Down a couple of key players, the Pella Girls Tennis showed off their depth and won the Knoxville Girls Tennis Invitational on Friday. Despite absences from #1 Emily Blom and #6 Bryn Higginbotham, Pella scored 22 points in the tournament, three points ahead of Ballard’s 19 points in second place.
Pella Singles:
Claire Smock – Second Place Singles
Smock received the #3 seed and cruised to the semifinals where she battled #2 seed Janie Maasdam (Knoxville) to an 8-4 victory that featured several long points. Claire fell to #1 Seed Kaitlyn Zugay (Ballard) 3-6 in a darkness shortened finals match.
Mallory Westerkamp – Third Place Singles
Westerkamp was unseeded, but got off to a hot start according to Head Coach Josh McCollam, defeating #4 seed Kate Schneider (Knoxville) 8-0. Mallory overcame a hiccup in her second match against Grace Watkins (Chariton) where she started down 0-3 before rattling off eight straight to take the match 8-3. Mallory faced eventual Champion Kaitlyn Zugay (Ballard) where she lost 2-8, before bouncing back to defeat Janie Maasdam (Knoxville) 6-4, which was also shortened because of darkness.
Pella Doubles:
Alloree Else/Lily VanDusseldorp – Second Place Doubles
Else and VanDusseldorp received the #2 seed, which earned them a first round bye. They earned a 8-6 victory over Ellie Volkmann/Jocelyn Hobbs (Ballard) and a 8-3 victory over #3 seed Ella Swarts/Olivia Hotchkin (Newton) in the semifinals. Alloree and Lily had a back and forth match against #1 seed McCoy/Hagen (Clarke), but fell 6-8.
Sydney Namminga/Kytilin Plate – Sixth Place Doubles
Sydney and Kytilin played a really solid first match defeating Mackenzie Karr/Maddy Wells (Knoxville) 8-1. The ran into the #1 seed and eventual Champion McCoy/Hagen (Clarke) in Round 2, and fell 1-8. They battled back in the consolation bracket, defeating Ava Adamson/Sasha Wurster (Creston) and Kolbey Bailey/ Brooklyn McKinney (Creston) by scores of 8-3 and 6-2, respectively. The fifth place match was a 10-point super-tiebreaker where Namminga and Plate lost 6-10.
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Pella Boys 3rd in Northeast Iowa Golf Showcase
A long trek northeast was a successful one as the Pella boys golf team competed in Manchester at the West Delaware Hawks Invitational. The Dutch placed 3rd in a field featuring some of the best teams in the eastern side of the state. AJ Hoekstra shot a season-best 74 in 18 holes to place 2nd overall, and Cade McGinley carded an 80 to place 7th among individuals. Cole Floden (88) and Thomas Tangen (91) rounded out the scores for the Dutch.
1 Solon 323
2 West Delaware 326
3 Pella 333
4 Center Point-Urbana 335
5 Waverly-Shell Rock 335
6 Columbus Catholic 336
7 Vinton-Shellsburg 337
8 Clear Creek-Amana 343
9 Williamsburg 355
10 Independence 359
11 Benton 377
12 Decorah 379