What a week! Certain recappers still cannot believe all that’s happened, so let’s dive right in! Fortunately no stream of consciousness will be used (that’s a little William Faulkner joke for all you English majors).
The boys team saw a plethora of action this past week. It all started Tuesday, when the Tigers faced O’Fallon for only their second home match of the year in a showdown between two of the Southwestern Conference’s top teams. The match lived up to its billing, as EHS led 2-1 after doubles, falling at the no. 1 spot while winning commandingly at no. 3. Ben Blake and Colton Hulme came up big with a narrow 8-6 win at no. 2 to give the Tigers a valuable lead.
Singles was a topsy-turvy battle, with two matches going to super tie-breakers, and one going so deep into a second-set battle it felt like it was a third. EHS dominated at the bottom of the lineup, with Adrian Norcio and Ben Blake taking important wins at no. 5 and no. 6 singles to put Edwardsville up 4-1. The last point looked like it would be hard to come by, however, as OTHS claimed first sets at no. 1-4 singles.
Jace Ackerman righted the ship with a convincing second set win at no. 4 singles to set up a third-set super-tiebreaker where he fell 5-10 in a tough battle. With Colton Hulme and Jade Dynamic struggling at no. 1 and no. 2 singles, all eyes turned to Michael Karibian at no. 3, freshly returned from quarantine due to contact with a Covid-positive student. After knotting things up, Michael fell behind 6-7 in the tiebreaker. Two powerful serves put him ahead 8-7, however, and he held that lead to win 10-8 and clinch the match for EHS. The point was needed, as both Jade and Colton went down in tough matches at the top of the lineup.
Fortunately for the blood pressure of certain recappers, Wednesday’s match against perennial SWC powerhouse Belleville East went down a little easier. The Tigers swept the Lancers in doubles, with some strong play from Ben and Colton at no. 2 and Jace and Adrian at no. 3 again. After taking a lead at no. 1, Jade and Michael faced tough opposition as the East team stormed back to take the match to a tiebreaker. Once there, Jade and Michael bore down and triumphed 7-2 to give EHS a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers’ dominance continued in singles. Colton fought through a tough first set to come out on top, then rolled in the second to take home a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Both Jade and Michael added straightforward wins at no. 2 and no. 3, while at no. 4 Jace went on a tear after initially going down 0-3. Playing probably his best tennis of the year, he defeated a tough opponent 6-4, 6-2. Adrian also triumphed at no. 5, with the Lancers’ lone win coming at no. 6, where Ben fell in a tough match. The 8-1 win keeps Edwardsville at the top of the SWC, with a 15-4 overall and 4-0 conference record.
On Thursday the varsity took a backseat to the JV, who had their own conference tournament at Alton. Due to injury and illness, the Tigers’ team used every play on the squad, all the way down to no. 17! We knew it would be a great experience for our players, but were unsure what the end result might be. In the semifinals against Belleville West, the boys struggled with some early match jitters, but came out on top 4-1 with wins at no. 1 and no. 2 singles, and no. 1 and no. 2 doubles. It was on to the finals then against a good O’Fallon team. At no. 1 singles, Alex Lane handled his opponent 8-1 in a bravura performance. The no. 2 doubles team of Chris Karateew and Sean Armstrong continued their strong play with an 8-4 victory, and at no. 3 doubles, Andrew Byron and Will Holland bounced back from a disappointing match against West with their best play of the year to clinch the conference title with their own 8-4 win. Not to be outdone, Teddy Lopansri and Harrison Feco brought home a win at no. 1 and Jacob Summers finished the day like a wild animal with an 8-6 victory at no. 2 singles, giving Edwardsville the sweep and the JV conference title. Congrats to all the boys!
From left to right: Jacob, Alex, Chris, Harrison, Sean, Will, Teddy. Not pictured: Zach Harmon, Taylor Frick, Andrew Byron
Friday saw the varsity head north for the toughest tournament of the season so far: the Pitchford Invitational. Known as “mini-state,” this flighted tournament (2 singles, 2 doubles) brings together 16 of the best teams in Illinois, and the Tigers faced tough competition all weekend en route to a 13th-place finish.
At no. 1 singles, Colton fell to the tournament champion and state title favorite from host John Hersey, and then dropped a close three-set match to Glenbrook North. He bounced back on Saturday, however, with two convincing wins over Deerfield and Prospect to place 13th. At no. 2 singles, Ben dropped a close three-set match to Barrington in the first round, but kept up a strong level throughout the weekend, defeating Naperville North and Highland Park before falling to Naperville Central for a 10th-place finish.
On the doubles side, Jade and Michael faced a series of tough opponents, falling to Hersey, Fremd, and Jacobs at the no. 1 flight. At the no. 2 position, Jace and Adrian got revenge on a seeded Prospect team that had narrowly defeated them earlier in the year with a 6-4, 6-2 upset. The pair played tight against a good Barrington team but came up just short. On Saturday, they fell to Glenbrook North and Naperville Central to finish the tournament in 8th place.
Full results and team scores for Pitchford can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTCfNEC73q089bjRi75w3NoQ1OrgolMZa44FGG19ePC2DNjIIRrZKrL35fFD9tCVQ/pubhtml# for those who are curious.
Switching over to JTT, Sunday saw a lot of rain that washed out all matches except the final week for the 18u Gold team. Missing two players, ETA faced a solid team from Sunset Tennis Center. Their 37-34 win earned them an undefeated season and the title of Spring Champions!
At no. 1 singles, Ella Reed won 6-3, then partnered with Gabi Hill for a dominant 6-0 victory at no. 2 doubles. Brooklyn Earnhart fell at no. 2 singles 0-6, but rebounded with Gabi for an important 5-6 doubles result to keep things close at no. 4 doubles. Earning Chevrolet Player of the Match Awards, Sophie Byron was down 2-5 at no. 3 singles, but pulled off a Houdini act to take her set 6-5. At no. 1 doubles, Jessa and Sophie fell 4-6 before Jessa teamed with Alyssa Wise for a huge 6-2 victory at no. 3 doubles. Facing a tough opponent, Alyssa clinched the match with a 4-6 result, fighting through it to bring home the Tiger title. Check them out!
From left to right: Brooklyn, Ella, Alyssa, Sophie, Jessa, Gabi. Not pictured: Zoe Byron and Jensen Weedman
In individual action, Jesse Hattrup took 1st place playing up in the Boys Level 6 16s, not dropping a set the entire tournament. In the Girls Level 6 14s, Katie Woods took 3rd, continuing a strong run of tournament places recently.
JTT play continues for all other teams next Sunday. On the high school side, the JV travels to O’Fallon for their last match of the year on Wednesday, before everyone heads to Belleville West for the final SWC match Thursday. Friday and Saturday, the Tigers go north again to the reformatted Naper Valley Invitational.