This story has been updated to include Saturday results.

A total of eight Little Illini Conference tennis players have advanced to the semifinal round of their respective IHSA Sectional tournaments (four singles players and one doubles combo). That automatically qualifies them for next week’s IHSA State Tournament in Chicagoland (hosted by Arlington Hts.). Today, they return to  play for Sectional championships in Danville and Effingham, and better seeds at state, plus team titles as well. Here is a recap:

Friday original story

(DANVILLE) — Paris is tied for second place after the first day of the IHSA Class 1A Sectional tournament in Danville. The Tigers have 18 points, tied with Mahomet-Seymour. Danville leads the way with 22 points. The Tigers qualified three players for next week’s IHSA state tournament in Chicagoland, singles player Paedyn Keys, plus the doubles combo of Bella Moreschi and Myah Bartos.

Keys, the LIC singles champion, was seeded sixth going in and thus received a first-round bye. Keys defeated Lauren Waldoff of Champaign St. Thomas More, 6-1, 6-0, in her first court appearance of the day, then in the state tournament qualifying match, defeated Samantha Brown of Danville in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, after falling behind 0-2 in the first set. Paedyn is following in the footsteps of her mother Laurie (Crippes) Keys, a two-time state qualifier in singles in 2006 and 2007 for Paris.

Paris’ double combo of  of Moreschi and Bartos received a No. 2 seed, and also received a first-round bye. They defeated Reagan Troglia and Je’Lanna Tall from Danville Schlarman, 6-1, 6-1, before defeating Elianna Lee and Ananyah Tangmunarunkit of Urbana, 6-2, 6-0, to advance to the Sectional semifinals and the state tournament as well. This is Moreschi’s second time qualifying for state while Bartos will be making her first appearance.

Saturday update

(DANVILLE) — Paedyn Keys of Paris finished third in singles play at the IHSA Class 1A Sectional girls tennis tournament on Saturday.

Keys, 15-5 on the season and seeded sixth coming into the tournament, lost in the semifinals to Kruthi Ramanath of Urbana U. High, 6-0, 6-0, before taking the third-place match against Catherine Ra of Champaign St. Thomas More, 6-2, 6-4.

Paris also had a doubles tandem playing on the final day of the Sectional tournament. Bella Moreschi and Myah Bartos also took third place with a 6-2, 6-1 win over unseeded Lydia Mourer and Madeline Hess of Danville. In the semifinal, Moreschi and Bartos lost to another Danville tandem,  Aliya Morgan and Rosabella Beyer, 6-3, 6-4.

All players who reached the semifinal stage will advance to the IHSA state tournament in Chicago.

Friday original story

(EFFINGHAM) — Four LIC teams scored points on the first day of the IHSA Class 1A Sectional tournament in Effingham. Robinson is in third place with 14 points, followed closely by fourth-place Newton with 12 points. Casey-Westfield and Olney are tied for seventh place, each with six points. Teutopolis leads the way with 28 points, with Effingham St. Anthony next with 15 points.

Jailyn Hall of Newton will be going to state in singles. She was seeded No. 1 at Effingham, and after receiving a first-round bye, defeated Rylan Boggs of Effingham St. Anthony, 6-1, 6-1. Her next victory, over Leila Westra of Mattoon (6-0, 6-0), advanced Hall to today’s Sectional semifinal match but also automatically qualified her for the state tournament.

Hall’s teammate, Olivia Sornberger. is also going to state in singles. Sornberger, seeded second, defeated Lily Stortzum of Teutopolis in her first court appearance, 6-1, 6-2, then defeated  Kate Rosborough of Robinson (6-0, 6-0, in an all-LIC state qualifying match.

Daisy Mumford of Casey-Westfield will be at state, too. Mumford, unseeded going in, had to play a first-round match, but managed to outlast Avery Jones of Effingham St. Anthony, 7-6, 6-3. Mumford then sprung an upset, beating third-seeded Belle Powers of Mattoon in another overtime thriller (6-0, 7-6).  Mumford wasn’t done yet on Day One. She had to win again to qualify for state, which she did by defeating an LIC rival, No. 3 seed Ezha Biyok of Olney, 7-5, 6-1.

No LIC doubles teams qualified for state from the Effingham Sectional.

Saturday update

(EFFINGHAM) — Olivia Sornberger of Newton captured the IHSA Sectional tennis championship on Saturday by defeating Avery Probst of Teutopolis, 6-1, 6-3, in the finals. Sornberger, who  improved to 22-1 on the year, came into the tournament seeded second behind teammate Jailyn Hall.

In her first match on Saturday, Sornberger faced unseeded Daisy Mumford of Casey-Westfield in the semifinals. Sornberger prevailed, 6-1, 6-0. The fourth-seeded Probst, meanwhile, downed Hall in the other semi, 7-5, 6-0, denying Eagle fans an all-Newton final. Hall bounced back to claim third place with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Mumford.

By reaching the semifinal, all four players automatically qualified for this weekend’s IHSA state tournament in Chicago.

(CENTRALIA) — Mt. Carmel will be represented at state by the doubles team of Ava Giese and Alivia Peach. The duo finished fourth on Saturday at the IHSA Class 1A Sectional tournament in Centralia.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Giese and Peach rallied from a one-set deficit to defeat Rachael Reckmann and Aimee Jansen of Fairfield, 0-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the second round on Friday. Then in a state-qualifying match, Giese and Peach defeated Mabrey Foster and Wren Braddock of Fairfield, 6-1, 6-1.

On Saturday, the Golden Aces duo lost to Elise Duke and Makenna Hackney of Flora in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. In the third-place match Giese-Peach fell, 6-1, 6-0, to Madison Keserauskis and Ella Robinson of Salem, 6-1, 6-0.

Mt. Carmel finished in a five-way tie for fifth place in the final standings, with six points. Flora won the team title, with 31 points, followed by Highland (22 points) and Salem (17).

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.