Trojan girls tennis rolls on to Day 2

WATERLOO — It was a good day to be a Trojan on Wednesday at Byrnes Park, home of the Class 1A state tennis tournament.

Fairfield went 4-0 on the day. In the singles bracket, Tess Paton won both her matches in straight sets, and the top-seeded doubles team of Yana Gaskell and Nellie Higdon did the same. That set both Paton and the doubles team up for a ticket to Thursday morning’s semifinals.

Paton, a No. 3 seed, had to battle in her first match but slipped by Brenna Phillips of Columbus Catholic 6-3, 6-4. Later in the day, she faced Catherine Straus of Spirit Lake/Okoboji. Paton was even stronger in that one, taking it 6-1, 6-2.

Maharishi’s Lily Fenton fell in two against No. 4 seed Le Yuan Sun of Shenandoah. Sun took that match 7-5, 6-3, sending Fenton to the consolation round.

Fenton went 1-1 in the consolation round. She defeated Boone’s Morgan Kathman 6-1, 6-2, but faltered against Straus, losing 6-3, 6-2 to end her season.

On the doubles side, Fairfield’s Gaskell and Higdon showed why they’re the top seed in the bracket. The duo began the day with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Pella Christian’s Megan Kramer and Kelly Van Wyk. In the quarterfinals, they downed Union’s Alexa and Belle Weber 6-3, 7-5.

Fairfield will have a couple of battles with Cedar Rapids Xavier when the semifinals begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Paton will take on second-seeded Xavier’s Miyako Coffey, the No. 2 seed, and the duo of Gaskell and Higdon will go head-to-head with Ella Tallett and Avery Link, a team which upset the fourth seed from St. Albert on Wednesday.

If Paton wins on Thursday morning, she will take on either No. 1 seed Sasha Hyacinth of Columbus Catholic or No. 4 seed Sun in the championship. Gaskell and Higdon would play either No. 3 seed Chloe Butler and Avery Hogan of Columbus Catholic, or the top Xavier team, No. 3 seed Ally Burger and Courtney Carstensen.