Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Beth Murman returns a shot for Fort Dodge at the Dodger Courts earlier this season.

ANKENY — Fort Dodge junior Beth Murman bounced back from an opening-round loss at the state tennis tournament here on Thursday, before being ousted on the consolation side.

Murman suffered a 6-1, 6-1 setback in her first match against Lily Feldman of Pleasant Valley. She roared back to defeat Waukee’s Libby Messman, 6-1 and 6-1, but fell to Cari Naanep of Johnston and out of the competition with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat.

Feldman was a state semifinalist a year ago and an individual runner-up as a freshman. Naanep and Murman had played to a super tiebreaker during the regular season.

”I knew going into the tournament it was going to be a fight,” Murman said. ”I was going to have to grind through points with great tennis players. These are the best in the state of Iowa, and I knew I needed to play my best.

”I didn’t, though. That’s the most frustrating and disappointing thing.”

Murman won a state doubles championship with Jaci Cochrane last year, and as a freshman, competed at state in doubles with Emily Knight. This was the first singles experience for the regional runner-up.

”I am determined, driven and motivated to do so much better. I will never stop working hard, because the feeling I felt was something I will never forget. Defeat. It hurts, but I’m not giving up. Ever. Tennis is more of a mind game than anything, and that’s what beat me (on Thursday).”