Covington Latin junior Sara Watanabe found herself in another battle to advance to the girls singles championship game.
She lost in the tiebreaker last year 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (11) to the eventual state runner-up in Sacred Heart’s Ellie Eades. Watanabe came in as the top seed and a perfect 13-0 record in the semifinals this year.
She took on Sacred Heart sophomore Lilah Jane Shallcross winning the first game 6-3 then losing the second one 6-4. Watanabe came close to advancing to the state championship game, but she fell 1-0 (10-7) in the tiebreaker round.
“Winning is always important in tennis. But I was able to play my game. To be honest, in a tiebreaker, anything can happen,” Watanabe said. “Whoever plays well in that tiebreaker is going to win it. I was pretty happy with my play. It’s just a few unforced errors (made a difference). It was still really fun.”
Shallcross wound up losing in the championship game to sophomore teammate Ellie Hammond in two sets. The scores were 6-0, 7-5.
“I’m super proud of (Watanabe) because I know she’s always going to play with her heart and give it her all no matter what,” said Steph Tewes, Covington Latin head coach. “She is a top-notch player and focused. I never have to worry when I send her out there because I know that she’s going to do her thing.”
The Covington Catholic doubles team of senior Jackson Poulos and freshman Alexander Yeager took on the top-seeded team from Louisville St. Xavier in senior Tyler Bush and junior Tommy Scanlan. Bush and Scanlan won 6-4, 6-2 on their way to the state championship
“Jackson really has been the team leader, team captain this year,” said Al Hertsenberg, CovCath head coach. “Losing him next year, we have some work to do. But on the other hand, we return everybody else. We had two guys go down who didn’t qualify. But they played with us all year and they got to see what it takes and the level we want to be at. Overall, it was a really good experience.”
The matches took place at the same time at Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville. Hertsenberg watched the doubles match while one of the assistants saw second-seeded sophomore Brady Hussey play in the semifinal match against Henry Clay junior Evan Duggal. Duggal won 6-3, 6-3 before losing 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 to the eventual state champion in Louisville St. Xavier junior Eli Stephenson.
The Colonels still won their 20th straight region crown. This also marked the first time in program history a singles player and doubles team qualified for the state semifinals in the same season.