A historic girls tennis season is officially in the books; historic both in the circumstances surrounding it, but historic also in EHS’s level of dominance. The Tigers went 21-3 this year, with the three losses coming in the second team’s play against three varsity teams at the Heather Bradshaw Invite. Taking only the first varsity’s regular season into account, Edwardsville went 113-4 in individual matches, claiming the Southwestern Conference title with a sweep of the Conference tournament at all nine positions, and winning Sectionals with first place finishes in both singles and doubles.
No individual shined brighter in Mid and South Illinois tennis this year than Sectional Singles Champion Chloe Koons. Chloe K. went 34-0 this year, and never dropped more than three games in a singles match all season, despite playing every match at no. 1. Her sectional singles title is the first for EHS since 2016.
Chloe Trimpe (32-0) partnered with Hannah Colbert (34-0) to convincingly take home the Sectional Doubles Title. The duo never lost more than two games in a match the entire season while playing only the no. 1 position and claimed the first Sectional title of either’s career with a dominating doubles performance.
With 24 points coming from the singles and doubles title, as well as strong performances by Grace Hackett in singles and Emma Herman and Morgan Marshall in doubles, Edwardsville claimed the Sectional title for the first time since 2016 and 24th title all-time.
The Tigers cruised to a conference victory this year, dropping only two individual matches during regular season play (in 8-1 defeats of O’Fallon and Belleville East). Come tournament time, however, EHS was perfect: Hannah Colbert and Chloe Trimpe won the 1 doubles flight, Grace Hackett and Chloe Koons claimed top prize at no. 2 doubles, and Emma Herman and Morgan Marshall brought home the title at no. 3.
Singles was the same story, with the Tigers taking first place in all six flights: Chloe Koons at 1, Hannah Colbert at 2, Chloe Trimpe at 3, Grace Hackett at 4, Emma Herman at 5, and Morgan Marshall at 6, all without dropping a set in tournament play. The conference title was the girls’ 13th all-time, and 11th since 2009.
The regular season was also an Edwardsville success story. The year opened with a new event, the Edwardsville Doubles Invite, where the Tigers won 7 out of 8 doubles flights against O’Fallon, Belleville East, and Belleville West. From there, EHS moved to one of the calendar’s central showcases: the Heather Bradshaw Invitational over Labor Day weekend.
At this tournament, the EHS 1 team claimed the Champions Flight title with three 9-0 sweeps. The EHS 2 team took 8th place in the same flight. Perhaps the weekend’s highlight, however, was the EHS 3 team’s taking first place in the Challengers Flight, defeating Civic Memorial, Alton, and Waterloo’s varsity teams in order to do so.
The Tigers celebrated Senior Night against Jersey Community with a sweep in which all 15 EHS seniors played. For one of the largest senior classes in history, it was a great finishing day.
The JV Tigers finished their season with a Southwestern Conference tournament title, defeating Alton and Belleville West 5-0 before overcoming O’Fallon 4-1 in the championship. The win capped a great season for the JV. Congrats to: Rhianna Huebner, Maddy Jones, Jessa Earnhart, Brooklyn Earnhart, Ella Reed, Jensen Weedman, Abby Liu, Mia Heiser, Grace Kalb, Zoe Byron, Alyssa Wise, and Faith Jackson who were part of this awesome JV team!
Finally, a farewell to our seniors: Chloe Trimpe (in the end of an era, next year will be the first season in 7 years without a Trimpe on an EHS tennis team); Grace Hackett; Emma Herman; Morgan Marshall; Eileen Pan; Abby Liu; Rhianna Huebner; Maddy Jones; McKenzie Jacober; Morgan Tulacro; Maddie Hawley; Kayla Kohlberg; Emily Cecil; Ava Zeller; Alexa Harris. Thanks for all you’ve done.
While there was no IHSA state tournament held, the records from the year bear out that this group of Tigers was one of the strongest in EHS history, and easily Illinois’s best team south of Chicago. We’d like to extend our deepest thanks to the players and their families both for a safe, COVID-free season, but also for an excellent year of sustained success. This program wouldn’t be the same without all of you.
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