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CHATHAM - Dia Kannan qualified in the singles for Edwardsville, who also put through both doubles teams, while Belleville West qualified both of their doubles teams, and O'Fallon qualified a singles player in the IHSA Class 2A girls tennis sectional, held Saturday at Chatham Glenwood High School near Springfield.
The Tigers won the team championship for the fourth year in a row with a total of 32 points, with the host Titans finishing second with 21 points, the Maroons were third at 19 points, Collinsville finished fourth with eight points, the Panthers tied with Belleville East for fifth with six points each, and Alton, Granite City, and Springfield all tied for seventh with four points each. Decatur MacArthur failed to score.
Kannan qualified for state in the singles by finishing first, with Samantha Shankland of Glenwood finishing second, teammate Ellie Surges was third, and O'Fallon's Natalie Spihlman was fourth, claiming the last spot for the state tournament.
In the quarterfinals, Kannan qualified for state with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kara Kramer of West, Surges took a 6-7 (1-7 in the tiebreak), 6-0, 6-3 win over Toby Hawkes of Collinsville, Shankland defeated Gabi Hill of Edwardsville 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreak), and Spihlman qualified for state with a 6-0. 6-1 win over Melissa Garcia of Collinsville.
In the semifinals, Kannan won over Surges 6-0, 6-0, and Shankland won over Spihlman 7-5, 6-0. The third place match went to Surges over Spihlman 6-3, 5-7, when Spihlman was forced to retire, and Kannan won the final over Shankland 6-1, 7-5.
In the doubles, Edwardsville's teams of Katie Woods and Sophie Byron, along with Veda Kommenini and Bini Salimi went through to state, as did the West teams of Annabelle Brunner and Abby Treadway, along with the Maroons' team of Morgan Seagle and Gabrielle Patterson.
In the quarterfinal matches that put the winners through to the state tournament, Woods and Byron won over Lydia Ryherd and Stella Loop of Glenwood 6-0, 6-0, Seagle and Patterson took the win over Myla Shannon and Madisyn Williams of Springfield 6-1, 6-2, Kommenini and Salimi took a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Khloe Phillips-Dancy and Caroline Stelling of Belleville East, and Brunner and Treadway went through with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ellie Taylor and Emilee Connolly of Granite City.
In the semifinals, Woods and Byron took the win over Seagle and Patterson 6-1, 6-0, while Kommenini and Salimi won over Brunner and Treadway 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Brunner and Treadway won the third place match over Seagle and Patterson 6-4, 6-1, while Woods and Byron took the final over Kommenini and Salimi 6-0, 6-1.
The qualifiers will play in the state tournament Thursday through Saturday, Oct 24-26, in Buffalo Grove and other venues throughout northwest suburban Chicagoland.
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