Women’s tennis smashes its way into top finishes at State

Adrenaline pumping, the women’s tennis team stood face to face with their long reigning rivals, Johnston. For two years in a row Johnston had Cedar Falls beaten. Winning against Johnston would mean a shot at the final four, then eventually, state champions. Cedar Falls knew they had to win. For their coach. For their school. For themselves.

This year, the women’s tennis became state qualifiers, winning multiple brackets and titles. Practicing in the summer, off season and in season, coach Tara Sagers, who has been coaching the team for about nine years, said she was excited to take the girls back to state this year. 

“The girls had a big goal of making it back to the state tournament this year as a team,” Sagers said. “Last year, we graduated two players, but this year we gained back our No. 1 player, Mackenzie Sagers, as she had knee surgery last November and was out for nine months, so we knew it was achievable, but we had some goals in mind to make this happen.”

To qualify for State, the team needed to win five matches, which then allowed them to compete for Regionals. After the team became regional champions, they then qualified for State. Once reaching State, the tennis team then competed in what is called the Elite Eight, the eight teams that managed to make it to State that season. 

In their first round of the Elite Eight, Cedar Falls was paired up with Johnston, which Cedar Falls had lost to in the previous two years. Playing hard, Cedar Falls managed to beat them 5-3 and move up to the next round against an undefeated Valley. Although they lost this match, Cedar Falls managed to beat their next opponent, IC West, and take home the third place trophy.

“In the regular season we lost to IC West 4-5, so this was a great feat for the team, and only two teams ended the season with a win, the champions and the third place team, so this was an incredible way to complete our first ever fall tennis season,” Sagers said.

As well as the team state tournament, the team had success in the individual tournaments as well. Senior Addison King placed third in singles, and junior Gretchen Shepard and sophomore Esther Tink placed third in doubles regionals. Additionally, junior Indre Jankunas and sophomore Ayla Suiters also became regional champions in the doubles category, and although they didn’t place in the state tournament, Tara Sagers exclaimed that they had some great matches.

“Mentally, I’ve grown a lot. I can let things go more easily, and if I’m struggling I can always come back and never give up,” Suiter said. “A lot of our hard work during the summer also paid off. We went to the Waterloo Club, and it’s both boys and girls playing tennis, so we were able to get some good competition there.”

However, for one athlete, they went above and beyond during their matches this season. Junior Mackenzie Sagers became the regional champion of singles and then ended up placing second in the state tournament.

“It felt amazing, and it was so fun to become a state qualifier. I also qualified my freshman year, so I knew what it was like to be at State already. Last year I missed the season due to surgery on my knee, so coming back from nine months of not being able to play is really special,” Mackenzie said.

Starting to play tennis at 3 years old, as her parents were coaches and played tennis themselves, Mackenzie always had a passion for the sport. So, finishing in second place in the state championships was definitely a huge accomplishment for her as coach Tara said that “it was the best singles finish in Cedar Falls history.”

For Tara, she has learned a lot from coaching women’s tennis. Proud of her team, she said she looks forward to the coming seasons.

“It has taught me that it isn’t just tennis that we are teaching. We are teaching work ethic, perseverance and how hard work can help you obtain your goals. It has also taught me that each kid is different, and that my coaching style with each may look a little different, and how I approach them to get the best out of each of them,” Tara said. “It is a lot of work. I spend a lot of time working to better myself and research so that I can help get them to be their best.”