forehand Oct. 10, 2009

Central tops Loras for 5th in tourney

IOWA CITY—Rebounding from a late-night loss, the Central College women’s tennis team trimmed Loras College 5-3 to take fifth place at the Iowa Conference tournament Saturday morning.

The Dutch (9-7) dropped their opening match to Cornell College 5-4 late Friday night in a contest that lasted more than five hours. They then started slowly in the 9 a.m. match Saturday, dropping two of the three doubles matches, but rallied with wins in four of the five singles matches.

Sara Dale (junior, Marshalltown) and Faith Bliss (senior, Ottumwa) were easy winners at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, while Kayla Donner (sophomore, Metamora, Ill., Metamora Township HS) and Jaime Ruisch (freshman, Pella) took Nos. 5 and 6 singles.

Bliss and Donner teamed for Central’s doubles win at No. 1.

“I thought it was a really difficult turnaround,” coach Steve Tyler said. “We got to the motel at 11:30 last night and were up at 7.”

Tyler noted the Cornell loss was Central’s third this season that could have easily swung to the victory column.

“We were just a few shots away from winning those matches,” he said.

Consequently, Tyler liked his players’ effort Saturday morning.

“To try to sleep on that one last night was tough,” he said. “Then to do what they did today, I was really proud of our women. They performed in very good fashion.

“As I watched them today and look at where we were in August, it’s just a much more solid team now. There’s been a lot of learning and a lot of growth.”

Bliss is the only senior on the Dutch roster.

Central closes its fall season with the Iowa Conference individual tournament next Friday and Saturday in Cedar Rapids. There will be three flights of singles and two doubles flights. Central will enter its full 12-player roster, with the top five Dutch players competing in A flight in singles and the top two duos in A flight doubles.