Five teams win girls tennis team district titles to advance to sectionals

Five teams won their team tennis district tournaments to advance to the sectionals.

The Lafayette Lancers, Incarnate Word Academy Red Knights, Parkway North Vikings, St. Joseph’s Academy Angels and Visitation Academy Vivettes all won their district tournaments.

Lafayette (15-2) has won our Class 2 District 2 Championship for the third year in a row. The team did not lose a set throughout the tournament that was held at Lafayette.

Winning matches for the Lancers were Haleigh Chobanian, Arianna Demos, Abby Carpenter, Kayla Neskar, Kelly Carpenter, Emily Weinhold and Sarah Goodman.

Lafayette advances to the team sectionals that will be held on Saturday (Oct. 13).

“Our goal was to win districts and we felt like we had a good chance since we had beaten the teams during the regular season,” Lafayette coach Donna Stauffer said. “All of the teams we played have good players and we knew they would play their best against us. Our players were very focused and several of them played their best tennis all season during the team districts.”

At the sectional, Lafayette will play Jackson in the semifinal match. The winner of that match will face the winner of the match between Cor Jesu and St. Joseph’s Academy. The winner moves on to the state team tournament.

“We played Jackson last year to get to the final match and look forward to playing them again,” Stauffer said. “They have only one loss this season (to Eureka) so we expect them to be very tough. Cor Jesu has a very good team. We beat them 8-1 in our dual match, but there were several good matches.

“St. Joe’s has not lost a match all season but if we get to the finals, we are confident that we will be ready to do our best to get back to the final four in the state tournament.

Incarnate Word Academy (8-9)captured the District 5 title with a 5-2 win over McCluer North. In the semifinals, the Red Knights thumped McCluer 5-0.

Red Knights coach Mary Nahm was pleased with her squad.

“My expectations going into districts as a team were that we would do well,” Nahm said. “I had checked the other teams’ records online and felt that McCluer North would be our greatest challenge. The girls played very well. We won at No. 1, 3,5, and 6 singles. Three of the singles matches went to three sets. The play overall by both teams was very consistent.

“The match was decided by our No. 3 doubles team. They had both won their singles matches and had begun playing while No.  2 and 3 singles were still playing. It was their win that clinched the district title for the IWA team. The girls were very excited as was the coaching staff.”

It is the fourth district title in a row for Incarnate Word, who also won district in 2005. The Red Knights have finished second place in districts in 2001, 2003, and 2004.

In the sectional, Incarnate Word will play Parkway North. The winner of that match will play the winner of the match between Rock Bridge and Francis Howell.

“It’s going to be a tough run to state,” Nahm said. “The girls are going to need to play their best to continue. Last year a doubles team and one singles player went to state. The girls know what it takes and are ready for the challenge. Their hope is to go to Springfield again.”

In District 2, Parkway South slipped by Marquette 5-4 and Eureka defeated Summit 5-1 in first-round matches. In the semifinals, Lafayette bounced Parkway South 6-0 while Eureka got by Parkway West 5-3. In the championship match, Lafayette won 6-0.

St. Joseph’s Academy (12-0) won District 4 with a 5-1 victory over Ladue. In the semifinals, the Angels whipped Rosati-Kain 6-0 to earn the championship match berth.

Parkway North (10-4) is the District 6 champion. The Vikings defeated Parkway Central 5-1 to win the title. Parkway North beat Pattonville 5-0 in the semifinals.

Defending state champ Visitation Academy won the Class 1 District 6 tournament. Visitation (14-1) defeated Westminster 6-0 in the championship match. In the semifinals Visitation blanked Whitfield 6-0. Westminster reached the title match with a 5-2 win over Principia.