Lady Hounds start season with shut out loss to Davis County

Fort Madison junior Malarie Ross hits a return in her No. 2 singles match to open the season in Fort Madison Tuesday night. The Hounds fell 0-9 to Davis County and host Fairfield Thursday. Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

Posted Wednesday, March 31, 2021 2:48 pm

BY PCC STAFF

FORT MADISON - The Fort Madison girls tennis team took the courts for the first time in almost two years and landed flat with a 0-9 loss to visiting Davis County on a breezy, cool Tuesday night.

In singles, No. 1 seed Molly Knipe took a game at 4-1 before falling 8-1 to the Mustang's Bella Tranquillino. The closest singles match of the day was at No. 5 singles where Camille Kruse lost a close match with Davis County's Jenna Marlow 8-6.

Malarie Ross was shut out at No. 2 singles 8-0 to Avery Thompson, while the Hounds No. 3 Rachel Hellman was also shut out at 8-0 by Morgan Klaus. At No. 4 Maddy Warning downed Kayla Kruse 8-2 and Jada Will knocked off Fort Madison's Elizabeth Stuekerjuergen 8-3 at No. 6 singles.

Fort Madison's Molly Knipe lets go with a serve in the No. 1 singles match Tuesday night at Fort Madison High School. The Hounds fell to Davis County 0-9 to open the year.

In doubles Tranquillino/Thompson shut out Knipe and Hellman 8-0. Ross and Kruse fell 2-8 to Klaus and Warning, while Kayla Kruse and Stuekerjuergen fell 2-8 to Marlow and Will.

"Tonight was a tough night for us. Davis County is a very well coached and experienced team," Swink said. "We currently do not have any returning varsity players in our lineup, which hurts us when we face a team like Davis County, who returned most if not all their lineup from 2019.

"Our girls fought hard, and did not give up, which is definitely a positivewe can take away from tonight. I am looking forward to the upcoming season and watching us grow and get better."

The girls take on Fairfield on Thursday with matches starting at 4:30 p.m. The boys open the year on the road at Fairfield.