By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The four seniors on the Notre Dame tennis team didn’t seem upset after their high school careers ended Friday with a 3-0 loss to McCracken County in the championship final of the girls’ state team tennis tournament.
They all smiled with satisfaction as they posed for photos with the state runner-up trophy after the match that was played on the indoor courts at the University of Kentucky tennis complex due to a rain shower.
“We didn’t win it, but we went down swinging,” Notre Dame senior Emma Hughes said of her team’s thrilling playoff run that included tie-breaker wins in two sectional matches and the state semifinals.
Members of the state girls’ tennis runnersup Notre Dame posed with their trophy after falling to McCracken County in the title match (Jackson Sports Photography)
“I like how we got here,” said senior Abigail Kennedy. “It took a lot from the whole team. Everyone played doubles or singles so it really took the entire team, not just
a few players.”
In the championship final of the boys’ team tournament that was played Friday on the outdoor courts at UK, Louisville St. Xavier defeated Covington Catholic, 3-0, to take the title for the fifth consecutive season.
It was the first time CovCath reached the state final, but the Colonels weren’t able to pull off an upset against the highly talented perennial power from Louisville.
“To lose to a team like St X, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said CovCath coach Al Hertsenberg. “I couldn’t be more proud of (our) group for this season. The way they played the regional and the sectional and represented themselves in this (state) tournament makes Covington Catholic proud and all of our supports proud. In my 25 years as coach, I haven’t had anything better than this.”
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.
McCracken County won matches in No. 1 and No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles to take the girls’ title. St. Xavier’s victories in the boys’ final came in No. 2 and No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles. All of the matches were decided in two sets.
While Notre Dame had four seniors among the seven players on its team, CovCath will only lose No. 1 singles player Austin Hussey and No. 1 doubles player Grant Woodcock to graduation.
“This was a great experience for our team and we’re going to do everything we can to prepare for next year and get back here,” coach Hertsenberg said.
Semifinal matches in the singles and doubles brackets for boys and girls were also played Saturday at the UK complex.
CovCath senior Austin Hussey, who won the state singles title two years ago, lost in the semifinals Saturday at UK (Jackson Sports Photography)
Hussey, the No. 2 seed in boys’ singles, won each of his first four matches in straight sets and he played y No. 4 seed Drew Singerman of Louisville St. Xavier in the semifinals.
Highlands senior Meredith Laskey made it to the semifinals in girls’ singles as the No. 2 seed and she faced Lexington Sayre senior Madeline Rolph in a semifinal match.
Both were eliminated as Hussey lost to Singerman of in a tiebreaker and Laskey was defeated by Rolph in straight sets.
Laskey, a seven-time state qualifier as Region 10 singles champion, was trying to become the first Northern Kentucky player to win a state title in girls’ singles. Hussey won the boys’ singles title in 2013 and lost in the championship match last year.
Results from the state semifinal and championship matches will be posted on khsaa.org/sports/spring/tennis/
