Maddie Powell, one half of the Iron Mountain girls varsity tennis No. 1 doubles pairing, serves against Kingsford on Thursday at Kingsford High School. Although it was in Kingsford, the Mountaineers were the home team for the match between the rivals. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

KINGSFORD — Iron Mountain girls varsity tennis began its season on Thursday against the host Kingsford squad in a matchup of neighboring rivals.

Despite it being listed as a home contest for the Mountaineers, the matches were played on the Kingsford High School courts. In the end, Kingsford secured an 8-0 victory.

“I was extremely happy with how the girls played today,” stated Tracy Rutter, Kingsford’s head coach. “We worked on being more aggressive and following through on all shots at practice yesterday. It paid off today.

“We are still in the process of trying to find the right fit for doubles, I am confident we should have that figured out for next week. Singles are all playing well and continuing to improve.”

The Flivvers improve to 2-1, while Iron Mountain falls to 0-1.

In No. 1 singles, Kingsford’s Ella Rizzo defeated Avea Brown, 6-1, 6-0.

The Flivvers continued their success throughout the singles competitions as No. 2 Allette Shanks toppled Mallory Maracini, 6-2, 6-1 and No. 3 Addison Rutter beat Alysia Wood, 6-0, 6-0. Kingsford’s No. 4 singles player Abby Przeslakowski won by forfeit.

“Addie Rutter, No. 3 singles, switched to singles from playing doubles the past three years,” Rutter stated. “Her match today against Alysia Wood was fun to watch, proud mom/coach moment, watching her help Alysia with her very first varsity match. Like any sport, being new can be very intimidating so watching the team as a whole being helpful to their opponents makes me proud.”

In doubles competition, the Flivvers earned a clean sweep in a quartet of matches. Kingsford’s No. 1 pairing of Audrey Veale and Libby Vross powered past Hailey Greenleaf and Maddie Powell, twinning 6-2, 6-2. Eden Janousek and Addy Kriegl defeated the Mountaineers pairing of Ani Lucas and Jacalyn Rowe,6-2, 6-0. Aubrey Phillips and Addison Paternoster picked up the win over Lillian Olson and Betsy Vanegas, 6-1, 6-0. Ava Lovell and Madalynn Sleik toppled Emelia Miles and Veronica Stanchina, 6-0, 6-0, in the No.4 doubles contest.

Kingsford heads to Escanaba on Friday to face the Eskymos at 10 a.m. The Mountaineers head to Ishpeming on Friday at 11 a.m. for a doubleheader against Ishpeming and Westwood.