March 28, 2024

Cardinal boys tennis dealt tough defeat by Marshalltown

It was a less-than-ideal opener for the Newton boys tennis team on Tuesday, as the Cardinals fell 11-0 to a senior-filled Marshalltown squad at Aurora Heights Park.

"Marshalltown is crazy good," Newton coach Seth Banwell said. "Our top six guys are new to singles competition and will continue to get better. With more playing experience, the guys will learn the playing style of their doubles partners and communicate more effectively on the court."

The Bobcats blanked the Cardinals in No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 singles. Senior Spencer Hook was able to salvage one game at No. 3, as was senior Nate Hinshaw at No. 4 and junior Brendan Brown at No. 6.

Junior Ben Van Dalen and senior Sebastian Peters were able to recover to win two games in the second set of No. 1 doubles after being blanked in the first by Jameson Eberline and Ryan Shomo, the latter of which is considered one of the top-10 players in the state.
Hook and Hinshaw were able to win three games in No. 2 doubles, while the No. 3 team of Brown and senior Kyle Portner and No. 4 team of sophomore Alex Cron and junior Brian Jones each won two games. Senior Tyler McAnally and sophomore Jared Griffin represented the Cards in No. 5 doubles.
The Cards will get right back to work this week, hosting Boone at Aurora Heights Park on Thursday before traveling to West Des Moines on Saturday for a makeup of last week's postponed meet.