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EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville High School number three team swept all three of the doubles matches in going on to a 7-2 win over Civic Memorial in the challengers bracket of the Heather Bradshaw Invitational Tournament, presented by Scott Credit Union, Friday afternoon at the Edwardsville Tennis Center.
The team consisted mainly of the Tigers' younger players, and all played very well on a very sunny and warm day in the tournament named for an Edwardsville assistant coach who was killed in an automobile accident in Florida in 2005. The tournament is named in her memory.
"Beautiful day, first of all, beautiful weather," said Edwardsville head coach Dave Lipe. "The tournament is presented by Scott Credit Union, so we want to thank them for presenting this tournament once again this year. It's an awkward year, obviously, for event and for sponsors, but it's good to know we've got a great partner in them, that can continue to take an interest in promoting high school athletics. So I want to thank Scott Credit Union for their benevolence once again this year."
Although the number of teams are down this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teams that are playing will still provide good, quality tennis for the weekend.
"It's still a good tournament," Lipe said. "We've got 20 teams participating this weekend, 20 teams within our COVID region. We are taking precautions, appropriately, and our top team had a fantastic win today over Belleville Althoff, and they played well, from what I hear. I've not gotten the results from our second team, which was playing the top team from Belleville East, also in the champions flight, so we had two teams in the champions flight. Then, the team that just played here is our third team, and they beat CM, 7-2, and I thought that was a really great match.
It was a very good and competitive meet in which both sides played hard and to the end.
"I thought all nine matches were really competitive," Lipe said. "I think we were very fortunate to sweep the doubles, and that kind of set us up to win the team match, but CM was tough. CM battled us up and down the lineup. I think every single match was hard fought. It was a great score; I don't think we played poorly. The matches we lost, the girl who played number one singles for them (Hannah Butkovich) played a really good match against Grace Kalb, and I thought the girl that played number five singles (Brooke Barker) against Maddy Jones played very well against her. But I think from our standpoint, I thought Rihanna (Huebner) was exceptional in number two singles; she's finding out just how hard this sport is. It was a hot day, and it was a challenge.
"That was key, I thought all of our singles' wins were really key wins. Taylor (Hanks), obviously, was super strong, winning her tiebreaker. You know, it's really tough to come back and win a tiebreaker after you lose second set, but Tay, I thought, played a really fantastic tiebreaker, and a good match. I thought Alyssa (Wise) was strong at number six, especially for a freshman. And I think Mia (Heiser) played a lot better in singles than she did in doubles. And then, like I said, Maddy played well in number five singles. So I think up and down the lineup, singles and doubles, I thought we were good. Thanks to CM for making the trip, and for being in the tournament."
The Tigers top team defeated Belleville Althoff Catholic 9-0 at Althoff, while the number two team lost to Belleville East 1 8-1, with both teams playing in the champions flight. The number one team will play Belleville West, a 9-0 winner over Highland, while Edwardsville 2 meets O'Fallon 1, who lost to Triad 6-3, in the consolation quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Edwardsville 3 will play Alton, who won over Mascoutah 8-1, in the challenger flight tomorrow morning at Alton High. Lipe knows that all three matches will be competitive, and his teams will be accordingly ready to play.
"And so, I think tomorrow will also be a tough day," Lipe said. "I think tomorrow will be a challenging day for us, all three of our teams."
Eagles coach Matt Carmody was very pleased with his team's performance, and is looking ahead to more good things on Saturday.
"I'm pretty pleased, so far, how we did," Carmody said. "We've got a full day tomorrow still left to play, but I'm really pleased. We played a lot of competitive matches, and that's why we come out here. We're just looking for good competition, and I think today was a great example of that. Lots of close matches, so I'm really pleased so far."
Butkovich's win in the number one singles is a testament to her hard work in being CM's top player the last two seasons, and has taken on a leadership role with the Eagles.
"I can't speak highly enough for Hannah, and the effort she puts in," Carmody said, "the work that she's put in the last couple of summers to get to this point. She just continues to work, she's a leader both by example and in every other way off the court for our girls to follow. So I'm just blessed to have a good leader like that. Very pleased with her efforts."
Besides Butkovich, there's plenty of other players on the Eagles' roster that have also worked hard and have earned accolades as well.
"Kennedy (Loewen) played really well in singles, here," Carmody said. "Brooke played extremely well. I'm just happy to see them all competing. Jessica Schillinger, she always seems to just fight until the bitter end. I know she struggled in her first set, but then came right back and made things interesting in her second set. So, I think that's one thing that really stands out, the hard work that Jessica showed today to hang in there, trying to compete in her match."
Like the other coaches and players in the area, Carmody is just happy to have the season going, despite the pandemic and the problems and restrictions that have been created due to it.
"Definitely," Carmody said. "We talk a lot about the opportunity we have, whether it's in the midst of a match, or just in general. We do cherish this opportunity. We are fully aware that not everybody gets to play the sports they love, and a lot of the girls had to miss out on spring sports; we have a lot of girls that are multi-sports athletes. So, I mean, everybody's just excited for the opportunity that we have to play each and every day. If tomorrow, if we can't play, we're just happy we got in what we could. Every day is special at this point."
The Tigers started out by sweeping the three doubles matches, starting with an 8-6 win by Kalb and Heiser over Butkovich and Loewen, followed by a Jones and Huebner 8-5 win over Allie Lively and Schillinger, with Wise and Faith Jackson completing the sweep with a 9-8 win over Barker and Madi Reynolds.
Butkovich got CM's first win in the number one singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kalb, but Huebner got that back with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Lively. Heiser went on to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Schillinger, and then Hanks came back to win a tight three set win over Loewen 6-3, 2-6, 10-5. Barker got the Eagles' second win, defeating Jones 6-2, 6-4, but Wise took the Tigers' final win, defeating Bryleigh Mormino 7-5, 6-3.
The Eagles will play Mascoutah, who fell to Alton 8-1 in their quarterfinal meet, Saturday morning at Alton High, and for Carmody, it's going to be another good test for his team, who he feels can do great things this season.
"You know, I think the sky's the limit for this team," Carmody said. "I really do think this is probably the best group of girls that I've had as a coach. Will be break any records, or anything like that? I don't know. That just depends on the opportunities that we do end up with. But I do think the sky's the limit. I mentioned all the hard work Hannah's put in, Kennedy has done the same. A lot of our girls have really worked hard over the summer, and I think it's going to pay off later on down the road. We're just happy to be in the Heather Bradshaw tournament. I think this is a great event, and we're just excited to be here."
Lipe invited fans to check the Edwardsville tennis website, www.dillpe0.wixsite.com/davelipe for updates on the brackets, with the finals set for 11 a.m. on Saturday, which will be livestreamed on www.riverbender.com. The link for the livestream will also be posted on the Tigers' Facebook page.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
