return Oct. 7, 2009

Grinnell overcomes Central, 5-4

PELLA—The Central College women’s tennis team took four of its first five matches against Grinnell College Wednesday afternoon but couldn’t come up with the clincher and suffered a 5-4 defeat in the regular-season dual finale.

Grinnell (14-2) rallied by winning four singles matches, including two super-tiebreakers. Singles winners for the Dutch (8-6) were Sara Dale (junior, Marshalltown) at No. 1 and Kayla Donner (sophomore, Metamora, Ill., Metamora Township HS) at No. 5.

Donner and Faith Bliss (senior, Ottumwa) prevailed at No. 1 doubles with Dale and Stephanie Gibbons (junior, Ankeny) winning at No. 2.

Disappointed with the loss, coach Steve Tyler was nonetheless encouraged by his team’s play.

“We battled up and down the lineup,” he said.

Tyler cited the performance of Emily Swartz (sophomore, Eldora, South Hardin HS) who was edged 3-6, 7-6, 10-8 at No. 3 singles.

“I’ve never seen Emily play any better than that,” he said.

The Dutch take the No. 4 seed to Iowa City for the six-team Iowa Conference tournament Friday and Saturday. They’ll meet No. 5 Cornell College (5-8) in Friday’s opener at 6 p.m. The teams met in the season opener at Mount Vernon Sept. 1, with Central pulling out a 5-4 victory. Friday’s winner takes on top-seeded Coe College in a semifinal Saturday at 9 a.m. while the loser meets the Wartburg-Loras loser in the fifth-place match, also at 9 a.m.

Tyler said the hard-fought match with Grinnell could still prove beneficial.

“If there’s a silver lining, that’s how we’re going to have to battle against Cornell,” he said. “This is a great mental test to see how we can come back and play another tight match. You’re going to be in that position all the time when you’re playing good teams.”

Tyler is confident the Dutch will respond well.

“I think we’re playing the best tennis we have all season,” he said.