QHS’s Reddy wins WB6 singles championship, Hayes twins take second in doubles

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Quincy High School girls tennis team gave the rest of the teams in the Class 2A Belleville West Sectional something to be leery about.

That’s top-flight competitors coming into the postseason event riding high.

QHS sophomore Anika Reddy knocked off the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds as she won the Western Big 6 Conference singles championship Saturday, while QHS seniors Lily and Phoebe Hayes finished second in doubles, dropping a marathon three-set match in the finals.

Quincy finished second as a team with 14 points. Moline won the WB6 title with 16 points.

“We had a great run today,” QHS coach Mike Terry said. “We played extremely well.”

It happened at the perfect time. The sectional is next week, with the top four finishers in both singles and doubles advancing to state, and Reddy and the Hayes twins could by vying for top seeds.

“We will have to argue for seeds,” Terry said of the seed meeting that takes place Wednesday.

Reddy’s improving play gives her a strong argument.

She opened the WB6 bracket with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over United Township’s Kaylin Hurt and beat Geneseo junior Allison Reade 6-0, 6-0 to reach the semifinals. Facing second-seeded Rock Island sophomore Neima Rogers, Reddy rallied after losing the opening set for an 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) to win and advance to the title match.

Reddy beat top-seeded Moline freshman Calla Graham 6-1, 7-6 (7-0).

“That was really significant because (Graham) beat her in straight sets in the Moline Invitational in September,” Terry said. “There was no doubt she was the best player in singles today.”

Losing the first set so decisively against Rocky’s Rogers could have had an adverse affect on Reddy, but she took advantage of tournament rules to play every point out.

“You can get some momentum swings, and that is what happened in that match,” Terry said. “She played great the final two sets and won it in that tiebreaker.”

The Hayes sisters opened with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over United Township’s Adelia Davila and Carolina Rosas, and then scored a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Galesburg’s Khloe May and Kayla Mudd. In the semifinals, they beat Geneseo’s third-seeded tandem of Mia Kelly and Ella Pettit 6-3, 6-1.

It led to an epic championship match with the top-seeded Moline duo of Zayda Graham and Karenna Zemek 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.

“They played by far the best match of their season,” Terry said of the Hayes twins. “They were really playing well, and they almost pulled it off.”