Indians hold own against big schools
CLINTON, Iowa — With Class 2A girls tennis teams from Mississippi Athletic Conference powers like Bettendorf, Clinton and Pleasant Valley present, the Class 1A Camanche Indians showed why they placed second at state in 2007.
Three Camanche doubles teams placed in the Clinton Invitational finals Saturday afternoon at Max Lynn Courts.
Camanche’s top performance came from senior Emily Steines and junior Lindsey Nissen, who won the No. 3 doubles by defeating Clinton’s sophomore team of Megan Determan and Sarah Massey 8-2. Steines and Nissen beat teams from Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley in their quarterfinal and semifinal matches by 8-0 and 8-1 scores to make for a fairly easy day on the courts.
“We weren’t expecting to win, but we felt we had a good chance to win,” Nissen said. “We played well today. For our school, it helps boost our confidence when we beat the bigger schools. This last match was probably our toughest match of the day.”
In other doubles finals Saturday, Bettendorf’s Alyssa Curtis and Kristin Barnes defeated Clinton’s Ellen Russell and Claire Cornilsen 8-6. Curtis and Barnes faced three match points before taking the No. 1 doubles victory.
“Clinton was really difficult,” Barnes said. “They had us down 4-0 at one point, but once we got back into it we got into the zone and were able to pull it off.”
River Queens coach Cindy Rasche said the loss was a “good lesson” for her top doubles team to learn.
“We have been talking about putting the nail into the coffin,” Rasche said. “That didn’t happen today.”
In the third-place match at No. 1, Camanche’s Ashtyn Dixon and Tiana Bark defeated Pleasant Valley’s Alisha Saigal and Chelsea Allbaugh 8-5.
Bettendorf’s Brooke Johnson and Stowe Heiderscheidt won the No. 2 doubles final against Pleasant Valley’s Caroline Kwan and Kippy Searles 8-2. Camanche’s Chelsea Moore teamed up with Emily Zimmon to defeat Clinton’s Katie Crites and Alysson Goetzl 8-4 in the third-place match.