EDWARDSVILLE – A unified team spirit has propelled Edwardsville’s girls’ tennis team to state once again.
Tigers head tennis coach Dave Lipe said coaching a team of girls like this one makes it very worthwhile as a coach.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“This group is very focused and is a hard-working group,” he said. “They are a nice team and very easy to work with and very motivated. Their winning is a result of hard work. I have always said if you get to the end of the season and don’t like each other, what is the point? One of the good things about playing high school tennis is the team concept.”
Edwardsville’s Morgan Colbert-Grace Deese pair drew a No. 3-4 seed in doubles, but Coach Lipe doesn’t want them to think about that going in to the tourney.
“When you get to state, none of the seeds matter,” Lipe said. “The seeds are completely irrelevant. You have to get there and play. One of the most common mistakes is over-evaluating your seed and I don’t think our girls will make that mistake.”
Colbert-Desse were 5-2 at state last year. This is a fourth state appearance for Colbert. Callaghan Adams, now a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville player, holds the all-time Tigers’ girls mark with 13 state wins and Colbert is shooting for that mark this year.
Sophomores Natalie Karibian and Abby Cimarolli both qualified in singles for the Tigers. The Tigers’ other doubles qualifier is the seniors’ combo of Mackenzie Cadagin and Maria Mezo.
Here are some comments from the girls from a press event about state:
Natalie Karibian:
“My goals are to play my best. I have been working on a lot of things this season. I just want to work on that at state.”
Grace Desse:
“I want to get further than we did last year and play our best. We have a stronger base game than last year and I think we will have more success this year.”
Morgan Colbert
“We are going to have to go out there and play our best. The No. 3-4 seed was exciting and a boost of confidence. If we play our best, I feel we could win it. We have to have confidence. We have worked hard all four years, now we just have to go out and play.”
Amy Cimaroli:
“I want to play my best. It is exciting to go as a sophomore.”
Note: Mackenzie Cadagin and Maria Mezo shared their comments in a separate article.
