O'FALLON, Ill. • When the Belleville West and Edwardsville girls tennis teams get together, it's usually a down-to-the-wire affair, and the Southwestern Conference Tournament was no exception.
West won four of six singles flights Saturday to edge Edwardsville 67-66 for the team title. Edwardsville opened the two-day event by taking two of three doubles flights on Friday.
Edwardsville and West were the class of the league this fall. West won the tournament, Edwardsville claimed the regular-season title and the two shared the overall championship.
"The girls knew all along that they were capable of playing at this level," said West assistant Jennifer Mennerick, who was subbing for head coach Bob Keefe. "Now going into the sectional, we're even more prepared."
Winners for West in Saturday's singles were Kelcie Comley at No. 1, Blair Hollenbeck at No. 2, Anna Mernick at No. 3 and Kayleigh Thurwalker at No. 4.
The tournament clincher was Hollenbeck's 6-2, 6-2 win against Alana Hofmann of Belleville East.
West's doubles champs were Comley and Hollenbeck in the No. 1 flight. They scratched out a win in a 7-5, 5-7 (10-7 tiebreaker) thriller against Edwardsville's Jessica Burns and Tess Severin.
"Coach Keefe and I knew going into this tournament that the girls were going to have to play at the top of their game at every single spot in the lineup," Mennerick said. "They came out here ready to play and did an awesome job."
Edwardsville's winners in the league tournament were Burns in No. 5 singles, Megan Larose in No. 6 singles and the doubles pairings of Paige Sturley and Casey Bonham in the No. 2 flight and Morgan McGinnis and Paige Bequette in the No. 3 flight.
Comley closed out a notable league career, winning conference singles and doubles titles for the second year in a row.
Comley and the Maroons were keeping track of the team totals as the two rivals banged their way through the league tournament.
"Last night was pretty close, but I knew we could do it if we kept fighting," Comley said. "Today was one of the days we worked toward all year. Just to be able to come out and do our job on the court is really rewarding."
"You have to respect the way that West came out and played today," Edwardsville coach Dave Lipe said. "We had some good moments during the tournament, and we had some not-so-good moments. But the two biggest weeks of the year are coming up and that's where our focus is."
West is in the O'Fallon Sectional Friday and Saturday, while Edwardsville is in the Alton Sectional. The top four singles players and the top four doubles teams advance to the state tournament, Oct. 20-22 in suburban Chicago.
Saturday was the final singles match for Comley, who will play doubles with Hollenbeck at the sectional. Last year, she and Alli Chadwick reached the round of 16 at state.
"It's a good way to go out and it's a great win because (McGinnis) is a really good player," Comley said. "Having experience at state definitely helps -- we know what to expect when we get up there."
