2024 IHA State Singles Championships
Schaumburg, IL, WPH Press, 1/21/24
Schaumburg Tennis Plus played host to the 2024 IHA State Singles Championships, featuring players from Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, New York, North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Wisconsin.
Tournament director and R48 and SR48 pro David Munson headlined the Men’s Open singles field and was joined by fellow Race 4 Eight pros Bill Mehilos, Ray Ure, David Schiller, as well as Midwest handball stars Mike Munson and Dane Szatkowski in the twenty-five player field.
Multiple-time national champion Megan Dorneker headlined the Women’s Singles field alongside collegiate stars Emma Kinane and Izzy Klicker.
Men’s Open Singles
IHA singles defending champion Ray Ure advanced to the final in the upper bracket with little difficulty, defeating Bryan Trejo, Denny Schmitt and Mike Munson without dropping a game to reach the final.
Third-seeded Bill Mehilos survived a tiebreaker in his quarterfinal match with Minnesota power hitter David Schiller and avenged his tiebreaker loss at the SR48 Chapman Memorial last week to tournament host Dave Munson by defeating Munson in a tiebreaker to advance to the final.
Ure defeated Mehilos in the fifth place final at last April’s RFC R48LTE and defeated Mehilos again to defend his IHA singles crown. “Ray was in control the whole match,” stated tournament director Dave Munson. “It got close midway through the first and Billy even had a small lead but Ray was too strong.”
Semifinals
Ure def M. Munson 21-4, 21-11
Mehilos def D. Munson 21-19, 20-21, 11-3
Final: Ure def Mehilos 21-14, 21-8
Women’s Open Singles
Megan Dorneker used her experience and tremendous shot making to win the Illinois State Singles, defeating Kiaya Hoffner in the quarterfinals, Izzy Klicker in the semifinals and narrowly overcoming rising Lake Forest College star Emma Kinane in the final. “Emma was up 18-14 in the second,” reported Munson. “Megan changed her serve to a high two-wall lob and was able to capitalize on weak returns to come back and close out the game with some timely kills.”
Semifinals
Dorneker def Klicker 21-4, 21-3
Kinane def Munson 21-19, 21-13
Final: Dorneker def Kinane 21-11, 21-18
Thank you to Dave Munson for organizing and running a great event.
Follow all of the draws from the 2024 IHA State Singles Championships HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer