SERGEANT BLUFF — It’s been quite an evolution for the Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School tennis program.
The school didn’t even field a team prior to the 2021 season.
In its first season of existence, the SB-L boys and girls teams combined for nine points between them at the 2021 Missouri River Activities Conference Championships.
Now, both are the two-time defending MRAC champions and are coming off bids to the team state tournaments, and the program has a brand new athletic complex to host matches in Sergeant Bluff for the first time as the school district broke ground on a baseball, softball and tennis facility.
“It’s been great not having to always travel,” said SB-L head girls tennis coach Julie Pomerenke. “It’s night and day. The facilities are great, it’s beautiful here. We love being able to play at home.”
In the spring, the boys will look for their third straight state bid.
On Wednesday, the girls’ team clinched a spot in the Class 1A Region 4 final with a five-match sweep of Spirit Lake/Okoboji.
“We didn’t expect to have a very deep team this season after having a lot of roster turnover since last season,” said Pomerenke. “But this team has really come through. Everyone has played a role in getting us here.”
The No. 2-seeded Warriors (11-1) will play the winner of top-seeded Spencer (11-0) and fourth-seeded Bishop Heelan (9-2) in the regional final on Saturday, with a start time of 10 a.m. at Spencer High School.
SB-L is familiar with both. The Warriors opened the season at the Fort Dodge Invitational and saw Spencer (a 7-2 loss, SB-L’s only team defeat of the season), and beat Heelan 7-2 in conference play and at the conference tournament.
Against Spirit Lake/Okoboji (8-4), the No. 2 Position match (Carley Rooney vs. Bethany Frostestad) and the No. 6 Position (Madison Grote vs. Izzy Baker) were the last ones going after SB-L clinched wins in the other four matches.
And with the only the final team score relevant to the outcome, once Grote put away Baker on match point, there was nothing more that SL/O could do to change the outcome in the remaining singles match or doubles play.
Grote, a sophomore, wound up with a narrow 6-4, 6-3 win over Baker, a freshman, as the two battled in the No. 6 Position match.
Whether words to herself during the match or encouragement from coaches and fans, keeping a positive attitude was key for Grote.
“You have to,” she said. “If you don’t stay positive you will play worse. You can’t keep your mind stuck on one play as the rest of the match goes on. If it stays with you, you’ll keep making bad shots.”
Words to live by.
“I think in that way, playing tennis and going through that will help us later in life,” said Grote. “You have to learn to move on and rely on teammates or friends to pick you up and get you through it.
“We just try and get better every day and use that to get to where we want to be.”
Rooney took Set 1 over the junior Frostestad, 6-3, and was up 3-2 in Set 2 when the meet was called in favor of SB-L.
In the No. 1 Position, SB-L sophomore Camryn Glass beat senior Sally Androski, 6-0, 6-3.
The Warriors got a near-shutout win by No. 3 Position player Stella Britton, a junior who beat Spirit Lake/Okoboji junior Ebba Bjornstad by way of 6-0, 6-1 final.
The No. 5s needed extra points to decide the first set but after SB-L senior Kaeley Abels won it, 7-5, she cruised to a 6-1 second set win over senior Isla Nelson.
“It’s a great team to be on here (at SB-L),” Abels said. “We pick each other up when someone needs and root each other on no matter what.”
In the No. 4 spot, the Warriors got a quick win from freshman Clara Britton, who beat sophomore Shelby Kleckner, 6-1, 6-2.
Last week, SB-L’s Glass clinched a spot to the Class 1A individual state tournament while Stella Britton and Rooney earned a spot at the 1A doubles tournament.
“It’s a short season, so it can be a bit of a scramble,” Pomerenke said. “But everyone has stepped up and contributed. We lost four seniors that were a big part of our team. But everyone in the program is working hard to be the next group to step up.”
The individual and doubles state tournament is a two-day event that runs on Oct. 1 and 2. The Class 1A tournament is at Hawkeye Tennis and Rec Center in Iowa City while the 1A team tournament is Oct. 6 and 7 in Pella.
It’s been a bit of a quick turnaround for the girls as the IGHSAU flipped the season from the spring to the fall starting with the 2025-26 academic calendar. But it wasn’t an issue for SB-L, who wanted any reason to keep the momentum of last season rolling.
“We worked all hard through the summer to get to this point,” Grote said. “Our teammates and coaches have really helped us along the way, and our coaches have been really patient with us. But it’s a great group of girls to be around, we all get along really well and we want to keep playing as long as we can.”
“We’ve played Spencer a bunch over the years,” Abels said. “Whatever happens, happens, but we know we’ll be in for a tough match and that we’re going to give it our best shot.”
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