BELLEVILLE – Edwardsville's tennis team had a perfect day in Friday's doubles competition at the Southwestern Conference Boys Tennis Championship, hosted by Belleville West.
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The Tigers' three doubles teams of Seth Lipe/Alex Gray, Zach Trimpe/Drake Schreiber and Jason Pan/Logan Pursell, not only won each of their flights on the day, the three teams didn't drop a set throughout the day en route to taking the team lead after the opening day of the tournament with 24 points, four points ahead of Belleville East, who had 20 following doubles play. O'Fallon was third with 18 points on the day, with Belleville West fourth at 13 points, followed by Alton (12), Collinsville (11), Granite City (seven) and East St. Louis (three)
“We played a third of the tournament today (the doubles competition), so after a third of the tournament, we've got a lead,” said Tiger coach Dave Lipe. “Sweeping the doubles is no easy feat; it's very difficult to win matches in this conference and to win doubles matches is super-difficult. We didn't lose a match all year in doubles in the conference, which is something to be proud of, but tomorrow's another day (with the six-flight singles competition taking place).
“We're going to have to get at it in the singles; we're the No. 1 seed in four of the six flights, but nothing's been decided yet – we're going to have to work hard and compete well tomorrow; it's going to be a hot day (with temperatures expected to top out in the mid-80s).
Lipe was happy overall with how things went. “Overall, a great day; we played well and we're looking forward to playing tomorrow,” Lipe said. “I thought (Lipe/Gray) was challenged there (in the final against Belleville East's Max Skaer/Christian Cowulich) – that's a good team they played.
“The 2 doubles (Trimpe/Schreiber) had a tough day because they didn't get play a match until the final (they had a first-round bye and then won by default over Alton's Carson Freeman/Sam Kane because of an injury), so you go into that match cold and not used to the wind; I thought Drake and Zach gutted it out and played very well and at 3 doubles obviously, I thought Logan and Jason were excellent.
“We didn't lose a set in the conference this year and we had a couple of seniors with a lot of poise and a lot of competitive experience; I'm very proud of them, they were dominant.”
“We did OK,” said Redbird coach Bob Lowe. “Our No. 1 team (of Walker Moan and Ben Simansky finished sixth) and our No. 2 team won their first round, but Carson Freeman was hurt and had to default (their semifinal match to Trimpe/Schreiber) or they might have gone a little ways too. He (Freeman) says he's OK; he's going to play tomorrow (in the singles draw after suffering an elbow complaint).
“The kids competed well and they did good; this is a strong conference, but we're in the middle of it. We've got a young team, but I thought we did OK with all we had to deal with. Tomorrow will be a new day, so hopefully we'll go a few rounds there and get some wins.”
The Tigers opened play with all three teams getting first-round byes; Lipe/Gray defeated Collinsville's Will Henze/Ben Hunsinger in the semifinal 6-1, 6-0 before claiming the title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Skaer/Cowulich, while Trimpe/Schreiber defeated Dominic Macaluso/Evan Potter of O'Fallon 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in the No. 2 final. Pan/Pursell opened play in the third flight with a 6-2, 6-0 win over West's Schmitz/Kinnikin before downing East's Cory Erickson/Brayden Mizell 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
For the Redbirds, the No. 1 team of Moan/Simansky fell to O'Fallon's Niko Papachrisanthou/Quincy Dollison 6-1, 6-1 before they defeated Granite City's Joey Moslander/Ryan Mihu 6-3, 6-0 in the consolation semifinal, then falling to the Maroons' Andrew McCullough/Dylan Firestone 6-4, 6-2 in the fifth-place match, while Freeman/Kane advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Collinsville's Tony Scatturo/Ricky Coca but defaulted their final two matches because of Freeman's elbow injury to finish fourth. The No. 3 team of Jared Engleman/Owen Williams dropped a 7-5, 6-2 decision to West's Schmitz/Kinnikin in the opening round, but received a bye into the fifth-place match where they defeated Granite's Isaiah Mizell/Noah Cain 6-2, 6-4.
Singles play in all six flights commences at 8:30 a.m. today, with the No. 1 and 2 flights at West, the third and fourth flights at Lindenwood University-Belleville's campus (the old Belleville West campus) and the fifth and sixth flights at Belleville East.
2018 SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE
BOYS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
TEAM STANDINGS AFTER DOUBLES PLAY
Edwardsville, 24; Belleville East, 20; O'Fallon, 18; Belleville West, 13; Alton, 12; Collinsville, 11; Granite City, 7; East St. Louis, 3
DOUBLES – FLIGHT NO. 1
Final: Seth Lipe/Alex Gray, Edwardsville, def. Max Skaer/Christian Cowulich, Belleville East, 6-2, 6-3
Third Place: Niko Papachrisanthou/Quincy Dollison, O'Fallon, def. Will Henze/Ben Hunsinger, Collinsville, 6-0, 6-4
FLIGHT NO. 2
Final: Zach Trimpe/Drake Schreiber def. Dominic Macaluso/Evan Potter, O'Fallon, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
Third Place: Carter Baldus/Cameron Cagus, Belleville East, def. Carson Freeman/Sam Kane, Alton, default (injury)
FLIGHT NO. 3
Final: Jason Pan/Logan Pursell, Edwardsville, def. Cory Erickson/Brayden Mizell, Belleville East, 6-3, 6-3
Third Place: Schmitz/Kinnikin, Belleville West, def. Noah Kellerman/Eric Upson, O'Fallon, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8
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