Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

An amazing run for the West High senior doubles tandem of Elsie Gross and Grace Wang ended with a state runner-up finish.

In their first state tournament appearance as doubles partners Wang and Gross advanced all the way to the state title match at the Class 2A state tournament falling to the top-seeded Waukee Northwest tandem of Riley Hilton and Alexa Perugini in straight sets in the championship at the Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo.

“They have such immaculate chemistry between the two of them and they are great friends outside of tennis and that always helps but it’s just the fact that they are always building each other up,” first-year West High head coach Marshall Moellers said. “It’s never something negative, they never bring the other person down they are always building each other up.”

Gross and Wang went 3-1 at the state tournament the lone loss coming to the unbeaten Waukee Northwest squad in the title match.

On Wednesday Gross and Wang upset second-seeded Johnston team of Brianna Launderville and Zoey Studer in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals on Thursday morning the Trojan tandem outlasted the Pleasant Valley squad of Grace Hall and Kaj Kabongo 6-2, 4-6, 7-6.

A state semifinalist team last season, Hall and Kabongo finished fourth for the second consecutive season.

The Liberty High doubles tandem of Regan Christoph and Blythe Kahler finished eighth in Class 2A.

Christoph and Kahler fell to the West Des Moines Valley team of Rory Bird and Madelyn Dalton 6-4, 6-0 in the consolation semifinals and dropped the seventh-place match to the Linn-Mar tandem of Reagan Boies and Gabby Erickson.

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