EHS Finishes Second in Apollo Tourney

Effingham's Lauren Hoestra waits for a return shot during singles competition in the Apollo Conference Tournament. Hoekstra claimed the championship of the No. 1 singles for the fourth straight year.

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Effingham High School finished tied for second in the Apollo Conference Tennis Tournament Saturday. The Hearts tallied 17 1/2 points and tied Mount Zion for second place. Mattoon and Charleston tied for first place with 20 points.

Effingham senior Lauren Hoekstra won the No. 1 singles title for the fourth straight year. Hoekstra defeated Hannah Blevins (Charleston), 6-0, 6-1, Megan Blagemann (Mount Zion), 6-1, 6-1 and Molly Nguyen (Mattoon), 6-1, 6-3. She claimed her 100th high school career singles victory after winning the tournament and now has 10 overall tournament titles.

Claudia Vinuela-Ayllon, EHS junior foreign exchange student from Spain, won the singles consolation. Seniors Madisson Haake and Kaitlyn Gurley won their first round of doubles by beating Mount Zion's Johnston-Gissler in three sets. The freshman doubles team of Emma Kull and Shelby Funneman beat the Salem doubles team of Jordan-Holst in straight sets.

"All the girls played well and are excelling in each match," said EHS assistant coach Allie Meyers.

The Hearts are now 5-3 on the season and return to play Robinson and Greenville this week. The last home meet is against Flora October 9 on Senior Night.