WEBSTER CITY'S MORGAN HACKBARTH hits a shot at the NCC girls tennis tournament on Wednesday. (DFJ photos by Britt Kudla)

The Webster City girls tennis team landed three Top-3 finishes here Wednesday at the North Central Conference meet.

In doubles, Allie Severe and Alivia Burns finished second while Morgan Hackbarth topped Olivia Gallentine in the third place match.

St. Edmond claimed a third consecutive team title, crowning both singles and doubles winners.

“I was extremely proud of the way we played,” WCHS head coach Mark Fisher said. “I thought we played some of our best tennis of the season at times and I was very happy with how competitive we were and how hard we got after it.

“This tournament is always a great barometer of how far we’ve come from the start of the season, and this year was no different. I thought it showed a lot of the progress we’ve made.”

Severe and Burns, the No. 3 seed, dominated in the quarterfinals with an 8-2 victory over a pair from Nevada. In the semifinals, they topped the St. Edmond duo of Ava Underberg and Chloe Palmer, the No. 2 seed, 8-3.

In the finals, Severe and Burns fell to another team from St. Edmond in Cambree Lunn and Ava Andrew, 6-2, 6-3.

“Allie and Alivia were dominant in their first two matches,” Fisher said. “In the finals, the St. Edmond pair just played better in the big moments. But that’s something we learn from and grow from.

“Allie and Alivia have been amazing all year.”

Hackbarth, the No. 5 seed, posted an 8-0 victory over Mattelyn McGuire of Hampton-Dumont/CAL in the first round. She proceeded to upset four-seed Kaitlyn McGaffin of Nevada, 8-4, to reach the semifinals where she would fall to eventual champion Lauren Gibb of St. Edmond.

Gallentine, the No. 2 seed, posted an 8-2 win in her first match before falling to Payton Bradley of St. Edmond.

Hackbarth proceeded to score a 9-8 (7-4) victory over Gallentine for third in an all-Webster City matchup.

“I was really impressed with Morgan and Olivia,” Fisher said. “Morgan did an outstanding job of constructing points and taking points from (Gibb). Olivia did a great job of getting through a solid player in the semifinals before having one of the best matches I’ve watched this year with Payton Bradley.”

Cyra Christensen and Perla Torres went 0-2 in the doubles draw.

Next action for the Lynx will be a Class 1A individual tournament on Monday in Spencer. The field includes St. Edmond, Cherokee, Estherville-LC, Le Mars, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Spencer, Spirit Lake and Storm Lake.

Winners and runners-up in singles and doubles qualify for the state tournament.