The Newton girls tennis team opened the season on Tuesday with a second-place finish at the Knoxville Invitational. Newton coach Eric Zehr says the team’s performance was a great start to the season, as Ballard edged the Cardinals out of first place in the last couple of matches. Kaetlin McPartlin and Makenzie Clark also finished third after losing a triple tiebreaker to the eventual doubles champions from Ballard. Zehr says Alieya Owen battled some issues with the heat and played well through it, but lost both of her matches. The next competition for the Newton girls tennis team will be their first on their new home courts at Aurora Heights Park, as they host Winterset at 2 p.m. and Ballard at 6 p.m. next Wednesday, August 19th.