webster city’s Morgan Hackbarth returns a shot against St. Edmond in Fort Dodge. (DFJ Photo by David Borer)

The Webster City girls tennis team claimed a 5-4 victory over South Hardin in Eldora last Thursday evening.

After taking four of the six singles matches, the Lynx secured the dual with a win at the No. 2 doubles spot behind Allie Severe and Alivia Burns.

Olivia Gallentine, Morgan Hackbarth, Cyra Christensen and Gabbie Sebert were singles winners. Gallentine scored an 8-3 decision at the No. 2 spot with Burns winning 8-4 and Hackbarth by a final of 8-1.

“This was a hard-fought victory for our girls,” WCHS head coach Mark Fisher said. “I thought we showed a lot of nerves early on, which is normal for a first match, but we settled in as the match went on.

“I was really impressed with Morgan’s singles match and it was good to see Olivia jump out to a big lead in her first career match against a really good opponent.”

Christensen pulled out a super-tiebreaker victory, 11-9, at No. 4 with Sebert winning 8-5.

“Cyra might have had the match of the night,” Fisher said. “She got down 5-1 and fought back before really grinding out a tough tiebreaker. It was a big, big win for our team.”

In doubles, Severe and Burns dominated with an 8-1 triumph.

“Allie and Alivia are our one returning doubles pair,” Fisher said. “They showed great chemistry right off the bat, jumping out to a big lead while playing dominant tennis.”

Last Friday, the Lynx dropped their North Central Conference opener to defending league champion St. Edmond, 6-3.

Gallentine, Burns and Hackbarth posted wins in singles, with Burns and Hackbarth pulling out 8-6 victories.

“I told the girls afterwards I was actually much happier with our performance in a loss to a solid and experienced St. Edmond team compared to our win over South Hardin,” Fisher said. “I thought we played more loose and relaxed, trusting our shots. We had our chances even in singles and I thought we did a lot of great things in doubles to give ourselves chances at No. 1 and No. 3.

“This was a good step forward as we continue to look to improve daily.”

Earning junior varsity wins for the Lynx were Sylvia Otteros and Maja Gordon, Haylee Ades and Tegan Gillis, and Liberty Gamble and Abby Blake.

Webster City heads to North Polk on Monday.