QHS doubles teams finish second and third at sectionals, now prepare for state tournament

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — The Quincy High School boys tennis team finished second at the Class 2A Edwardsville Sectional after its doubles teams finished second and third, respectively.

Edwardsville won the team title with the No. 1 doubles team of Schaefer Bates and Isaac Chelboun winning the championship and top-seeded Jess Hattrup winning the singles title.

In Saturday morning’s semifinals, the QHS doubles team of Kael Holzgrafe and Drake Dodd defeated Edwardsville’s John Almos and Lucas Rudd 7-5, 7-6 (8), while the Blue Devils’ Surya Reddy and Ethan Stark lost to Bates and Chelboun 6-1, 6-1.

In the championship match, Bates and Chelboun defeated Holzgrafe and Dodd 6-2, 6-3. In the third-place match, Reddy and Stark beat Almos and Rudd 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Both QHS doubles teams qualified for the state tournament, which begins Thursday in the Chicago suburbs.

At the Class 1A Jacksonville Sectional, the Quincy Notre Dame doubles team of Daniel Dyer and Alex Strong finished as the runner-up and will be heading to the state tournament for the second consecutive year.

Dyer and Strong beat Jerseyville’s Jaxon Brunaugh and Isaac Wargo 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals before losing to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Evan Aleman and Adam Wheeling 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the championship match.