The Waterloo High School girls tennis squad caused quite a racket this past weekend at the Class 1A Carbondale Sectional.

The Bulldogs beat out Carbondale by two points to win the sectional title as a team for just the second time in school history. The first such title for the program came in 2022 when many of this year’s key players were freshmen.

“The girls played great tennis,” Waterloo head coach Brett Ivers said. “This was a true team effort.”

Qualifying for this weekend’s IHSA Class 1A near Chicago are Waterloo’s Lucy Baldwin, Ella Brown, Ava Hemmer, Lily Starek and Marie Starek.

Lily Starek and Ava Hemmer placed second overall in doubles. The duo didn’t drop a game to qualify, winning their first two matches 6-0, 6-0.

Ivers said the “Cinderella story” of the sectional came from Ella Brown and Lucy
Baldwin in doubles.

“They entered the tournament unseeded. They beat three seeded teams,” Ivers said. 

After defeating the sixth seed and then the third seed to qualify for state, Brown and Baldwin finally defeated the fourth seed en route to placing third overall.

Marie Starek placed fourth in singles to also make state.

Although she didn’t qualify for state, Ivers said  Jones played two “amazing” matches and earned the team two points in the sectional. 

“Those two points were pivotal and proved to be the difference in winning, because we finished with 23 points and the Carbondale team finished with 21 points,” Ivers said. 

The WHS girls tennis squad finished the regular season with a record of 12-5. The Bulldogs also won their flight of the Heather Bradshaw Invitational Championship this season as well as the Herrin Invitational Championship.

“We have talked all season about trying to play our best tennis at this time of the year, and I couldn’t be happier with the way they played and conducted themselves on the court,” Ivers said.

Brown, a senior, played at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles this fall, posting an overall record of 28-11.

Lily Starek, a junior, played at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles and had a record of 23-17.

Hemmer, a senior, played at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles this season with an overall record of 29-10.

Jones, a senior, played at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles with an overall record of 22-12.

Marie Starek, a senior, played at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles with an overall record of 30-11.

Baldwin, yet another senior, played at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles with an overall record of 23-17.

In addition to Ivers, other coaches for the WHS girls tennis squad are Spencer Baldwin and Jim Molinari.