Mt. Pleasant’s Isanta Vila wins SEC tennis crown

FAIRFIELD — Southeast Conference girls tennis reached its pinnacle on Thursday as Mt. Pleasant, Fairfield, Burlington, Fort Madison and Keokuk all squared off in the Southeast Conference Girls Tennis Tournament.

For Mt. Pleasant’s Jana Isanta Vila is was a fantastic day. The Winfield-Mt. Union student put together a dominant performance on her way to the SEC singles title.

In doubles, Fairfield’s Emma Wendland and Sriya Yammanur placed second to lead the Union area.

Beginning with singles, Isanta Vila received a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed.

In her first match of the day, Isanta Vila earned a sweep, downing Ava Fawcett of Burlington 6-0 in a pair of matches.

Following that victory, Isanta Vila earned a match with No. 2 seeded Nevaeh Logan of Keokuk. The Panther had no problem downing Logan 6-0, 6-2 for the title.

In other singles action, Mt. Pleasant’s Ellie Situmeang finished fifth.

Situmeang, who was the No. 6 seed, fell in a tightly contested battled out of the gate, 4-6, 6-2, 10-2 to No. 3 Madison Taeger of Burlington.

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She bounced back with a pair of wins for fifth, defeating Fairfield’s Faith Jones 8-3 and the Trojan’s Mareyn Dunkin 8-1.

The loss gave Dunkin a sixth overall finish. The No. 4 seed was defeated in her first match 6-1, 6-4 to Fawcett. An injury in the next round propelled Dunkin into the fifth place match.

As for Jones, she opened with a great performance against Alyssa Crowther of Fort Madison. Jones was a winner 6-0 in both sets.

However, a tough matchup ensued against Logan of Keokuk in the next round. Jones put together a valiant effort, but fell 6-2 in two sets.

After her loss to Mt. Pleasant’s Situmeang, Jones earned a seventh place finish after defeating Sophia Rule of Keokuk on injury.

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In doubles, Wendland and Yammanur kicked things off with a 6-3, 6-0 victory in match one.

The pair then went the distance with Burlington’s Moffett and Weaver, but were able to get by with a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 10-6 win.

The No. 2 seeded Trojans’ run came to an end against top seeded Mosley and Buxton of Burlington in the final, 6-1, 6-0.

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Also for Fairfield, Una Carter and Lola Hatchette place seventh. The pair grabbed a 6-3, 6-3 victory in their first match of the day and followed with a 8-6 victory for seventh.

The highest placers for the Panthers came in the form of Audrey Richmond and Bethany Drury.

The duo finished fifth overall. After fall just short, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 10-7 in their first match of the day, the pair bounced back with victories of 8-3 and 8-6 to earn a top five finish.

Mt. Pleasant’s Mary Kate Peterson and Victoria Smith finished ninth.

The two were defeated by Carter and Hatchette, but answered back with a 8-6 win to take ninth.

Girls SEC Singles Bracket Finishes

1. Jana Isanta - Mt. Pleasant * All Conference Singles 1st Place

2. Nevaeh Logan - Keokuk * All Conference Singles 2nd Place

3. Ava Fawcett - Burlington * All Conference Singles 3rd Place

4. Madison Taeger - Burlington

5. Ellie Situmeang - Mt. Pleasant

6. Mareyn Dunkin - Fairfield

7. Faith Jones - Fairfield

8. Sophia Rule - Keokuk

9. Alyssa Crowther - Ft. Madison

10. Elizabeth Tanner - Ft. Madison

Girls SEC Doubles Bracket Finishes

1. Emily Mosley & Anna Buxton - Burlington * All Conference Doubles 1st Place

2. Emma Wendland & Sriya Yamannur - Fairfield * All Conference Doubles 2nd Place

3. Ava Moffet & Lorelei Weaver - Burlington * All Conference Doubles 3rd Place

4. Gracie Thompson & Annabel Benson - Keokuk

5. Bethany Drury & Audrey Richmond - Mt. Pleasant

6. Lila Shepard & Lily Arnold - Ft. Madison

7. Una Carter & Lola Hatchette - Fairfield

8. Elizabeth Stambaugh & Aubree Dade - Keokuk

9. Mary Kate Peterson & Victoria Smith - Mt. Pleasant

10. Mady Emmett & Brook Johnson - Ft. Madison

Girls Tennis Team SEC Dual Records:

1. Burlington 8-0 * SEC Girls Tennis Team Champions

2. Mt. Pleasant 5-3

3. Fairfield 4-4

4. Keokuk 3-5

5. Ft. Madison 0-8