Panthers mop Mustangs

MT. PLEASANT — The 2024 high school tennis season officially kicked off for Mt. Pleasant on Thursday night, and it kicked off with a pair of wins.

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In Mt. Pleasant, the Panther girls knocked off Davis County 7-2. In Bloomfield, the MPCHS boys swept the Mustangs 9-0.

Winfield-Mount Union coop player Jana Isanta Vila made her Mt. Pleasant tennis debut with a dominant win at No. 1. Vila downed Davis County’s Abby Warning 8-2 to win the top match of the day.

Ellie Situmeang battled past Davis County’s Culee Smith, 8-5, in the No. 2 singles match. Bethany Drury dominated the No. 4 match, 8-1. Victoria Smith and Audrey Richmond won the No. 5 and No. 6 matches 8-3 and 8-4 respectively.

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The only singles loss for the Panther girls went to Mary Kate Peterson, who fell to Davis County’s Alyssa Rudd, 8-4, in the No. 3 matchup.

In doubles, Isanta and Situmeang out-dueled the top two Mustangs 8-4 to win the No. 1 match. Drury and Richmond won the No. 3 match 8-4.

Peterson and Smith couldn’t pull out a win in the No. 2 doubles match, falling 8-2.

The Panther girls also had nine junior varsity players in action. Zoey Carlsen and Kristal Olivas won in a doubles match. Hali Crane and Hannah Villaplaza fell in doubles as well. Jaedyn Sims and Tulip Lien dropped a doubles match. Mia Gray and Katana Phangchanthong fell in doubles, and Madeleine Smith took a loss in singles.

The Panther boys did everything possible to spoil the Mustangs’ home opener in Bloomfield, sweeping through both the singles and doubles matches.

Phoenix Watson took down Davis County’s Cayler Wuthrich in the No. 1 match of the day, beating him 8-2. Gavin Ross made it two wins in the Top 2 matches after grinding out an 8-6 win over Mustang Gavin Klaus at No. 2.

Sawyer Fulton rolled through the No. 3 match, winning 8-1. Zach Johnson and Dane Cook won the No. 4 and No. 5 matches, both by the score of 8-4. Elijah Rynders took the victory in No. 6 singles, winning 8-3.

The Panther boys picked up a win at No. 1 doubles with Watson and Ross prevailed 8-4. Fulton and Cook stayed hot with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. Johnson and Ryners had to fight for the final win, but pulled it out 8-6.

The Panther tennis teams are both now 1-0 on the year. Both squads will take on Fort Madison on Thursday, with the girls returning home and the boys going back on the road.