HESS NETS 3RD AT STATE TOURNEY

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central's Eliane Hess finished third at the Missouri Class 4A state tennis meet Saturday, beating Hickman's Cheryl Hickey in the third-place match 6-2, 6-3.

Hess, a foreign exchange student from Switzerland, lost to Parkway Central's Aleke Tsobanos 6-3, 6-1 in a semifinal earlier in the day.

It was Hess' second loss of the year. She lost to St. Joseph Academy's Kiki Stastny earlier in the year.

"Aleke has an answer for everything," Cape Central coach Annette Slattery said. "I thought Eliane played well against her, but she played better against Hickey."

Tsobanos, the defending state singles champion, lost to Stastny 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) in the state championship match.

Central's doubles team of Lara Golike and Liz Russell lost to Hickman's Carman Briscoe and Stephanie Price 6-1, 6-0 in a consolation semifinal Saturday. They finished in the top eight in the state in doubles.