ALTON - This has been a big week for tennis in the Riverbend region with the Riverbend Open in Alton and The professional Futures Tournament in Edwardsville. The Riverbend Open featured a considerable amount of top-notch local tennis talent on Monday and Tuesday.
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The Riverbend Open concluded Tuesday evening at the tennis courts at Alton High School. The Futures Tournament has its doubles final set for Friday and singles final on Sunday at the Edwardsville High School. Both the doubles and singles finals will be shown live with video coverage on Riverbender.com.
Alton High School tennis coach Jesse Macias coordinated the Riverbend Open.
Macias issued a thank you to all the players and fans for coming out for the Riverbend Open Tournament.
"We had great crowds each night and they got to enjoy quality local tennis," he said. "There are so many good players in the area, and it’s fun to get a lot of them together for a few nights.”
In the Women’s Open division, Laura Moore and Ashton Tewell finished first, defeating sisters Maddie and Katie Saenz 8-4. Adam Ruckman and Parker Mayhew finished second in the Men’s Open division. They defeated James Humphrey and John Schwank 9-8 and Alex Raymond and Silas Chapman 8-5 on Tuesday.
Zach Plocher and Matt Lehr won the Men’s Open by going 3-0. Plocher was a double champion, teaming with Sarah Kreutzrager to win the Mixed Open over Jack and Jocelyn Carmody.
In the girl’s 18 and under division, Roxana players Lindsey Ratliff and Cayla Fansher defeated Lydia Criveau from Alton and Mariah Schillinger from Civic Memorial.
Coach Macias said: “Ratliff and Fansher were solid in every match; they deserved to be champions today.”
In the girl’s under 16, Jersey Community High School had a clean sweep as Emma and Libby McCormick finished first, ahead of teammates Josie Hudson and Elise Noble.
Macias said: “Jerseyville always shows out in our tournaments. It is a great tennis community, and we enjoy having the Panthers come down every year.”
On Monday, Ellie Enos and Jenna Fassler from Alton High defeated Lauren Massey and Finley Haynes from Alton High 8-5 in the girls under 14 division. In the boys under 18 division, Parker Mayhew and Xavier Carter from Alton high defeated Zach Wargo and Ethan Porter from Jerseyville 9-7.
Coach Macias said it was perfect weather and great sportsmanship display by the players for the entire tournament.
"We changed the name to the Riverbend this year because, although we have a lot of Alton players, Jerseyville, Roxana, Triad, Civic Memorial, and Marquette are well represented here, too, so it is more of a regional tournament," he said. "We could not do this tournament without their players and coaches. I’m also grateful to see the current and former Alton players. I’ve coached some great guys and girls, and there is nothing better than catching up with former players and being able to watch them play a sport they love.”
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