Normal U-High put both of its doubles teams into the championship final and the Pioneers rolled up 31½ points to win the Central State Eight Conference girls tennis tournament on Saturday at the Velasco Tennis Center in Washington Park.
Chatham Glenwood, the defending champion, took second place with 25 points and Sacred Heart-Griffin was third with 23. Upstart Jacksonville was next with 15½, followed by Rochester (15), Lincoln (9), Springfield High (9) and Southeast (6).
Here are four takeaways from the two-day tournament:
Glenwood goes 1-2 again
Chatham Glenwood teammates Samantha Shankland and Ellie Surges squared off for the conference singles title for the second straight season, and it was Shankland repeating as champ with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Shankland, the No. 1 seed, reached the final after beating unseeded Angel Yin of Normal U-High 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals. Surges, seeded second, posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory over third seed Caroline Sheehan of SHG in the other semifinal.
The Titans, top-heavy in singles this season, received 20 points in the draw. Glenwood got five points in the doubles draw when unseeded Lydia Ryherd and Stella Lopp got to the quarterfinals. Fifth seed Natalie Alexander and Kiki Mander, however, were sent to the back draw after a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to unseeded Norah Alexander and Finley York of Jacksonville in the second round.
Sheehan proving her status
After losing to Surges in the semifinals, Sheehan rebounded with a resounding 6-0, 6-0 victory over Yin in the third-place match.
The senior has been a solid No. 1 for the Cyclones and confirmed that missing the tennis postseason last fall was due to her primary sport of soccer where she will continue to play for SHG in the spring as a center midfielder.
“I missed a couple tournaments for soccer (practice), and we had a lot of seniors last year, so coach Hayden (Esker) wanted to give them an opportunity to play since I missed,” Sheehan said. “Someone else got to play singles and they moved our doubles team up, so they got to experience that.”
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Sheehan appears grateful for the opportunity this season. She placed second in the No. 1 singles draw at the Central Illinois Invitational, defeated Rochester’s best, Julia Musgrave, at a dual meet, and helped the Cyclones beat Quincy 5-4 in a meet with a win in doubles.
“Honestly, I was just wanting to have fun this year,” Sheehan said. “I’ve played varsity since my freshman year I joined, just to have fun for a fall sport. I’ve always been able to move well. I’ve gotten better with my shots and my placement and gotten more consistent.”
Sheehan said she started playing tennis during the winter of eighth grade, and didn’t have state tournament aspirations before this season.
“I can get to state if I work hard and do well, so I’m excited about that but it’s not entirely my goal,” she said. “I’m really happy with how well I did overall in the (CS8) tournament. I think sophomore year I got fourth, so I was glad I got to improve on that.”
U-High’s depth leads to title
Top seed Haley Martin and Emma Eovaldi defeated teammates and sixth seed Risha Patel and Alison Storm 6-4, 6-1 in the doubles title match.
Patel and Storm got by the second-seeded team of Musgrave and Cora Haupt of Rochester 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals. Martin and Eovaldi downed unseeded Lucia Hassebrock and Catalina Mosquera of SHG 6-0, 6-1 in the semis.
Thanks to Yin’s fourth-place finish in singles, the Pioneers were able carve out the title.
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Area teams bracing for tough sectionals
Shankland and Surges will be two of the top singles players when Glenwood hosts the Class 2A Sectional that includes traditionally tough schools in Edwardsville, Belleville West and Alton.
Shankland, who did not qualify for the IHSA state finals after a loss in the quarterfinals at last season’s Belleville West Sectional, said this time will be a great opportunity for her and the team to make some noise.
“I’m really excited that we’re hosting sectionals this year,” Shankland said. “It’s definitely a higher level of competition than conference, but ever since we’ve been in 2A, it’s good to play stronger people. It makes me stronger and everyone else gets better after playing them. They are definitely tough.”
With their strong CS8 showing, the Cyclones may have put themselves as one of the favorites to win the Class 1A Jacksonville Sectional. Quincy Notre Dame and Jerseyville usually put themselves in the running.
With Sheehan, Hassebrock and Mosquera and sixth-place singles finisher Laney Aleman, SHG has a core of players to compete.
Jacksonville’s fourth-place finish has put the Crimsons on the map. Olivia Dobson reached the quarterfinals before losing to Sheehan, while Norah Alexander and York also advanced to the quarters before falling to Springfield High’s Myla Shannon and Madisyn Williams 1-6, 6-2, 10-8 in the fifth-place doubles match.
Rochester still has Musgrave and Haupt in doubles to go with Grace Winkler and possibly Hannah Eichholz in singles.
Contact Trevor Lawrence: 788-1548, trevor.lawrence@sj-r.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA girls tennis: Shankland, Surges in singles tennis final helps Glenwood to 2nd
