Glenwood fourth at state team tennis

WATERLOO - The Glenwood girls tennis team capped its historic season with a fourth place finish at the Class 1A, Girls State Tennis Tournament at the Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo Saturday.

Glenwood (14-2) saw its season come to an end in a dramatic 5-4 decision to Cedar Rapids Xavier in the third place match. In Saturday morning’s semifinals, in a match played indoors at the Black Hawk Tennis Center due to rain, the Rams fell 5-0 to perennial power Waterloo Columbus. The Sailors would go on to win their sixth straight state title with a 5-1 victory over Pella in the championship match Saturday evening.

The Rams’ fourth place finish caps a season that saw them win their first 14 duals, reach the state meet for the second straight year and the “final four” for the first time ever.

“This has been an awesome season for us,” said Glenwood coach Callie Ohm. “I knew before the season we had a chance to be great and create some great memories.”

Ohm said she started to see the pieces fall together in her prediction following a tough 6-3 dual win over Shenandoah in late April that led right into her team’s easier than expected 5-1 victory over Spirit Lake-Okoboji in the state opener.

“Having to play the five time defending champions was a little nerve wracking,” Ohm said of her team’s opener against Columbus. “We lost 5-0 but they are a very, very, very good ball club and they had very strong No. 1 and No. 2 players. They beat (No. 1) Ellie (Osterloh) and (No. 2) Brooklyn (Taylor), 6-0, 6-0 and that’s not usually what happens for us. But we came back strong and with confidence against Xavier and they were right in the mix. I’m proud of the girls.”

As out-of-synch as the Rams looked in their loss in the opener to the Sailors, the difference was night and day against Xavier in the consolation match.

Glenwood opened strong, with Osterloh and Taylor both winning their matches after opening set losses.

Ruby Crow added a win at No. 4 and Glenwood looked poised to take a 4-2 lead into the doubles portion before Xaiver’s Miyako Coffee rallied to down Sierra Stouder in the No. 6 match.

The Saints won the opening doubles match with Nina Marquardt and Emily Jasper downing Glenwood’s Erin Stanley and Taylor. The Rams’ Crow and Osterloh bounced back for tie-breaker win in the No. 2 singles to make the score 4-4 and leave the third place trophy up to the final doubles match of the night.

The Rams’ Brielle Smith and Sierra Stouder battled the sister duo of Sarah Abu-Nameh and Naddie Abu-Nameh in the No. 3 doubles match. The Abu-Nameh sisters would win a back-and-forth game one 6-4 and then rallied in game two for a 7-6 win on a tie-breaker to win the match and the dual.

Following a one-sided semifinal loss, it might have been easy for some teams to pack it in for the consolation match. But not this team, Ohm said. They battled to the end.

“We could have folded and just been good with getting fourth but they went out and did their best and tried to get third,” Ohm said. I’m super proud of how they played and what they accomplished.”

Ohm said she felt like her team’s second straight trip to state and now a “final four” appearance with a state trophy in the case has put Glenwood on the girls tennis map.

“We had a great send off coming up here to state, with students and teachers out there and some fire trucks leading us out,” she said. “That was fun. I think when that happened it got the girls just a little more excited and giddy to play. They’re proud of themselves also for not giving up. Even thought they got fourth, they’ve accomplished so much this year.”

The Rams will graduate three starters and multi-year letterwinners off this year’s team in Osterloh, Crow and Stouder. All three will be hard to replace, Ohm said.

“All three of them haven meant so much to our tennis program,” she said. “Ellie is a four-year varsity player and Ruby has upped her game so much this season. She is such a fighter. Sierra grew so much this year too. Her stroke was always good but just the way her confidence has grown; you could see it in her game. They will definitely be missed.”

Class 1A State Team Tennis
Semifinal
Columbus Catholic 5,
Glenwood 0
Singles
No. 1 - Olivia Fain, C, defeated Ellie Osterloh, G, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 2 - Taylor Hogan, C, defeated Brooklyn Taylor, G, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 3 - Anna Sinnott, C, defeated Erin Stanley, G, 6-2, 6-1.
No. 4 - Bella Fain, C, defeated Ruby Crow, G, 6-4, 6-1.
No. 5 - Elysse Trost, C, defeated Brielle Smith, G, 6-0, 6-1.

Consolation
Xavier 5,
Glenwood 4
Singles
No. 1 - Ellie Osterloh, G, defeated Nina Marquardt, X, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.
No. 2 -Brooklyn Taylor, Glenwood defeated Emily Jasper, X, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6.
No. 3 - Maddie Abu-Nameh, X, defeated Erin Stanley, G, 6-1, 6-3.
No. 4 - Ruby Crow, G, defeated Sarah Schirm, X, 6-4, 6-3.
No. 5 - Sarah Abu-Nameh, X, defeated Brielle Smith, G, 6-3, 6-0.
No. 6 - Miyako Coffey, X, defeated Sierra Stouder, G, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5.

Doubles
No. 1 - Marquardt/Jasper, X, defeated Stanley/Taylor, G, 6-2, 6-2.
No. 2 - Crow/Osterloh, G, defeated Coffey/Schirm, X, 3-6, 6-2, 10-4.
No. 3 - Abu-Nameh/Abu-Nameh, X, defeated Smith/Stouder, G, 6-4, 7-6.