Hoekstra Wins Consolation Championship

Effingham High School competed in the Springfield Girls Tennis Invitational Saturday.

"This is the first, longest and very challenging tournament of the year," said EHS Coach Alie Meyer. "However, this tourney helps the girls practice, bond and grow. What a great experience over all. Sixteen teams attended and the girls finished with 17 points."

Lauren Hoekstra took consolation champion in singles and in doubles with Madisson Haake. Emma Kull and Shelby Funneman placed fourth in No. 3 doubles and Claudia Vinuela Ayllon placed fourth in No. 5 singles.

"I'm so very proud of Lauren for winning consolation in both categories," said Meyers. "What a great accomplishment for her last year at the Springfield Tournament. I'm also very proud of Emma and Shelby for getting first place in their first year at the Springfield Tournament.

"The other team defaulted their first round. In the second round in the front draw, they beat Springfield High School in a tie breaker at 5-7, 6-3, 10-7. Then lost to Mattoon High School, which was great practice for them because they are playing them Monday. They put up a good fight and did quite splendidly for only their second real tournament ever in their lives. What a great pairing. We hope they will stick together as a team and grow together during their high school tennis career.

"Emma also did very well in singles. She may not have placed, but this tournament was a great opportunity to practice and work on shots and the mental game. According to Assistant Coach, Sara Johnson, she definitely grew throughout the day on Saturday, playing opponents who had a much higher skill level than Emma was accustomed to. She vastly improved.

"We are very proud of Kaitlyn Gurley and Claudia Vinuela Ayllon for winning their first match in the doubles categories and making it into the front draw. They won us two necessary points. Claudia Vinuela Ayllon was very impressive in singles play on Saturday. She wiped out Caroline Lipka from Normal West at 6-2, 6-0, then played such an amazing match against the always talented Triad (Jaclyn Sparks). Sparks thought she had defeated Claudia, but Claudia came back and won in the tiebreaker at 4-6, 6-4, 10-4. I couldn't be more proud of our player from Spain.

"Since I have been involved and even played on the EHS tennis team, I have never seen a foreign exchange student be such a skilled varsity player. She knows how to outhit and outrun her opponents.

Springfield Tournament

No. 1 Doubles – Lauren Hoekstra (senior)/Madisson Haake (senior)  tied consolation winners – 0.5 pts
No. 2 Doubles – Kaitlyn Gurley (senior)/Claudia Vinuela Ayllon (junior exchange student)– 2 pts
No. 3 Doubles – Emma Kull (freshman)/Shelby Funneman (freshman) – 4th Place – 5 pts

No. 1 Singles – Lauren Hoekstra – tied consolation winner – 0.5 pts
No. 2 Singles – Madisson – lost two matches then was out, 0-6, 6-7 (4-7) against Normal West, then lost to Jerseyville 5-8
No. 3 Singles – Kaitlyn Gurley – Lost two matches then was out, Scores were 1-6, 1-6 against Glenwood High School, then Lost to Jerseyville 3-8
No. 4 Singles – Shelby Funneman – Lost two matches then was out, Scores were 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 (7-6) against Quincy High School, Then lost to Jerseyville 6-8
(so, No. 2 – No. 4 lost to Jerseyville High School in the second rounds, which caused them to be out of the singles back draw)
No. 5 Singles – Claudia Vinuela Ayllon – 4th place  (even with an injury) 5 points
No. 6 Singles – Emma Kull – won first match, lost next two in the back draw – 2 pts.