By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Instead of competing for a second consecutive 9th Region title in girls singles, Ryle junior Elizabeth Hamilton agreed to play doubles with newcomer Hali Mae Laurino in this year’s tournament.
It was a gamble that produced historic results. Hamilton and Laurino became their school’s first regional doubles champions and their victory in Thursday’s finals clinched Ryle’s first-ever regional team title in tennis.
Ryle doubles partners Elizabeth Hamilton, left, and Halimae Laurino with the team’s regional championship trophy.
Ryle finished on top in the standings with 13 points, followed by tournament host Notre Dame with 11. It was the first time since 1995 that Notre Dame did not carry off the regional championship trophy.
Notre Dame’s streak of 22 consecutive regional doubles titles also came to an end. Hamilton and Laurino defeated Lauren Fley and Isabell Bailey of Notre Dame, 6-2, 6-0, in Thursday’s finals to snap that string.
“I’m glad we did this together,” Laurino said of playing doubles with Hamilton. “We bonded over the last couple weeks before the tournament. It was fun getting to know one another and then playing together.”
Before transferring to Ryle, Laurino said she played No. 1 singles for her former high school in Wisconsin. She expected to compete with Hamilton for the No. 1 singles spot in the Raiders’ lineup until their coach suggested playing doubles together.
“We saw an opportunity and decided to take it,” said Hamilton. “We thought it would be a lot of fun our junior year to go out and try to do something new.”
Ryle jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set of the regional final. Notre Dame won the next two games, but Hamilton and Laurino regained the momentum with some aggressive front-court play and won three straight games to close out the set. They cruised through the second set to take the title.
Cooper freshman Ellie Zureick
Last year, Hamilton became the first Ryle tennis player to win a regional singles title. Her move to doubles opened up an opportunity for Cooper freshman Ellie Zureick to make some school history of her own on Thursday.
Zureick defeated Covington Latin seventh-grader Sarah Watanabe, 6-1, 6-1, to become Cooper’s first regional tennis champion. Zureick was regional runner-up in 2016 and placed fourth last year.
“I was ready to play and came out and really performed well,” Zurieck said of her run to the regional title. “Sarah is a really good player and I knew it was going to be tough coming into it. My goal just to play my game and keep my head on straight and not get frustrated.”
The championship matches in the 9th Region boys tennis tournament will be played Friday at Five Seasons in Edgewood.
Covington Catholic clinched the boys team title for the 17th consecutive year by winning three of four matches in the semifinal round on Thursday. The Colonels have 14 points, followed by Villa Madonna with eight and Covington Latin with seven.
The singles final will begin at 3:30 p.m. Friday with top-seeded Toshi Watanabee of Covington Latin playing No. 2 seed Max Cook of CovCath. After that match is completed, Benito and Cristiano Trojani of CovCath will play teammates Evan Gardner and Luke McHale in the doubles final.
The top four finishers in singles and doubles in each regional tournament receive berths in the state tournament that begins May 17 at the University of Kentucky.
