The Toreadors struck a blow for the little guy, beating chief rival Ames 5-1 in the girls tennis team state championship match Saturday at Ames High School.
The Toreadors capped off a 15-0 season by giving fellow unbeatens Ames and Des Moines Roosevelt their first loss.
"We talked about it on day one that this was our year to win the team state title; this is what all of our hard work and goals was about," Boone coach Shawn Latimer said. "We played a great Ames team in the finals. It's always a battle when we play them. If we went against them 100 times, it'd go 50-50."
It was quite a weekend for the Toreadors. In addition to winning the team title, senior Mary Pat McMullan won the state singles title Friday and senior Traci Moklestad and junior Maggi Schutte placed third in doubles.
The Toreadors came into the week as a solid 2A program. They leave as the top team in the state.
"It feels so good to be the underdog and prove to everybody that we actually deserve to be here," Schutte said. "We all wanted it so bad that we pushed each other a lot in the offseason. It hasn't set in quite yet but hopefully soon. I'll probably start screaming."
After surviving a marathon semifinal match against Roosevelt, a 5-4 Boone victory, the Toreadors took care of business quickly against the Little Cyclones, wrapping up the title without having to go to doubles.
With four singles victories in the bag, the Toreadors got the clincher from Lindsay Greiner in the No. 4 singles match.
Greiner split sets with Robin Parlade and then stepped it up against her cramping opponent in the third set to pull out a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 victory.
When Greiner won match point, it set off a celebration among her teammates, coaches and the several Boone fans who made the short drive over to Ames.
"There was a lot of pressure," Greiner said. "I knew we needed one more win, and I wanted to be the one to win it. I always want to know what the score is in the meet. My coach never wants to tell me but I have to know or else it bothers me."
McMullan, Moklestad and Julia Stockhausen won in straight sets against the Little Cyclones (14-1). Schutte rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third set against Frances Xin to win 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3).
Schutte's victory capped off a three-day run in which she played five doubles matches and two singles matches, all coming after a bout with food poisoning earlier in the week.
Instead of wanting to forget about just being sick, Schutte used it as motivation to fight back Saturday against Xin.
"I was in the hospital on Wednesday so I wasn't going to fight back and get better from that for nothing," Schutte said. "I wanted to be done, and I wanted to be done and happy."
The Little Cyclones' lone victory in the championship match was a straight-set triumph by freshman Diane Wang over Hannah Worrall.
The Toreadors and Roughriders were even at 4-4 after eight matches of their semifinal matchup. The decider was the No. 1 doubles match between 2A doubles state champs Dunja Saric and Libby Caris against Moklestad and Schutte.
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"We would've liked to have played them (Friday) in the state finals, but I'm really happy it happened today," Schutte said. "It felt so good to do it for the team and not just for ourselves. I'd rather have the team championship for everyone."
The Little Cyclones reached the finals by beating Bettendorf 7-2.
Wang, Parlade, Evelyn Qin and Katie Isebrands all posted singles victories against Bettendorf, and the Little Cyclones swept all three doubles matches.
"You always look at it and see how close we came to winning a state championship, but we played really well and it was a good season," Ames coach Len Thiede said. "I would've liked to have been undefeated, but we ended up 14-1 and that's not a bad year by most standards.
"I think we're going to be a team to be reckoned with again next year."
Class 2A girls state team tennis meet
Championship
Boone 5, Ames 1
Singles
1 - Mary Pat McMullan, Boone def. Evelyn Qin, Ames, 6-3, 6-1; 2 - Maggi Schutte, Boone, def. Frances Xin, Ames, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3); 3 - Traci Moklestad, Boone, def. Leigh Howell, Ames, 6-1, 6-0; 4 - Lindsay Greiner, Boone, def. Robin Parlade, Ames, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3; 5 - Diane Wang, Ames, def. Hannah Worrall, Boone, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; 6 - Julia Stockhausen, Boone, def. Katie Isebrands, Ames, 6-3, 6-1.
Semifinals
Boone 5, Des Moines Roosevelt 4
Singles
1 - McMullan def. Dunja Saric, DMR, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); 2 - Schutte def. Libby Caris, DMR, 6-4, 6-2; 3 - Moklestad def. Anna Sims, DMR, 7-5, 6-0; 4 - Ellie Nixon, DMR, def. Greiner, 7-5, 6-1; 5 - Kelly Mackey, DMR, def. Worrall, 6-3, 7-5; 6 - Laura Rowson, DMR, def. Stockhausen, 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles
1 - Moklestad/Schutte def. Saric/Caris, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (13-11), 6-2; 2 - McMullan/Worrall def. Sims/Nixon, 6-3, 6-4; 3 - Mackay/Rowson def. Greiner/Stockhausen, 7-5, 6-4
Ames 7, Bettendorf 2
Singles
1 - Qin def. Kristin Barnes, B, 6-2, 6-2; 2 - Brooke Johnson, B, def. Frances Xin, 6-4, 7-5; 3 - Alyssa Curtis, B, def. Howell, 6-3, 6-2; 4 - Parlade def. Stowe Heiderscheit, B, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; 5 - Wang def. Hanane Bouchareb, B, 6-3, 6-4; 6 - Isebrands def. Rachel Hayward, B, 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles
1 - Howell/Xin def. Barnes/Curtis, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; 2 - Qin/Wang def. Johnson/Heiderscheidt, 6-2, 6-4; 3 - Parlade/Isebrands def. Jenna Russell/Bouchareb, 6-2, 6-2.
