O’Fallon doubles duo qualifies for state tournament as team finished 3rd at sectional

O’Fallon High School tennis standouts Isabel Wells and Natalie Spihlman qualified for the IHSA state tournament as a doubles team during sectional competition.

On Friday, Oct. 14, they beat both a team from Collinsville and Belleville West to advance to state. On Saturday, Oct. 15, they finished in third place in doubles (3-1 on the weekend).

“They had very long matches on Saturday — both of their matches went three sets and you play out the full third set in sectionals,” O’Fallon coach Erin Thoman said.

In the semis, they lost 6-4, 2-6, 4-6 to Edwardsville’s second doubles entry who ended up being the sectional champions in doubles.

“They were right there and it was a matter of a few points,” Thoman said. “In the third place match, they played Belleville East and Isabel and Nat fought off a few match points that East had and then took it from there. They battled all day long and played great matches.

“Congratulations to Isabel and Nat on making it to state! What an accomplishment and I’m very proud of them! Way to go!”

Bela Sanghavi won her first match against Granite City and lost in the state qualifying round to Gabi Hill from Edwardsville who ended up getting third place.

“Bela played a long, close competitive match — she had really long points. It was a great match,” Thoman said.

Analiese Reidelberger won her first match against Collinsville and lost in the state qualifying round to Nischi Korrapati from Springfield who ended up getting fourth place.

“Analiese played a great match with her and it was close,” Thoman said. “Bela and Analiese were right there and very close to qualifying for state.”

Morgyn Chambers and Lauren Edwards lost their match against a doubles team from Quincy in three sets.

“They played a great second set,” Thoman said.

O’Fallon finished third in the team standings with 15 points behind Belleville East (18 points) and Edwardsville (35 points).

The state tournament will be Thursday, Oct. 20, and Friday, Oct. 21, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 3:02 PM.