From the Ottumwa Courier

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Maharishi (MSAE) Pioneers and the Centerville Redettes both battled their way through the first two rounds of the girls regional team tennis tournament on Saturday.

MSAE will take on Centerville Saturday at Fairfield in the Class 1A semifinals, with the winner headed to the regional final at Iowa City West on Monday, May 19.

Centerville took a hard-fought win over South Central Conference rival Albia 5-3, then won a close contest with Fairfield 5-4 in the quarterfinals. MSAE, unbeaten on the season, blanked Davis County 5-0 before downing Mount Pleasant 5-2.

For the Redettes, it was the lower seeds that came through against Albia. The Lady Dees took singles wins at the top two seeds, both in three sets, as Albia’s top seed Britt DeVisser downed Heather Buttel 2-6, 6-0, 7-6; while Albia’s No. 2 seed Rachel Chambers edged Allison Berner 7-5, 0-6, 7-6. Centerville, which defeated Albia twice in duals during the regular season but lost out to Albia at the SCC tournament, bounced back with singles wins by Katie Berner, Melanie Harmon, Danielle Widmar and Lacey Myers. Then Buttel teamed with Allison Berner to take a 6-1, 6-3 doubles win over DeVisser and Chambers to clinch the team victory.

Centerville then took on Fairfield, and with the score knotted at 4-4, the Redettes’ No. 2 doubles team of Melanie Harmon and Katie Berner came through. After dropping their first set to Kim Thorn and Olivia Bacher 0-6, the Redette pair bounced back two win the final two sets 7-5 and 7-6 to clinch the team victory. Buttel, Widmar and Myers took singles wins for Centerville while Thorn, Bachar and Megan Proctor took singles wins for Fairfield.

“After a slow start the girls kicked their play up a notch. As the scores indicated, they were a determined group of young ladies who were on a mission and didn't quit until their mission had been accomplished,” said Centerville head coach Barb Climie.

After sweeping Davis County, MSAE battled against Mount Pleasant before emerging victorious. Top seed Bonnie Carter took a singles win for MSAE, as did Sheila Higgins, Angela Sickler and Holly Armstrong. In doubles play, the No. 2 seeded team of Sickler and Armstrong took a 6-2, 6-0 win to clinch it.

Centerville will compete at the girls individual and doubles regional tournament in Fairfield on Thursday before facing off against Maharishi in Fairfield on Saturday.