Every Peoria-area tennis player to advanced to the IHSA boys state finals

Dunlap qualified both of its doubles teams plus two singles players Saturday for the IHSA boys tennis state finals next week in the Chicago area.

Dunlap won its own Class 1A sectional for the seventh consecutive season and eighth time overall under coach Pat Gornik. The Eagles had 32 points, followed by Morton (27) and Peoria Christian (12).

Metamora won the Class 1A LaSalle-Peru Sectional with 28 points, nine ahead of runner-up Princeton. Metamora, Morton and Dunlap combined to qualify 16 players for state.

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"Truly a team effort for us," Gornik said of his Dunlap team. "Our doubles teams held seed and showed the work they've put in. It was amazing watching them play each other in the finals. And to see our second team hang in there and hit some amazing shots was awesome.

"Fei and Kendall are fun to watch. They've played five times in their careers now -- Carter has won all five, but four of them have gone to three sets. They play some great games."

Here is a look at the Peoria-area state tennis qualifiers:

Class 1A Dunlap Sectional

• Singles championship: Carter Kendall (Morton) defeated Alex Fei (Dunlap), 2-6, 6-0, 6-3. Both qualify for state.

• Singles third-place match: Mathew Sadler (Macomb) defeated Timothy Liu (Dunlap) 6-2, 6-4. Liu qualified for state.

• Doubles championship: Shaan Kashyap and Ethan McRaven (Dunlap) defeated Noah Li and Andrew Choy (Dunlap) 6-2, 6-1. All four qualified for state.

• Doubles third-place match: Ryan Klopfenstein and Joal Larson (Morton) defeated Asa Olden and Boaz Olden (Morton) 6-2, 6-1. All four qualify for state.

Class 1A LaSalle-Peru Sectional

• Singles championship: Connor Barth (Morris) defeated Dane Hutchison (Metamora) 6-2, 6-3. Hutchison qualified for state.

• Doubles championship: Hudson Shaw and Tommy Sopko (Metamora) beat Andrew Bollis and Danny Santoy (LaSalle-Peru) 6-1, 6-3. Shaw and Sopko qualified for state.

• Doubles third-place match: Alan Sifuentes and Evan Krafft (Ottawa) beat Jack Hessing and Weston Lange (Metamora), 6-4, 6-2. Hessing and Lange qualified for state.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA tennis: 16 Peoria-area boys qualify for Illinois state finals