We entered this season knowing we were among the better high school teams in Kentucky and that the defending champions were the strongest team in the state on paper. We and they love that sports are not played on paper. We lost two spirited dual matches to them in the regular season (including one singles match that ended with a 17-15 match tiebreak!). We each won our regions and in the random draw had a potential semifinal dual match looming.
We lined up today and neither team stacked although there is some flexibility within a non-stacking universe.* Both teams obviously studied the previous dual matches because we won 3rd singles and they won 2nd doubles despite both schools losing those courts in the previous 2 dual matches. They won second singles and led 2 courts to 1. We had chances to win the first sets of 1st singles and 1st doubles, but they claimed both opening sets. Eventually, 1st doubles concluded 7-5, 6-2 in their favor ending play on the 1st singles court which they led 7-5, 2-0. Play stopped and they advanced to the state final round 3-1. They claimed their second consecutive state title sometime in the early afternoon while I was driving on I-64 West back to Louisville.
Assessing a Season – Tough Goodbyes and Hope Springs Eternal
The first thing to say about the season’s conclusion is that we lost to an excellent and well-deserving state championship team in the semifinal round. The second thing I think is important to note is that we gave ourselves a potential path, narrow as it was, to pull an upset.
Four of our ten players in Lexington this year were 12th-graders. I’ve been an assistant coach for seven seasons, but COVID canceled most of the 2020 season. This group of graduates was the first to come through after that pandemic forced reset. They will be missed for a multitude of reasons. It will also be exciting to hear about their post-high school adventures from time to time.
As for hope, the 9th-grader I mentioned in my last column had a great day today. He got his feet wet at state-level competition yesterday with a 6-0, 6-1 2nd doubles win and was leading 6-1, 4-0 when play stopped at #2 singles. Today, he won 6-1, 6-1 at 3rd singles in a poised performance on a court we absolutely needed to go our way for an upset. We lost 3-1, but the 1 court we claimed was won by a young man with a great demeanor and tremendous potential. The coach in me can’t help but think nice things lay ahead for him and for future editions of our team.
*The UTR’s emergence in tennis has made stacking almost impossible and this is good if a dual-match format is determining high school state champions in Kentucky.
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 