Cameron's Smokin' Hot Tennis Matches!!

This article was sent to from Jimmy to Mom to me so that I could post it and share it with the rest of the fam. I'm not sure what paper it came from but singings praises of Cameron's tennis abilities! Way to go Cameron!!!

The Edwardsville Tigers secured their ninth consecutive Southwestern Conference tennis tournament Saturday in Edwardsville, but it wasn’t easy.
The Tigers squeaked past the Belleville West Maroons by two points to finish atop the eight-team SWC heap. EHS had 66 points while the Maroons totaled 64. The rest of the field was Belleville East third (53), Alton fourth (48), O’Fallon fifth (38), Collinsville sixth (26), Granite City seventh (18) and East St. Louis eighth (14).
“I think it is a true rivalry because it is so close,” Edwardsville head coach Dave Lipe said of the Tigers and West. “They’ve won some matches against us. They beat us a couple of years ago and had beaten us before that. We’ve definitely had a very close competitive streak with West here where it has been nip and tuck every year for probably the last six years. Before that it was us and East, but West kind of overtook East and has been battling us.
“The only team West has lost to this year south of I-80 is Edwardsville and we’ve lost to no one down here. We’re 2-0 against them this year and both times were really close and we’ve played the tournaments really close. They’re a team we look forward to playing. It’s more fun than any other match.”
It came down to a freshman at No. 6 singles to secure the victory for EHS. Cameron Randall’s 6-4, 6-2 win over the Maroons’ Joseph Bullard kept the Tigers in front. A Randall loss would have dropped Edwardsville into a tie with West in points, but the Maroons would have corralled the tourney title because they would have had one more individual and doubles champion than the Tigers.
“As a freshman, Cameron was really key,” Lipe said. “That was his last match of the year because he’s probably not going to play in our sectional lineup. I was really proud of the way he closed out that match. He really pounded that ball at the end and he showed a lot of maturity for a freshman. He went out there and really responded well to the pressure. I’m really proud of the way he progressed throughout this season. I’m excited about the next three years with him. I think sometimes he was a little overshadowed in our lineup because he was playing No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles, but he’s going to be a force for the next three years in our conference and our sectional and I’m very optimistic about his future in our program.”
Other vital wins for the Tigers came from Kirk Schlueter at No. 3 singles, beating the Maroons’ Scott Segobiano in the finals 6-1, 6-0, and Kyle Watson at No. 4, marching past West’s Blake Hollenbeck 6-3, 6-1 in the title match there.
Jordan Leskera finished third at No. 1 singles, defeating Nick Fleming of O’Fallon 6-2, 6-0 in the third-place match after losing to West’s Max McLean 6-4, 4-6, 2-6. Michael Lynch nabbed second at No. 2, losing to the Maroons’ James Stathis 6-1, 6-1 while Justin Leskera also grabbed second place at No. 5 singles, dropping the finals to Jake Hoercher of West 7-6, 7-5.
As for the nine straight SWC titles, Lipe’s impressed with the run, but said his No. 1 goal at the moment is preparing for the Alton Sectional beginning Friday. The Tigers will be searching for their ninth consecutive sectional title, too, keeping pace with their EHS female counterparts, who have won 12 in a row.
“We’re going to be ready for sectionals,” said Lipe. “We’ve had our lineup in place all year. Our guys know who’s playing what and our lineup is no secret and we’re looking forward to battling. I think we’ve got a reasonable chance to qualify everybody, but it’s not going to be easy.”