By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Most of the Northern Kentucky high school tennis players who qualified for this week’s state tournament have the same mentor, Kara Molony-Hussey, who has been working with some of them since they were in grade school.
Hussey’s list of students includes her son, Austin, a Covington Catholic senior who won the Region 9 boys’ singles title for the fourth consecutive year. She also works with Region 9 girls’ singles champ Francie Case and Region 10 girls’ singles champ Meredith Laskey.
Several other state qualifiers in singles and doubles from CovCath, Notre Dame, Highlands and Dixie Heights also take lessons from her.
Most of the Northern Kentucky players in the upcoming state tennis championship have been influenced by Kara Molony-Hussey, who has been working with them for years (Terry Boehmker Photo)
“They’re all like a family with each other whether they’re from the same school or not,” Hussey said. “That’s the funny thing about this. These kids who are such big rivals in high school matches team up and become practice partners. In what other sport does that happen, where you practice with your opponent?”
Hussey is a certified teaching professional who once played on the Women’s Tennis Association pro tour. She was a No. 1 singles player on the University of Cincinnati women’s team and won 11 titles in the annual Cincinnati Met women’s amateur tennis tournament. In high school, she was a state doubles champion in her senior season at Notre Dame Academy.
She conducts tennis lessons with players of all ages and enjoys watching her older students compete in high school matches, except when they face each other.
“That’s when it’s hard,” she said. “I just have to stand there and watch and can’t say anything.”
Hussey’s son is one of her most successful students. Austin won the boys’ state singles championship in 2013 and was state runner-up last year. He has already accepted a tennis scholarship from the University of Kentucky.
The tennis teacher is also proud of how well one of her new students has done this season. CovCath freshman Max Cook, who has been taking lessons with her for less than a year, qualified for the state tournament as the runner-up in Region 9 boys’ singles.
“He’s really worked at it,” Hussey said. “We basically just took his game apart last fall because he was kind of a hack, but a good athlete. He’s still a work in progress because he’s only been at it for a year, but I think he’s got a ton of upside.”
Later this week, Hussey will be watching her son and other students compete in the state tennis tournament at the University of Kentucky. Some of them will be among the top seeds in singles and doubles.
“There’s been a lot to cheer about this year,” Hussey said. “That’s the best part, to see the thrill and satisfaction in each of them. I get excited for them and their families.”
Last Friday, a large group of former Boone County girls’ basketball players attended a farewell ceremony for Nell Fookes, who is retiring as head coach after 30 years.
The Rebels never had a losing season with Fookes as head coach. She’s the winningest coach in Northern Kentucky high school basketball with a 686-253 career record. She took 16 teams to the 9th Region finals and won nine titles.
Two of her teams made it to the semifinals of the girls’ state tournament. Championship trophies that her Boone County teams won over the years were on display at the farewell ceremony held in the school cafeteria. Several of her former players stepped to the podium to thank Fookes for the influence she had on their lives as a teacher and coach.
Fookes thanked everyone involved with her coaching career and told her former players, “You are all like my children.”
The two local high school teams that won sectional titles in the boys’ and girls’ state team tennis tournaments learned their semifinal opponents on Monday.
Notre Dame will play Russell in a girls’ semifinal match at 5 p.m. Thursday and Covington Catholic will play Ashland Blazer in a boys’ semifinal match at 6:30 p.m. that day on the outdoor courts at the University of Kentucky.
In the other boys’ semifinal match, McCracken County will play four-time defending state champion Louisville St. Xavier at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The girls’ matchup will be two-time defending state champion Louisville Sacred Heart vs. McCracken County at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The semifinal winners will play in state championship matches on Friday with the girls at 5 p.m. and the boys at 6:30 p.m. In team tennis, opponents compete in three singles and two doubles matches. One point is awarded to the winner of each match and the first team to get three points is declared the winner.
CovCath is the first Northern Kentucky boys’ tennis team to make it to the state semifinals. Notre Dame is making its fourth appearance in five years.
The Holy Cross girls’ basketball team that won the Kentucky state tournament last March is one of 20 teams from across the country to receive an award from MaxPreps, a national high school sports website.
Holy Cross players received their MaxPreps Tour of Champions trophy last Friday during a rally in the school gym. It was presented by a member of the National Guard, which sponsors the tour.
The annual honor is reserved for only 20 of the best high school teams in the country. In order to be eligible, the team has to win a state championship and be nationally ranked by MaxPreps. Holy Cross, the first 9th Region girls’ basketball team to win a state title, was ranked No. 32 by the website. The Indians finished the season with a 38-3 record.
