By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour sophomore Savannah Amatyleon was one sectional victory away from qualifying for the girls’ state tennis meet after competing in the Danville Sectional on Friday (Oct. 15).
The top four singles entries all secured state berths. Amatyleon dropped a 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal decision to eventual champion Maddy Swisher, from St. Thomas More. In her sectional opener, Amatyleon overpowered Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Audrey Iverson, 6-1, 6-1.
All quarterfinal victors are guaranteed a berth at state.
The other M-S singles entry, senior Gianna Hill, was also 1-1 at the sectional meet.
Hill started with a 7-5, 6-2 verdict over Champaign Central’s Sarah Su before dropping a 6-2, 6-2 decision to St. Joseph-Ogden’s Abbey Dow.
In doubles, Bulldog seniors Jadyn Hannah and Megan Barnhart handled Urbana’s Eisla Madigan and Matika Pounginjah, 6-0, 6-0, before being eliminated by St. Joseph-Ogden’s Kelsey Martlage and Hope Rajlich, 6-4, 6-4.
The other M-S doubles entry of seniors Molly Fried and Sophia Slupski lost in the first round, 6-3, 6-1, to SJ-O’s Jacey Lewis and Allison Kearney.
In the sectional team race, M-S finished in fifth place in the 11-school field. The Bulldogs totaled eight points.
A year ago, M-S tied for fifth place at the sectional.
This year’s sectional team champion was Danville (32 points), followed by St. Thomas More (22 points), Centennial (13 points) and St. Joseph-Ogden (12 points).
For the season Hannan and Barnhart had the Bulldogs’ top record in doubles, 6-6.
Overall, M-S used 13 different doubles combinations and six collected at least one win.
In singles, Amatyleon was the season leader with a 10-3 record. Her loss in the sectional quarterfinals ended a nine-match winning streak, eight of which were in straight sets.
Other team leaders in singles were Hill (8-6 record) and Slupski (6-7 record). In all this year, 10 Bulldogs had singles matches and nine earned at least one victory.
