GODFREY – So close.

The Alton girls tennis team came up one point short of winning its third tournament championship this season on Saturday, when it competed in the inaugural Robert Logan Memorial Tournament at Lewis and Clark Community College, Alton High School and Gordon Moore Park.

The Redbirds finished second in the eight-team tournament with 45 points. The Triad Knights won the title with 46.

Still, Alton walked away from the tournament with a trophy for its finish.

The Redbirds finished in a tie for first with Quincy Notre Dame at the Andy Simpson Doubles Invitational on Aug. 20 and shared the team title with Glenwood at the Jacksonville Invitational on Sept. 9. They also got a fifth-place finish at the Sacred Heart-Griffin Tournament on Sept. 2.

This year's Alton tournament was named after the Marquette Catholic High grad and former AHS boys and girls tennis coach who passed away last September after a long battle with cancer. Saturday's event began with a moment of silence.

The No. 1 and 2 singles and No. 1 doubles were played at LCCC, Nos. 3 and 4 singles were played at AHS and Nos. 2 and 3 doubles were played at Gordon Moore Park.

The Redbirds had a pair of champions in this year's event – junior Hannah Macias and sophomore Maddie Saenz.

Macias, the coach's daughter, won the No. 2 singles championship for the second year in a row after beating Triad's Caitlyn Smith 6-0, 6-1 in the title match. A year ago, Macias came from behind to beat Triad's Cathy Catalano in three sets in the No. 2 singles championship.

Saenz won her first Alton tournament title after beating Highland's Ashley Basden 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles title match. She also was one of two players in the tournament – the other was Taylor Fleming of Highland – to earn the sportsmanship award.

Alton also got second-place finishes from its No. 1 singles player, Abby Fischer, and its No. 2 (Val Walters and Ainsley Fortschneider) and No. 3 (Molly Gross and Lexi Mayfield) doubles teams. Fischer lost to Collinsville's Jennaka Cain 7-6, 6-1 in the finals and both doubles teams fell to Triad in their championship matches.

Triad, which won last year's tournament, placed first in three flights.

The seven-hour tournament ended with Triad's Bailey Grigg beating Marquette Catholic's Leah Hoefert 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 4 singles championship match at AHS. Had Grigg lost, the Redbirds would have shared the team title with Triad.

Hoefert was the only player to reach the finals for Marquette, which placed fifth with 28 points. She defeated Alton's Nikki Lowe and Civic Memorial's Erin Griffin to advance to the finals.

The Explorers also got a third-place finish from Katie Ventimiglia in No. 3 singles and a fourth-place finish from Maria Wendle at No. 2 singles.