Abbie Morgan serves during a matchup with South Hardin on Thursday, April 20. Photo Provided

The South Tama County Girls Tennis Team proved that good things happen for teams when they are resilient and determined. The Trojans traveled to Eldora on Thursday, April 20 and despite falling behind 1-4 to South Hardin they battled back for a 5-4 win to secure their second victory of the season.

In an unusual move, the home team requested to start the meet with doubles play. South Hardin grabbed an early lead when Laura Stanish/Dru Balvanz defeated South Tama’s Brycelyn Haughey/Bri Nelson at #1 Doubles by a score of 3-10. At #2 Doubles, STC’s Senior Duo of Courtney Anderson/Laura Fernandez lost a hard fought match to Lexi Ryan/Danae Nelson 6-10. South Tama’s Serena Lowe/Abbie Morgan proved their recent win streak is no fluke as they downed Haley Teske/Blaze Harms 10-1 to notch their fifth consecutive win.

The Trojans found themselves with their backs against the wall after South Hardin grabbed the first two singles matches at #1 and #2. Stanish outlasted Haughey 10-7 at #1 Singles. “Brycelyn played a phenomenal match at #1 Singles. She was very thoughtful in her strategy and executed well. It was a shame that she came up just short of a win,” commented Coach Steve Bearden. Nelson fell to Balvanz by an identical 7-10 score at #2 Singles. “Bri fell behind early in the match and just ran out of time to come back. She started moving better as the match wore on, but it wasn’t meant to be that night,” shared Bearden.

Trailing 1-4 in the overall score, the Trojans needed to sweep the final four singles matches to win the meet. Sweep is exactly what they did. Sophomore Morgan got the momentum going as she easily took down Isabelle Sisson at #6 Singles by a score of 10-1. Senior Fernandez matched up against Nelson at #5 Singles for STC. The left-hander from South Tama frustrated her opponent early and often as she built to a solid 10-5 win.

Seniors Anderson and Lowe took to the court just as the temps dropped down to the mid-40s and the wind gusted to 21 mph. Lowe proved she meant business at #5 Singles as she dominated Teske on her way to an easy 10-2 win. “It was probably a good thing that Courtney didn’t know that the outcome of her match would determine if we won or lost the dual meet! That added pressure can be suffocating,” stated Bearden. Anderson played a consistent game as she built a 6-3 lead against South Hardin’s Ryan. In a match of runs, Ryan battled back to tie things up at 6-6. Anderson surged late in the match to secure a 10-7 win for STC and to grab the dual meet win.

“I am very happy for Courtney. She has worked hard to improve her game. We have relied on her leadership the last two years. She’s an amazing person, and I am thrilled to see her have this kind of success,” remarked Coach Bearden.

In JV Action, South Tama dominated South Hardin by winning eight of eleven matches. STC notched wins by Anna Glendy/Zoee Buffalo, Abby Buffalo/Anna Dvorak, Kennedy Adams/Danae Cleppe, Alaria Harken/Skyler Steveson (2), Daniela Contreras/Briana Jensen, Hanah Novotny/Jordan VanDee, and Abby Buffalo/Zoee Buffalo.