Tiger Girls Tennis celebrated one of the top finishes in school history at the IHSA State Tournament last weekend.
The Tigers scored 18 points and placed seventh, which equaled the marks set by the 2000 and 2004 teams as the top finishes ever in school history.
Six Tigers made the trip up north for State: junior Callaghan Adams and sophomore Morgan Colbert competed in singles action as did doubles teams of seniors Mallory Abert and Megan LaRose and senior Maddie Lombardi and junior Emily Lombardi.
The Lombardi sister duo made the deepest run among all Tigers in the tournament before losing their first match in the fourth round to Erika Oku and Stephanie Dolehide from Hinsdale Central, 6-1, 6-3, who went on to take second place in the tournament.
“(The Lombardis) played well in that match,” head coach Dave Lipe said. “I don’t think we could have played any better, I think that Hinsdale Central was just a little bit more skilled than we were.”
The Lombardis dropped their next match as well in the sixth round of the consolation bracket to Taylor Hershey and Jessica Chen from Nequa Valley 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, (11-9).
“Against Nequa Valley that was one of the more exciting matches that I’ve been a part of since coaching,” Lipe said. “We had several match points that we obviously could not convert and it was a tough one to lose. You can’t fault the Lombardis effort; they gave it all they could out there.”
Adams, the three time sectional champion, was the top Tiger in singles action, although the road was not easy for her dropping an early, hard-fought match in the second round of the tournament to Eileen Carney of Joliet West 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, (7-5).
“The second round was not my best match,” Adams said. “After my match I talked with my coach and we talked about how I needed to come out with a better warm-up in the next match. I needed to move my feet a lot more and stay low. Also I was told to trust myself. I think that set the tone for the rest of the weekend.”
After the second round defeat, Adams rallied off four straight wins in the consolation bracket before she was defeated in the sixth round by Alex Mella of Gurnee (Warren) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 which ended her dreams of a fifth place finish.
“Callaghan had a fantastic tournament,” Lipe said. “She continues to establish herself as one of the really great players in the history of our program; I thought by far she played her best tennis of the year.”
Adams finish, is the highest finish to date by a Tiger girls tennis player in the history of EHS.
Morgan Colbert was the other Tiger to compete on the singles side but was quickly handed her first loss courtesy of Madison Tattini from Bloomington Central Catholic 6-1, 6-4 in the first round.
Colbert, who played doubles with Maddie Lombardi last season, bounced back in the first round of the consolation bracket to defeat Meagan Flight from Charleston 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 but then dropped her next match against McKenna Byrne of Elmhurst Timothy Christian 6-4, 6-4 to eliminate her from the tournament.
“It was great that she was able to get a point,” Lipe said. “She is a very tough player and she continues to impress the tennis community.”
The second doubles squad consisting of LaRose and Abert played very well for the second consecutive year at state.
“(Our relationship) is pretty close we have been close friends for a really long time even before we played doubles together,” Abert said. “Since we have been on the court together we just know how each other work and are able to get along pretty well.”
LaRose and Abert got off to a hot start by winning their first two matches of the tournament but then fell to a familiar foe of Alexis and Kylie McCarthy from Triad, 6-2, 6-4.
“(Abert and LaRose) lost to (the McCarthys) in the summer and that was kind of a turning point for them in their summer training,” Lipe said.
LaRose and Abert were able to salvage one game in the fourth round of the consolation bracket by defeating Taylor Ellis and Rebecca Lewis from Danville, 6-1, 7-5. A loss in the next round to Sloane Williams and Kendall Scruggs out of Whitney Young, 7-5, 6-1 eliminated them from the tournament.
“I’m proud of Megan and Mallory’s performance,” Lipe said. “And I don’t think they could have tried any harder.”
This team will go down in history as one of the best in EHS tennis history, and all the players should be proud of their accomplishments.
“It’s exciting knowing that we will hopefully be remembered at EHS for tennis,” Abert said. “And to know how hard I have worked to get where I am now and it’s finally paid off.”