dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision in the No. 5 singles match while Ava Barnes battled Halie Hohnstein in the No. 6 singles match falling 6-1 and 6-4.
"Ava learned to play with the wind to her advantage in the second set," White said. "She almost came back to take the match to a tiebreaker."
Lee and Bishop almost forced a tiebreaker in the No. 2 doubles match with Lucas and Claire Bohan, ultimately falling 6-1 and 6-4. Marshalltown swept through all 10 sets in doubles play, losing just 10 games in nine of the 10 sets played.
"Doubles play was tough," White said. "We will continue to gain more confidence at the net and placing the ball where our opponents are not."
Ottumwa (2-1, 2-0 Iowa Alliance south) hosts Des Moines Hoover on Senior Day at Jon Kneen Courts. Action gets underway on Thursday starting at 3 p.m.
