Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – When first-year West High girls’ tennis coach Nina Marquardt configured her early-season lineup, she elected to reunite seniors Marie Stiers and Sasha Postnikov as doubles partners.

Two-plus months later, that decision is paying off in a big way at the Class 2A girls’ state tennis tournament.

“They’re both seniors and they both have been on the team before,” Marquardt said after Stiers and Postnikov posted two wins Friday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. “Mentality-wise, Marie is a captain on the team and she is just really good at supporting everybody on the team and I knew that she would really support Sasha just because she does that with everybody. And because they already know each other and have a good relationship. I put them together in doubles at the beginning of the season and it just instantly clicked.”

Stier and Postnikov were impressive in both of their victories Friday, which they began by shaking off some early nerves and finishing with a strong 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kennedy Feldman and Kate Sandvick of Marshalltown.

“The main thing is we had some really close games, some long deuce points,” Stier said. “And I think that is the mental fortitude, staying together and trusting each other. We switch off with who is returning, but making sure we trust each other to get to the next ball, the next point. That really helps keep us in there.”

In the quarterfinal round, Stier and Postnikov completely overwhelmed the fourth-seeded tandem from Johnston, 6-1, 6-2.

“They played a lot more aggressively,” Marquardt said. “They weren’t waiting for the other team to make a mistake. They were going and winning the point and that is what our plan was.”

Stier is making her second appearance in a row at state doubles, while Postnikov had not appeared at state since 2022 when she competed in state singles for Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Two years ago, Postnikov transferred to West High and qualified for state doubles, but was unable to appear due to injury.

Last season, she stepped away from the high school team to refocus and rediscover her love of tennis.

For Postnikov, a prep career marked by a transfer plus a year away only made the trip to the state semifinals an even bigger cause for celebration.

“It truly means everything to me,” Postnikov said. “Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of being here. And I’m here, so that is all I could ask for.”

As the girls signed the cardboard scoreboard after the quarterfinal victory, Stier beamed over making the most of Postnikov’s return to the team and their ability to turn that final opportunity as doubles teammates into wins at state.

“Sasha is such an inspiration in her tennis ability,” Stier said. “There is no competition with Sasha. I have always admired her ability to play, but above that I’m really proud of her this year for coming back after taking a year. I think that takes a lot of mental fortitude and I am really proud of that, too.”

A huge hurdle awaits Saturday in the semifinal. Stier and Postnikov will face the top-seeded team from West Des Moines Dowling – Grace Frye and Juju Mauro – at 10 a.m. back at the University of Iowa tennis courts.

“It is going to take all the trust we have,” Postnikov said. “We have plans, we just need to execute them and just being really intentional tomorrow.”

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