Keegan Joyce earned a runnerup finish in singles competition and both Evanston doubles teams also advanced to the Illinois High School Association state finals following Thursday’s Deerfield Sectional tournament.
Joyce, a junior, reached the title match before falling to Deerfield’s Gerri Soren 21-14, 21-15 in the finale. Joining her at the state finals next weekend hosted by Eastern Illinois University in Charleston are the doubles teams of Sarah Felvey/Tess Brieva (3rd place) and Emily Stover/Rebecca Conover (4th place). The top four finishers in singles and doubles automatically advance from the sectional.
Joyce eliminated Maine East’s Feena Chirayath in three sets in her first-round match, then defeated Deerfield’s Nicki Flynn 21-19, 21-12 in the semifinals.
Evanston’s other singles entry, Clara Gruger, lost to Margaret Chen of Stevenson 21-19, 22-20.
The two ETHS doubles teams ended up matched head-to-head in the third place match, with the team of Felvey-Brieva turning back teammates Stover and Conover 22-20, 21-15.
Felvey and Brieva lost 21-18, 21-11 in the second round versus Michelle Ling and Sakthi Shanmugasundaram of Stevenson. The eventual doubles champs, Katelyn Schroeder and Neva Lui of Stevenson, handed Stover and Conover a 21-7, 21-10 defeat.
Stevenson won the team title with 13.5 points, followed in order by Evanston (13), Deerfield (11.5), Maine East (4), Wheaton North (1) and Noble Street Charter (0) in the sectional field.