VIDEOS BELOW:
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville girls tennis team dropped only ten games in the top four singles matches in sweeping all six singles matches en route to an 8-1 win over O'Fallon in an important Southwestern Conference girls tennis meet played Thursday afternoon at the Edwardsville Tennis Center.
It was a very big win for the Tigers, who were missing one of their key players from the lineup, but got big performances from everyone up and down in going on to the win over the Panthers.
"We played pretty well," said Edwardsville head coach Dave Lipe. "We missed a few shots, and we struggled in other places, but other than that, we played well. And anytime you win in the Southwestern Conference, it's always a big one."
The top four singles players in Chloe Koons, Hannah Colbert, Chloe Trimpe and Emma Herman were very much dominant in their wins.
"We lost only a couple of games in the top four singles," Lipe said, "so we were very dominant in the top four, and our number five and six competed very well. We only lost in number three doubles, and we were trying a new lineup. We were missing one of our key players, but everyone really turned it up and played well."
Everything started in the doubles, with Colbert and Trimpe winning over Ali and Megan Mueller 8-1, while Koons and Megan Marshal took their match over Gabi Schram and Ava Taylor 8-2. The Panthers won their only match in the last of the doubles matches when Analiese Reidelberger and Megan Marrs took a close 9-8 win over Herman and Eileen Pan.
From there on, it was all Tigers in the singles. At the number one spot, Koons defeated Ali Mueller 6-1, 6-1, then Colbert won over Schram at number two singles 6-1, 6-3. In the next two matches, Trimpe won over Taylor 6-1, 6-1, and Herman won over Megan Mueller 6-1, 6-1. In the final two matches, Pan won by default when her opponent had to retire due to injury, and Marshall won over Kelsey Dismukes 6-4, 6-2 to give Edwardsville its 8-1 win.
The Tigers will have a split squad for a pair of meets on Friday, one part traveling to Highland for a 4 p.m. meet, while the other part will host Alton in another SWC meet, starting at 3:30 p.m. Edwardsville also hosts Jersey in a meet that starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Lipe does feel that the win over the Panthers on Thursday gives his team plenty of momentum heading into the weekend and the remainder of the conference schedule.
"It gives us a lot of momentum," Lipe said. "Tonight was a tough match, and we're looking forward to playing tomorrow and Saturday."
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
