EHS Second at Apollo Tourney, St. A Tie For Third at Bloomington

Effingham finished second at the Apollo Conference Tennis Tournament during the weekend.

Effingham High School finished three points behind Mount Zion to take second in the Apollo Conference Tennis Tournament during the weekend.

The Braves won with 48 points followed by EHS 45, Mattoon 39, Charleston 34, Mahomet-Seymour 20 and Lincoln 12.

Effingham's Chloe Funneman and Lauryn Douthit took first in the No. 1 doubles. Winning the championship at the No. 3 singles was Skyler Schafer.

Taking second place finishes were Schafer and Caroline Kull at the No. 2 doubles, Taylor Boyle and Riley Arend at No. 3 doubles, Funneman at No. 1 singles and Douthit at No. 2 singles.

Finishing third were Kull at No. 4 singles and Boyle at No. 5 singles. Arend finished fourth at No. 6 singles.

"The three girls who didn't make the finals for singles lost in the semifinals to each division's eventual champion," said EHS Coach Erik Williamson. "We knew that after playing three of our conference opponents in the regular season, we had a great chance of contending for the Apollo championship. To be in every finals on Friday night and winning at No. 1 really had everyone excited and ready to come back Saturday.

"Each girls dug deep this weekend and beat either a doubles team or a singles player that we had lost to prior to this weekend. Chloe and Lauryn had set a goal to win the Apollo doubles title and did so handily. Skyler won at No. 3 singles in a convincing manner and all three of them were then selected as All-Apollo award winners by the coaches.

"We are looking forward to reloading for another run at the team title next year, but now our goals lead us to the sectional tournament in two weeks."

Apollo Conference Tournament

Team Results -- Mount Zion (MZ) 48, Effingham (E) 45, Mattoon (M) 39, Charleston (C) 34, Mahomet-Seymour (MS) 20, Lincoln (L) 12

No. 1 Doubles -- Funneman-Douthit -- Champions

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Defeated Brown/Eastin (M), 6-3, 6-1

Finals -- Defeated Santos/Frommelt (MZ), 6-1, 6-3

No. 2 Doubles -- Schafer/Kull -- Second Place

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Defeated Freeman-Doty (M), 7-5, 6-1

Finals -- Lost to Willer-Dillow (MZ), 6-1, 6-2

No. 3 Doubles -- Boyle-Arend -- Second Place

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Defeated Niemerg-Huene (M), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3

Finals -- Lost to House-Roberts (MZ), 6-1, 6-2

No. 1 Singles -- Funneman -- Second Place

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Defeated Kyla Doty (M), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

Finals -- Lost to Paige Willer (MZ), 6-2, 6-1

No. 2 Singles -- Douthit -- Second Place

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Defeated Lauren Henderson (MS), 6-1, 6-1

Finals -- Lost to Grabriela Santos (MZ), 6-0, 6-3

No. 3 Singles -- Schafer -- Champion

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Defeated Madi Freeman (M), 6-1, 6-3

Finals -- Defeated Rachel Thomas (MZ), 6-2, 6-3

No. 4 Singles -- Kull -- Third Place

First round -- Defeated Bella Sibenaller (Charleston), 4-6, 6-3, 10-4

Semifinals -- Lost to Hallie Neimerg (M), 6-4, 6-0

Third Place -- Defeated Michelle Roberts (MZ), 6-4, 7-5

No. 5 Singles -- Boyle -- Third Place

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Lost to Alexis Orlik (C), 7-6, 6-1

Finals -- Defeated Brooklyn Dilllow (MZ), 6-1, 6-4

No. 6 Singles -- Arend -- Fourth Place

First Round -- bye

Semifinals -- Lost to Evie Rudibaugh (C), 6-1, 6-0

Finals -- Lost to Abbie Kennell (M), 6-1, 6-2

Bloomington Purple/Gold Tournament

Effingham St. Anthony finished tied for third place in the Bloomington Purple/Gold Tennis Tournament during the weekend.

Normal finished first with a 67 followed in the top three by University High 55, St. Anthony 44 and Homewood-Flossmor 44.

The highest finish for the Bulldogs came at the No. 3 doubles where Emilee Mossman and Catherine Willenborg took second. The pair defeated their first two opponents then fell in the title match.

Mossman finished third at the No. 1 singles while Claire Wortman was third at No. 2 and Allison Kowalke third at No. 3.

Wortman and Kowalke combined at No.1  doubles to take fifth. Maryanne Saba and Megan Hodge were fourth at No. 2 doubles.

"We finished tied for third out of 15 teams," said St. Anthony Coach Darlene Esker. "It was a great tournament with good weather and good competition."

Bloomington Purple/Gold Tournament

No. 1 Doubles -- Wortman/Kowalke -- Fifth Place

Defeated Jackson/Vakkalanka (Bloomington), 6-0, 6-0

Lost to Parker-Mansfield (Homewood-Flossmoor), 7-5, 5-7, 10-5

Defeated Burle-Weber (Herrin), 6-3, 6-0

Defeated Christiansen/LoTempio (Rockford Guilford), 6-3, 6-1

No. 2 Doubles -- Saba/Hodge -- Fourth Place

First Round -- Bye

Defeated Bodapati/Kot (Hersey), 6-2, 6-2

Lost to Ellis-Houpt (Danville), 6-2, 6-2

Lost to Osebowhein-Legerdy (Homewood-Flossmoor), 6-2, 6-3

No. 3 Doubles -- Mossman-Willenborg, Second Place

First Round -- bye

Defeated Yerrapothy-Hansen (Moline), 6-0, 6-0

Defeated Hiedesai-Shim (Normal), 6-4, 6-3

Lost to Totten-Fernandez (Normal U), 6-4, 7-6, 10-3

No. 1 Singles -- Mossman -- Third Place

First Round -- bye

Defeated Abby Fisher (Alton), 6-1, 6-0

Lost to Nikki Christiansen (Rockford Guilford), 7-5, 6-1

Defeated Claire Magnusen (Hersey), default

No. 2 Singles -- Wortman -- Third Place

Defeated Emily Kettering (Normal West), 6-4, 6-2

Defeated Hannah Macao (Alton), 6-3, 6-2

Lost to Amaya Fernandez (Normal U), 4-6, 6-1, 10-8

Defeated Monika k Birksi (Moline), default

No. 3 Singles -- Kowalke, Third Place

Defeated Mara Boast (Metamora), 7-5, 6-1

Defeated Grace Mathias (Normal U), 6-3, 6-3

Lost to Madison Vail (Normal), 6-2, 6-1

Defeated Elyse Mansfield (Homewood-Flossmoor), no score listed

No. 4 Singles -- Willenborg, Fifth Place

Lost to Lauren Parker (Homewood-Flossmoor), 6-1, 6-0

Then won the next three to finish fifth

No. 5 Singles -- Greene -- Fifth Place

Defeated Nana Perry (LaSalle-Peru), 6-1, 6-1

Lost to Sabrina Hantz (Danville), 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 10-7

Defeated Mikaylan Roach (Herrin), 6-3, 6-1

Defeated Aamani Boda (Hersey), 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-7

No. 6 -- McWhorter -- Fifth Place

Lost to Ayushi Hah (Normal), 6-3, 6-2

Defeated Christiansen (Danville), injury

Defeated -- 6-2, 6-4

Defeated -- 4-6, 6-3, 10-3