ST. LOUIS - The Helias tennis team's bid to make the Class 1 Final Four came up one step short Saturday when the Lady Crusaders lost in the state quarterfinals.
Helias opened the day's action at John Burroughs High School with a 5-0 sectional win against St. Dominic.
Abby Dowden and Ashley Dowden teamed up for an 8-0 win in doubles, while Mary Conley and Lauren Highfill won 8-2 and Megan Villanueva and Cassidy Roling won 8-0.
In singles, Ashley Dowden won 6-0, 6-0 and Highfill won 6-1, 6-0 to clinch the dual-match win.
Conley was up 6-0, 4-0 in her match when it was stopped, Abby Dowden was leading 6-0, 4-1; Villanueva won her first set 6-1 and hadn't started the second; and Roling was leading 6-0, 2-0.
In the quarterfinals, Helias' season came to a close with a 5-2 loss to Villa Duchesne.
The Lady Crusaders started by losing all three doubles matches. The Dowdens lost 8-6, Conley and Highfill lost 8-3 and Villanueva and Roling lost 8-3.
Ashley Dowden was winning her singles match 2-0 when her opponent defaulted due to injury. Helias' other win came from Highfill, who won 6-3, 6-2.
Conley lost 6-2, 6-3 and Roling lost 6-2, 6-2 to end the match. Abby Dowden had won her first set 6-1 and was trailing 4-3 in the second set, while Villanueva lost her first set 6-2 and was trailing 3-0 in the second.
The Lady Crusaders end their dual-match season with a mark of 17-4. They will have two singles players and two doubles teams in the Individual State Tournament set for Friday and Saturday in Springfield.