Northern Kentucky will have a wide variety of representation at the KHSAA state tennis tournament in Lexington.
Tennis players from 13 different high schools in Northern Kentucky will be competing in the state tournament.
The individual state tennis tournament for boys and girls singles and doubles will be played May 27-29 in Lexington at the University of Kentucky and various sites. The boys and girls team championships follow June 3-4, also in Lexington.
Covington Catholic breezed through the boys’ individual singles and doubles titles in the 9th Region. Kalei Christensen and Blake Hussey won the doubles titles without dropping a game until the championship match when they faced their teammates William Tribble and Jacob Kramer, winning the match 6-2, 7-6 (5). Alex Yeager was just as dominant in the boys’ singles. He dropped six games total throughout the whole tournament, defeating Villa Madonna’s Shayaan Ahmad in the championship, 6-0, 4-1 (retired). The Colonels also were team champs with wins over Conner (3-0), Ryle (3-0) and Beechwood (3-0). It was Covington Catholic’s 23rd consecutive region title.
The Colonels face St. Xavier in the first round of the state tournament on June 3.
The individual girls’ singles title in the 9th Region was won by Cooper’s Kayla Johnson and the doubles title by Ryle’s Avery Love and Niveditha Salvaraju. Johnson took down Beechwood’s Sadie Jones in a title rematch from last year, 6-4, 6-3 to repeat as region champ. Love and Salvaraju also repeated, defeating Dixie Heights’ Cassidy Derry and Isabella Norvell, 6-2, 6-1.
Notre Dame Academy won the 9th Region team championship with wins over Villa Madonna (3-0), Highlands (3-0) and Ryle (3-1).
The Pandas face the 15th Region winner in the first round of the state tournament on June 3.
A complete list of local state tournament qualifiers is below:
8th Region boys
Singles — Finlay Mackay (Walton-Verona)
8th Region girls
Doubles — Annika Derks and Natalie Lukey (Simon Kenton), Gabrielle Browning and Hope Dupin (Simon Kenton)
9th Region boys
Singles — Alex Yeager (Covington Catholic), Shayaan Ahmad (Villa Madonna), Naveeth Selveraju (Ryle) and Neel Reddy (Beechwood)
Doubles — Kalei Christensen and Blake Hussey (Covington Catholic), William Tribble and Jacob Kramer (Covington Catholic), Louis Schlosser and Isaac Macke (Beechwood), Griffen Derry and Colin McClure (Dixie Heights)
9th Region girls
Singles — Kayla Johnson (Cooper), Sadie Jones (Beechwood), Julia Lyons (Villa Madonna), Eva Greene (Newport Central Catholic)
Doubles — Avery Love and Niveditha Salvarju (Ryle), Cassidy Derry and Isabella Norvell (Dixie Heights), Isabella McElwee and Malia Christensen (Notre Dame), Maggie Kute and Lyndsey Payne (St. Henry)
10th Region boys
Doubles — Chris Wells and Cameron Wells (Campbell County)
10th Region girls
Singles — Rylee Ritter (Campbell County), Kaylin Lovell (Scott)