Pella Christian Girls Tennis Starts 8-0 for First Time in Seven Years
The Pella Christian girls tennis team defeated Oskaloosa 10-1 Thursday night to improve to 8-0 overall on the season, their first such start since the spring of 2019.
En route to winning their third straight contest against the Indians, the Eagle girls won five of the six singles matches before sweeping all five matches in doubles play. Pella Christian’s singles wins came from Reagan DeVries at #1 (6-0, 6-3), Ava Breems at #2 (6-0, 6-2), Addie Van Arendonk at #3 (6-3, 6-1), Renae Van Wyk at #5 (6-1, 6-4), and Kate Braafhart at #6 (6-1, 6-4). The five doubles victories for the Eagles came DeVries and Breems at #1 (6-7, 6-2, 1-0), Van Arendonk and Lexi Branderhorst at #2 (6-0, 7-6), Van Wyk and Braafhart at #3 (6-3, 6-3), Trinley Gibson and Nora Van Arendonk at #4 (6-0, 6-3), and Ali Pleima and Elsa Breems at #5 (6-1, 6-2).
The Pella Christian girls tennis team will look to improve to 9-0 overall on the season, which will match the program’s best start since 2019, when they host Newton on Tuesday.
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Pella Christian Boys Soccer Team Downs Sigourney Keota, Girls Soccer Defeats Chariton
The Eagles boys soccer team ended a stretch of eight games in 11 days with a 10-0 victory over Sigourney Keota Thursday night, while the girls soccer team picked up their second win of the week 6-1 at Chariton.
The Eagle boys wasted little time jumping ahead of Sigourney Keota on Eagle Lane, as Nathan Brouwer found the back of the net in the sixth minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead. Pella Christian kept the pressure on in the first half, with Ethan Van Arendonk recording a first half hat-trick with goals in the 13th, 20th, and 26th minutes, before Theo Hugen added a pair of goals in the 34th and 39th minutes to push the advantage to 6-0 going into halftime. Out of the break, the Eagles continued to pour it on with Van Arendonk recording his 24th goal of the season in the 42nd minute, and Ian Vander Molen finding the back of the net in the 43rd minute to give the Eagles an 8-0 lead. Pella Christian ended the game via the mercy rule eight minutes later, after Ben Van Wyngarden scored his first two career varsity goals in the 50th and 51st minutes to improve PC’s record to 8-4 overall.
In Chariton, the Eagle girls also jumped out to an early lead, with Tori Van Zee beating the goalkeeper from distance and Lexi Terpstra also finding the back of the net to give Pella Christian a 2-0 lead 11 minutes into the game. The Chargers responded with a goal ten minutes later to cut the lead to 2-1, before Van Zee scored again in the 27th minute to push the Eagles back ahead by two goals going into halftime. Pella Christian continued to control the game in the second half, with Terpstra scoring two more goals to complete the hat trick, and Esther Ford also adding a goal in the 63rd minute. Ford also added an assist in the win, while Julianne Van Gorp had two saves in helping the Eagles improve to 7-2 overall.
The Pella Christian soccer teams will return to the pitch on Tuesday, with the boys making the short trip across town to Pella and the girls hosting the Dutch.
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Pella Christian Boys Track and Field Teams at Newton’s Cardinal Invitational
The Eagles track and field teams were scheduled to compete at Newton’s Cardinal Invitational Thursday night, but the meet was cancelled due rain. Pella Christian athletes that qualified for the Drake Relays will compete in Des Moines today and Saturday, before both track and field teams return home for the Tulip Time Relays at Pella High School on Monday.