By Kyle Daubs

Mattoon tennis coach Joey Boyer likes his chances just as good as anyone else. 

With last year’s Apollo champion Teutopolis out of the picture, the girls’ tennis Apollo Conference Championships have evened out according to the Mattoon tennis coach. 

“If our girls show up and play the way I know they can, we have a good shot at it,” said Boyer. 

Lincoln HighCarolina Davis coach Janice Dickerson agreed

“Team-wise, Mattoon is always strong, as is Mt. Zion,” said Dickerson. 

For now, it appears that both Mattoon and Mount Zion will be the front runners for the title. Mattoon’s young team will be co-captains Caroline Davis and Annelise Overmyer. Boyer said that both have a “good opportunity” to get All-Apollo nods. 

“They are our leaders and have played doubles together all four years,” said Boyer. “When they are on their game, they are tough to beat.  Two more girls that also stand out on our team are Avery Boyer and Lily Gregory.  They are young but very talented.  They are both very good singles players and are becoming a better doubles team every day.”

Lincoln’s Bailee Pineda should be a contender for the No. 1 singles position, while Allison Bradford of Mount Zion should also be in the mix. 

Charleston will be led by Maggie Goetten, who has been playing well. The Trojans are coming off a victory over Mahomet-Seymour on Tuesday. 

“The match against Mahomet was our best performance of the season,” said Charleston coach Eric Selstad. “Everyone played well and did a good job staying focused and closing out matches.”

The Apollo Conference tournament will take place at Fletcher Park on Friday and Saturday. 

“The Apollo is very even this year from a competitive standpoint,” said Boyer. “There are solid players on all the teams but I do not believe there is one player in our conference that stands out.  As far as which team I think has an opportunity to win Apollo, we will find out this weekend.”