The Le Mars girls tennis team opened a new chapter of the program with their fall season debut and a tight 5-4 loss to Sioux City East on Tuesday morning.
Practice was able to start officially last week for tennis athletes meaning the turnaround from first practice to first competition is shorter than most sports. Le Mars head coach Tifany Wright says the girls were still able to put a strong performance together even if they did not get the win.
Le Mars and East split their six singles matches making the doubles extra important. The Bulldogs won the first doubles court but took losses on the other two which tilted the match towards East. Coach Wright says some late changes to the lineup may have contributed to some chemistry miscues for the first meet of the year.
That late shuffling of the lineup led to a surprise performance in the sixth singles court. Camila Gonzalez was set to compete JV for the meet but was bumped up due to East traveling fewer girls than anticipated. Gonzalez secured a big 8-5 win in her match, and Coach Wright says she impressed her with that win.
With the season in full swing, the Bulldogs will be right back to work with more matchups and a tournament later this week. Coach Wright says this means the Bulldogs will have to shore up the doubles matchups which have a few logistical things that need to be taken care of.
The Bulldogs are back in action on the road on Thursday against Sioux City West. The tournament they compete at on Saturday is the Dennis Price Invitational in Spencer.
