Covington Latin junior Sara Watanabe drove to the girls state singles semifinals last year as a sophomore before losing to the eventual runner-up, Ellie Eades of Sacred Heart.
Watanabe came back more determined this year earning the top seed in the state tournament with a 10-0 record. She earned a bye in the first round before winning in the second round Tuesday at the Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville.
“She plays year-round,” said Steph Tewes, Covington Latin Head Coach. “She tries tournaments out of town so that she can see players at higher skill levels just being able to come up with strategy to basically play anybody. Tennis is a small world so she knows who her toughest competition is going to be before she even plays them. She always ends the match with a smile. It always seems like she feels like playing no matter what.”
Watanabe won her third-round match-up against Elizabethtown junior Jai Garris, 6-3, 6-0. Watanabe then knocked off Louisville Male freshman Audrina Schaefer, 6-2, 6-4 to move to 13-0 on the season.
Two Sacred Heart sophomores are back in the semifinals. Watanabe takes on one of them in Lilah Jane Shallcross at 9 a.m. on Indoor Court Three back at Top Seed.
Notre Dame had one singles player and one doubles team make it to the second day of the state tournament. Notre Dame senior Martine Hue lost 6-0, 6-0 to Sacred Heart sophomore Ellie Hammond in the round of 16. The Panda doubles team of juniors Taylor Meenach and Hailey Fullenkamp lost 0-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) to Central Hardin senior Madeline Stevenson and junior Katelyn Ditto in the sweet 16.
On the boys side, the Covington Catholic Colonels have won 20 straight region crowns, but they did not see both a singles player and doubles team make the state semifinals in the same year until this year.
CovCath sophomore Brady Hussey won both matches on the second day to make it there. He lost in the round of 16 last year. Hussey knocked off Lexington Catholic freshman Jonathon Harper 6-1, 6-1 before beating Ballard senior Joshua Meza, 6-2, 6-4.
“The early match I think went pretty much as planned because he had just played (Harper) a couple weeks ago and that pretty much ended the same,” said Al Hertsenberg, CovCath Head Coach. “With this afternoon, Josh played really well. The struggle that Brady was having was getting into any kind of rhythm. The harder Brady hit it against him, the harder the ball returned. So what we tried to do was get Brady to change it up on him and hit more topspin. keep him deep, and especially hit topspin with the back hand. That seemed to work better.”
Hussey said his experience last year and in the boys basketball state tournament has helped him both days. Hussey earned the second seed and takes on fourth-seeded Lexington Henry Clay junior Evan Duggal at 9 a.m. Thursday back in Nicholasville.
The CovCath doubles team of senior Jackson Poulos and freshman Alexander Yeager won both matches to make it to the third day. They beat Elizabethtown junior Jason Towell and sophomore Ethan Ploetz 6-1, 6-1 then beat the Corbin doubles team of senior Dylan Koen and sophomore Quinn Maguet 6-4, 6-4.
“We came into this knowing that Jackson and Alex we believed were a top four seed and so looking at the draw with that Corbin team we thought was fair in knowing that they had a chance to make the semis,” Hertsenberg said. “Jackson and Alex, as the last couple weeks have gone on have really upped their approach. They’ve become more aggressive and they have so many weapons. They made good adjustments and weathered some storms in the match. All you need is that one break. That’s what they got in that second set to secure it.”
Koen and Maguet came into the tournament as the fourth-seeded doubles team. But Poulos and Yeager took care of business.
“We work really well together because we have the same play style,” Poulos said. “We play aggressive and I feel like we get to the net a lot together.”
Yeager is in his first season playing for the Colonels. But he has experience at the state tournament.
“I knew I had to up my game,” Yeager said. “So I spent a lot of time on the court grinding and things like that so I could be put in a position to get to state.”
The duo faces the top-seeded doubles team in the state in Louisville St. Xavier senior Tyler Bush and junior Tommy Scanlan in the semifinals Thursday. Match time is 9 a.m.
The other CovCath doubles team of junior Daniel Kyntchev and freshman Kalei Christensen also made the sweet 16. They lost 6-3, 6-1 to Louisville duPont Manuel senior Sahil Krishnani and junior Alex Englund.
Ryle also saw its doubles team of senior Christopher Harpum and junior Matthew Marlette make it to the round of 16. They lost to Elizabethtown sophomores Landon Hagan and Mason Baldwin 6-3, 6-2.