The EHS girls tennis team persevered through early losses to take the Southwestern Conference win over O’Fallon on Sept. 12.

After losing two singles matches and one doubles match early on, EHS stepped up its game with singles wins from sophomore Hanna Colbert, senior Hayley Earnhart and junior Emma Herman.

“My match went really well,” Herman said. “I think the thing I could most improve on is positivity and just not giving up.”

Doubles performances also improved, with junior Chloe Trimpe and junior Grace Hackett taking an 8-4 win, as well as Earnhart and Herman winning 8-5.

Trimpe said that while she and Hackett are comfortable together, she would like to work on “attacking at the net for doubles.”

“My goal this year is to get better at volleying,” Trimpe said, “It is my biggest weakness so if I can fix it, it will help my game.”

Following the matches, EHS coach David Lipe told the Edwardsville Intelligencer, “I think our kids showed a lot of guts and a lot of confidence. We had kids coming off the court and getting sick and going back out to play and winning. We had kids losing first sets and coming back and winning.”

Earnhart said that since they began playing together last year, she and Herman have worked very well together.

“Being friends off the court helps us to be an even better team.”

Reflecting on the games, Earnhart said that she can work on “perfecting my shots and becoming more consistent against better competition.”

For Earnhart, this season is bittersweet.

“Going into my senior year is hard because I began playing tennis when I was in second grade…” she said. “My goals for this year are to get better every day and to be a positive energy on the team.”

EHS finished 6-3 for the day over O’Fallon and is 3-0 in SWC tournaments. The Tigers will face Belleville East on Sept. 19 at EHS.