-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Allie Severe of Webster City compete against Clear Lake during NCC meet on Wednesday in Webster City

The Webster City girls tennis team tied for second here Wednesday at the North Central Conference Tournament.

The Lynx had a winner in doubles courtesy of Allie Severe and Alivia Burns, along with a third and a fifth on the day to tie with Iowa Falls-Alden for silver behind four-time reigning champion St. Edmond.

“It was a really great day for the girls,” WCHS head coach Mark Fisher said. “Congrats to St. Edmond for starters, as they have a really solid team and we knew it would be an uphill battle to take the team title from them.

“But extremely happy with our girls and how they did. This day is always a great chance to see how much we’ve improved over a season and I saw a lot of that. We had a lot of great results, saw a lot of improvement and took home some hardware.”

The top-seed at No. 1 doubles, Severe and Burns rolled to the title, winning both their matches in straight sets. After besting a pair from Clear Lake, the duo topped Ava Underberg and Chloe Palmer of St. Edmond in the finals, 6-4, 7-5.

“Extremely happy for Allie and Alivia,” Fisher said. “It was well-deserved getting the No. 1 seed and they proved why all day. They have finished second the past two seasons in this same tournament, and you could tell how important it was to them to get over the hump and win the championship.

“I am just so proud of the improvements they’ve made every year and every match.”

Sylvia Otteros finished third at No. 2 singles, going 2-1 on the day. Her only loss came to the eventual bracket champion in Jordyn Carpenter from Iowa Falls-Alden.

“I was really happy with Sylvia’s performance,” Fisher said. “She played a great match in dominating her opponent from Clear Lake before just running into a very tough opponent in the semifinals.”

After losing in the first round, Gabbie Sebert claimed fifth at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Gracey Smith of Clear Lake. The doubles team of Natalie Segar and Olivia Bergman finished fourth at No. 2 doubles.

“We knew it was going to be a battle for Gabbie as all four seeds were No. 1 players from their respective teams,” Fisher said. “She still battled and played some good points, and it was great to see her bounce back with a win to finish off her day.

“I also liked what I saw from Natalie and Olivia. They showed growth in a lot of areas and are making incredible strides.”

Webster City now prepares for Class 1A individual regionals action next Wednesday in Boone.