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EDWARDSVILLE — Edwardsville’s girls’ tennis team may have defeated Normal University High 8-0 to open up play at the Southern Illinois Duals meet Friday afternoon at the Edwardsville Tennis Center. The match, however, was much closer than one might think.
Each of the matches were competitive. And in a couple of cases, the Tigers pulled out third set tiebreakers that could have gone either way.
“Yeah, our girls played really well,” Tigers coach Dave Lipe said after the match against Normal University. “A lot of really, really close matches. That’s probably the closest 8-0 match I’ve ever been a part of. We won three 10-point tiebreakers, and one of them 14-12 in the third, and the other one 13-11. We won it, but It really could have gone either way.
“They’re a good team,” Lipe said about the Pioneers. “They’ve won a lot of tournaments, they’re one of the better teams, one of the best teams in the middle of Illinois. So, it feels good to win.”
The weather turned up unseasonably hot as well, with temperatures hovering in the low 90s on the first day of fall. Lipe felt his team held up well in the conditions.
“It was a very hot day,” Lipe said, “our girls were very tough, and ground out some really tough matches. We played some experienced, good players. A good team, very nice team, and it’s Senior Day. We’re moving forward from here, and playing a very good Quincy team next.”
The singles’ matches were very close, indeed. Natalie Karibian edged the Pioneers’ Abby Totten in a third set tiebreak, winning 6-4, 4-6, 10-7, while Grace Hackett got by Katie Feely 7-5, 7-6. Grace Desse topped Amaya Fernandes 6-4, 6-2, while Abby Cimarolli topped Alanna Live 6-0, 6-2.
The doubles’ side was just as competitive, with Annie McGinnis and Alyssa Wilson getting past Stephanie Chow and Calis Lynn 6-4, 5-7, 14-12, while Morgan Marshall and Kasey Schroeder edged Olivia Marcin and Rene Parr 4-6, 7=5, 13-11. The other two doubles’ matches saw Chloe Trimpe and Mady Schreiber defeat Anna Huber and Emma Mathies 6-4, 6-2 and Tymei Dappert and Hayley Earnhart upend Chloe Benjamin and Katharine Raycraft 6-4, 6-4.
In the Tigers’ second meet of the day, Edwardsville defeated Quincy 6-2. Karibian won her second singles’ match of the day be turning back the Blue Devils’ Olivia Clayton 6-0, 6-1, while Hackett defeated Sami Santos 6-4, 6-3 and Wilson won over Chaney Wollastron 6-4. 6-7. 7-5. McGinnis dropped her match, however, losing to Isabella Trinh 2-6, 6-0, 11-9.
Over on the doubles side, Desse and Cimarolli defeated Natalie Fusano and Callie Nichols 6-0, 6-1, while Trimpe and Schreiber shut out Taylor Degitz and Haley Kafeain 6-0, 6-0. Marshal and Schroeder won in a one-set match 6-1, while Dappert and Earnhart lost to Katerina Mikopy and Taylor Kruse, also in a one-set match 6-3.
The Tigers continue the duals Saturday, taking on Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge and Rock Island. Lipe know that the great competition will prepare his team for the upcoming IHSA State Tournament Series next month, with the state tournament being played in Buffalo Grove, a northwest Chicago suburb.
“This is playing good competition this weekend, playing a lot of kids,” Lipe said. “That’s good for the team, giving a lot of kids a chance to play. We’re playing 10 kids in this tournament, and it’s a good opportunity for everybody to play.”
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