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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's Natalie Karibian in singles and Grace Desse and Abby Cimarolli in doubles qualified for next weekend's IHSA Class 2A girls state tennis tournament by reaching the semifinals in their competitions at the IHSA Class 2A Edwardsville Sectional at the EHS Tennis Center and at Liberty Middle School Friday.
Karibian began the day with a first-round bye and advanced by defeating O'Fallon's Zoie Howard 6-0, 6-0, then reached the semifinal when she eliminated Springfield's Maya Hoffman 6-0, 6-0. Annie McGinnis, Edwardsville's other singles entry, won her first-round match 6-4, 6-1 over OTHS' Ali Mueller, then eliminated Springfield's Sophia Roth 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinal, where she was eliminated by Quincy's Olivia Clayton 6-2, 6-0.
Alton's Maddie Saenz began her day with a first-round bye before taking on Belleville West's Natalie Soehnlin, advancing with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 win before being ousted top seed Chloe McIssac 6-1, 6-0; the Redbirds' Nikki Lowe had a first-round bye before taking on Isabel Burwitz of Belleville East, Burwitz scoring a 6-0, 6-0 win. Granite City's entries, Sarah Schnefke and Kayla Bridick, were both eliminated in the second round.
Desse/Cimarolli got to the semis and the spot in the state tournament with a first-round bye, then eliminating Belleville West's M. Kulig/G. Bauer 6-0, 6-1, then reached the semifinal with a win over O'Fallon's E. Fritz/A. Byrnside 6-0, 6-1. The other Tiger doubles entry, Mara Schrieber/Chloe Trimpe, advanced with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Granite City's E. VanBuskirk/O. Brinker to get to the quarterfinal, but were eliminated when they dropped a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 decision to the Maroons' K. Fiedler/T. Fiedler in the quarterfinal. Alton's Abby Fischer/Hannah Macias won their second-round match after a first-round bye over Quincy's N.Fasano/C. Nicholas 6-3, 6-1 before falling to J. Skaer/M. Hamilton of Belleville East 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 while the Giertz sisters, were eliminated in the second round by C. Smith/M. Buschur 6-0, 6-3. The other Warrior team, K. Singleton/M. Ware, were eliminated by Skaer/Hamilton in the second round.
Play at the sectional continues this morning with semifinal and final matches; the Class 2A state tournament is in Buffalo Grove beginning next Thursday.
