Alton’s Macias earns change for a quarter, advances to state

Tigers advance three entries from 2A sectional

Greg Shashack, gshashack@thetelegraph.com

 Published 3:26 pm CDT, Saturday, October 13, 2018

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Greg Shashack | The Telegraph

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Alton’s Hannah Macias returns a shot during her third-place singles match Saturday at the Belleville East Class 2A Sectional in Belleville. Macias finished fourth to become the Redbirds’ first state

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Two defeats in two prep girls tennis matches Saturday could not rob the smile from Hannah Macias.

The glow from Friday’s state qualifying victories would not be dulled so easily for the Alton Redbirds senior.

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“I was just so excited about yesterday that it was hard to get back into focus,” Macias said. “I was still so like, ‘I made it.’”

Macias finished fourth in the singles draw of the Belleville East Class 2A Sectional to become Alton’s first state qualifier since the IHSA expanded to two classes for tennis in 2016.

Joining Macias from the East Sectional in the Class 2A state tournament Thursday at various sites in suburban Chicago will be three entries from Edwardsville, two from Belleville East and one each from Belleville West and O’Fallon.

Macias lost a semifinal to East’s JoJo Skaer 6-2, 6-2 and a third-place match to Edwardsville’s Chloe Trimpe 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, but embraced fourth place and the state ticket that comes with it.

“I’m really happy with the way I played,” Macias said. “I come out here, it’s my senior year and my last time seeing these people, so you’ve got to give it all you’ve got one last time. … I’m thrilled just to be here. All these players are just so awesome. It’s great to be here and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Belleville East repeated as sectional champion, led by the 1-2 singles finish from Chloe McIsaac and Skaer. The Lancers scored 26 points to edge Edwardsville (24) for the second successive season after halting the Tigers’ run of 20 consecutive sectional championships in 2017.

West (14), O’Fallon (14), Alton (12), Springfield (8), Collinsville (4), Quincy (0) and Granite City (0) completed the nine-team field assigned to the courts at East.

Trimpe, a sophomore, will make her first state trip with the Tigers after taking third in singles. Edwardsville seniors Natalie Karibian and Abby Cimarolli teamed up to win the sectional doubles title, defeating West juniors Kaitlyn and Taylor Fiedler 6-3, 6-0 in the title match.

Karibian, a sectional singles champion as a sophomore, will be making her fourth state trip, while Cimarolli is state-bound for the third straight season. The Tigers also send their second doubles team with senior Annie McGinnis and freshman Hannah Colbert placing third. It will be the first state appearance for both.

The top four sectional placers in both singles and doubles qualify for the three-day state tournament. That format casts quarterfinals as the make-or-break match in both brackets and Macias saw her season go break in quarters in each of the last two seasons.

Macias cleared the barrier Friday when play was moved to indoor facilities with rain in Belleville. She defeated Quincy’s Isabella Trinh 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and won the money match by beating Springfield’s Maya Hoffman 6-2, 6-2 in the quarters.

“There’s a lot of emotion that goes into it,” Alton coach and Hannah’s father Jesse Macias said. “Hannah really kept her emotions in check, came in with a good plan and executed it. It was a good day (Friday).”

Getting to state was better than good for Hannah Macias after playing doubles last year and losing a three-set sectional quarterfinal.

“It was amazing,” Macias said of Friday’s victories. “It’s been my goal to go state for so long. Last year, we were so close. This feels great. It may be the highlight of my whole high school career.”