T-town, St. A Tennis Players Do Well At State

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Published on October 23 2023 6:07 am
Last Updated on October 23 2023 6:07 am
Written by Millie Lange

The Teutopolis and Effingham St. Anthony tennis players did very well at the State Tournament during the weekend up in the Chicago area.

The Wooden Shoes' Olivia Hemmen and Anna Probst picked up three straight victories in doubles play before suffering their first loss. The pair won first round play in a tough contest over AnnaClare Keller and Lauren Emm of Bloomington Central Catholic, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, (10-6). Hemmen and Probst then won over Siena Shah and Saya Tanabe of Chicago Payton, 6-2, 6-0 and Layden Almer and Audrey Moster (LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy), 6-0, 6-3.

The pair then suffered their first loss in the quarterfinals against Crystina Lee and Jane Carter of Elmhurst Timothy Christian, 6-1, 6-0. They came back to win over Tessa Crawford and Elise Noble of Jerseyville Jersey, 8-6 before suffering their second loss in the consolation semifinals to exit the tournament, 6-3, 6-2.

Also competing for the Wooden Shoes were Abbie Lee and Julian Hemmen in singles play where both picked up a victory before suffering two losses. Jada Buehnerkemper and Adi Davidson played in doubles and lost their first two matches.

"This is the first time in program history at Teutopolis that all six athletes who competed in sectionals qualified for state," said T-town Coach Allison Deters. "Olivia and Anna placed in the top eight doubles teams in the state, making it all the way to the consolation semifinals before being eliminated. Their losses were to the No. 2 seed and a No. 3-4 seed.

"As a team, we tied for 10th place in the state, which is also the best ever finish for the entire team."

St. Anthony's Mia Kinkelaar and Ellie Link reached the fifrth round of consolation before leaving the tournament. The pair won over Hannah Hevron and Anna Hargrave of Robinson, 6-0, 6-2, downed Molly Gardner and Alison Storm of Normal University, 7-5 6-2 before losing to Tara Sawhney and Isabela Ji of Chicago University, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-0.

The pair then came back to pick up another victory, this one 8-3 over Katie Watts and Anna D'Auony of Troy Triad. The pair then fell to Charlotte Graham and Anna Beth Woolf of Winnetaka North Shore Country Day, 8-3.

Also competing for the Bulldogs was Emily Kowalke who won her opener then fell in the second round. She downed Lily Gregary of Mattoon, 6-1, 7-5 before leaving the tournament in a loss to Juanita Smith of Chicago Morgan Park Academy, 8-5.