Pella Christian Girls Tennis Defeats Newton, Falls to Pella to End Season

The Class 1A Team Regional Tournament started off strong for the Pella Christian girls tennis team with a 5-2 victory over Newton Friday, but the season came to an end with a 5-0 loss to Pella in their second match. 

The Eagles opened play Friday morning jumping out to an early lead over Newton, taking a 4-2 advantage at the end of singles play. Rachel Lanferman was a 6-4, 6-2 winner at #1 singles, while Reagan De Vries added a 6-1, 6-2 victory at #2. Ava Breems won her #4 singles match 6-2, 7-6 and Addie Van Arendonk completed the singles wins with a 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 decision at #6. Pella Christian’s #3 doubles team of Leah Mulder and Breems secured the first round victory for Pella Christian, winning 6-3, 6-3 to give Pella Christian a measure of revenge against a Cardinals team that won their April 11th matchup 7-4. The Eagles postseason run ended shortly thereafter, as they were swept 5-0 in singles play against Pella later in the day.

The Pella Christian girls tennis team finishes the season with a 4-5 overall record and graduates four seniors in Lanferman, Mulder, Breece Gibson, and Lauren Winn.

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Pella Christian Soccer Teams Fall in Doubleheader at Van Meter

The Pella Christian girls soccer team opened a soccer doubleheader at Van Meter Friday night with a 3-1 loss, before the boys team closed out the regular season by falling 4-0 in the nightcap.

The Eagle girls found themselves in a hole early in the contest, with the Bulldogs jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first half. Van Meter added some cushion to their lead after the halftime break with their second goal of the night, but the Eagles cut the deficit back to one with Esther Ford’s team-leading tenth goal of the season. Looking to pull even with the Bulldogs, Pella Christian played a more offensive based position in the final ten minutes of the game, but Van Meter capitalized with their third goal to drop the Eagles to 8-7 overall.

In the back half of the soccer doubleheader, the Pella Christian boys couldn’t get the offense going against the Bulldogs. Van Meter found the back of the net twice to hold a 2-0 advantage at halftime, before adding two more goals in the second half to secure the win and drop the Eagles to 7-7 overall. Pella Christian head coach Mike Vander Molen stated that his team was playing with a limited roster due to resting some players with nagging injuries ahead of the postseason.

The Eagle girls will finish the regular season Monday with a rescheduled match at Dallas Center-Grimes at 6 pm. The Pella Christian boys are also in action Monday, beginning Class 1A Substate 7 play with a first round home matchup against Albia at 7 pm.