The three Covington Catholic tennis players who swept last week’s individual titles kept the Colonels on track for a third straight KHSAA team title on Tuesday.
CovCath advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals at the University of Kentucky with a 3-1 first-round win over Louisville St. Xavier at Sayre Athletic Complex and a 3-0 quarterfinal shutout of Central Hardin. The Colonels meet North Oldham at 10:15 a.m. and potentially Owensboro Catholic or Paul Laurence Dunbar for the title at 1:30 p.m.
The constant in CovCath’s postseason has been easy to spot: senior singles champion Alex Yeager and doubles title winners Blake Hussey and Kalei Christensen. Their combined six victories clinched both matches Tuesday.
“Our guys, they’re not really shaken by anything,” CovCath coach Al Hertsenberg said. “They very much have a business day mentality when it comes to all this.”
What you immediately notice about Yeager is his patience on court.
“He’s so hard to beat because he’s still level-headed and he figures you out and comes up with a game plan as a match goes on,” Hertsenberg said. “He’s fun to watch.”
Hussey concentrated on doubles most of the last three weeks, but Hertsenberg wasn’t worried about switching to singles.
“To practice the last three weeks specifically on doubles and now throwing him in singles just shows you he’s pretty creative also on figuring out how pick apart an opponent,” Hertsenberg said.
Hertsenberg limited Christensen’s singles at least partly because of frequent rainouts.
“The other part (was) we didn’t need him because we had Blake there behind Alex,” Hertsenberg said.
In the first round, Yeager defeated Aditja Shah, 6-1, 6-2, Hussey beat Evan Hammond, 6-1, 6-4, and Christensen took down Jackson Kempf, 7-5, 6-1.
Yeager’s one-word strategy against Shah: solid.
“Just to play solid, what I’ve been doing all last week, and then this week,” Yeager said.
Christensen struggled in the first set – he led 3-0 and 4-1.
“I just lost focus,” Christensen said. “It wasn’t my best day showing.”
Hussey controlled the points in the first set against Hammond. In the second set, not as much. He led 4-1 before dropping the next three games.
“I feel like first set … I was stepping into the net more,” Hussey said. “And I got down in the second set, and I started serving and volleying.”
St. Xavier’s lone win came in No. 2 doubles. The Tigers’ Jacob Ray and Hoyt Tegue beat Ben Unkraut and Nick Wagner, 6-0, 6-1.
Notre Dame falls
The Pandas experienced both ends of a 3-0 shutout – they knocked off Johnson Central in the first round and lost to Greenwood.
“We have sort of a young team,” coach Lyndsey Maynard said. “We had six returners and five new players this year. The five new players get to be exposed to what the state is like and what’s out there … We knew Greenwood was a very strong team.”
Against Johnson Central, Malia Christensen won in No. 3 singles over Jersey Daniels, 6-0, 6-0. In No. 1 doubles, Grace Summe and Lila Harris beat Makayla Conn and Jaycee Baker, 6-0, 6-0, and Eva Tully and Taylor Maynard knocked off Jenna Sammons and Halle Spriggs, 6-0.
Greenwood’s Arden Dethridge beat Lil Berling in No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0. Chloe Dickens beat Summe, 6-0, 6-0, and Aisha Merchant and Meredyn Law beat Christensen and Kate Harris, 6-0, 6-2.