Lady Knights tennis headed to State
By Anthony Jones
TROY — From 2017 to 2022, Triad rattled off an impressive streak of six consecutive Sectional titles in girls tennis. Their lengthy reign came to an end last year, however.
The Lady Knights racked up 20 points at their 2023 Sectional tournament, leaving them a single point behind 1st place Highland. Both teams went on to strong finishes at the IHSA State Tournament, with Triad landing in 22nd and Highland finishing 7th.
Last week, the Lady Knights finally had their chance to reclaim the crown in Sectional action on Oct. 18 and 19. Triad hosted both days of the postseason opening tournament.
By the end of the second day, the hosts tallied a Sectional winning 32 points to earn their seventh championship in 8 years. Highland finished in second-place with a tally of 21 points.
Coach Devan Faulkenberg spoke of reclaiming Sectional champions status, “It’s definitely been a big goal. We lost a close one last year to Highland who got 7th at State and they were a great team. They’re still a great team and they have most of their people back, so we feel really proud of these girls, not only for winning a Sectional title, but because we feel like this is a really quality Sectional.”
Triad’s top scorer of the event was Andie Green, who secured the singles Sectional title.
The senior’s path to gold began with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Clara Willson of Gibault Catholic. Green then rolled through the quarterfinals in a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Maisie Speicher from Mascoutah.
A semifinal showdown with Waterloo’s Kamryn Zavorka resulted in another 6-0, 6-0 victory for the standout Lady Knight.
The Sectional championship match came down to a clash between Lady Knights, as Triad’s London Looby advanced to the finals from the far side of the bracket. Green won their intrasquad contest in a 6-0, 6-1 decision.
Looby, a junior, racked up three wins of her own before landing in 2nd place. Her run through the singles bracket began with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Izzy Border of Althoff Catholic and a 6-3, 6-0 decision against Maddie Beck of Father McGivney on Oct. 18.
On Oct. 19, Looby met Highland’s Ruthie Manor in semi final play. Their match, which lasted over two hours, resulted in a 7-6, 6-2 victory for the Triad junior.
Triad found ample success in doubles play as well.
The highest finishing duo for the Lady Knights was that of freshman Averi Moore and Hailey D’Aunoy. Moore and D’Aunoy began the tournament with wins of 6-2, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-1 on Oct. 18 to reach the semifinal round.
In their semifinal match, Moore and D’Aunoy added another big win in a 6-1, 6-1 outing against the Father McGivney duo of Natalie Beck and Kennedi Taylor. Beck and Taylor went on to finish in 3rd place.
Moore and D’Aunoy advanced to the doubles championship, where they ultimately fell 6-4, 6-1.
Triad’s other doubles pairing, junior Katie Watts and sophomore Kacey Ruger, added another strong finish to the team’s efforts. Their march through the brackets began with a 6-0, 6-1 win and a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
The duo then fell 6-1, 6-0 in semi final play against the eventual champions. In the 3rd place match, Moore and D’Aunoy fell 6-3, 6-0.
With top four finishes, all of Triad’s representatives qualified for the upcoming IHSA State Finals.
“It’s definitely going to be exciting just to have all four of our entries making it through–that’s only happened three times before in school history. We’re hoping we get some friendly draws, a lot depends on that, but we feel like our girls are playing well and anyone could post a couple of wins,” Coach Faulkenberg remarked of sending six Lady Knights to the IHSA’s crowning event.
Two Lady Knights, Green and Watts, will be making their second consecutive appearances at the postseason concluding event.
Triad’s manager remarked on their past experience at the State tournament, “We have some girls who have already won matches at State before and I think that that experience will serve them well. We have some younger girls as well and I’m hoping they can take after the older girls who’ve already won some matches at State before.”
Sectional champ Andie Green returns a volley. (Photo by Anthony Jones)
