By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Notre Dame Academy won more 9th Region girls tennis tournaments than any other team when points were awarded for victories in singles and doubles matches to determine the overall champion. This week, the Pandas added another region title to their collection by winning three matches during a single-elimination team tournament that was introduced this season.
In each round, teams played three singles and two double matches and needed victories in three of them to advance. Notre Dame took the title with a 3-2 win over Ryle in Wednesday’s final on the Pandas’ home courts.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match and my girls were ready to go battle,” said Notre Dame coach Lyndsey Maynard. “When it came down to the last match, the girls persevered, showed how much heart they had and made it an exciting win.”
The deciding match was No. 2 singles and Notre Dame senior Clare Shay got past Ryle junior Kyah Andros, 12-10, in a tense third-set tiebreaker.
Andros had evened the match with a 6-1 win in the second set, but Shay shook off that setback and came away with the win.
The other two singles matches were won by Ryle players Niveditha Selvaraju and Avery Love by matching scores of 6-3, 6-1. Last week, they won the 9th Region girls doubles title together.
Notre Dame’s other two victories came in doubles. Lucy Bailey and Kate Harris got a 6-0, 6-1 decision at No. 1 and Grace Summe and Lil Berling won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2.
Notre Dame is one of 16 region champions that will compete in the first girls state team tournament June 3-4 at Berea College. The Pandas’ first-round opponent will be 16th Region champion Ashland Blazer.
State tournaments for singles and doubles will be played May 28-30 at multiple sites. All boys matches will be at the University of Kentucky. The opening rounds of the girls tournament will be played at Eastern Kentucky University for singles and Berea College for doubles with all the final rounds at UK.
Simon Kenton girls basketball coach hired by NKU as assistant
Brenden Stowers is stepping down as head coach of the Simon Kenton girls basketball team to become an assistant under Jeff Hans, the new head coach of the Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team.
Stowers took charge of the Simon Kenton program in 2022 after spending several years as an assistant for his father, Jeff. The Pioneers won the 2023 8th Region title in Brenden’s first year as head coach and finished with a 19-15 record. Last season, the team posted a 21-11 record with underclassmen getting most of the playing time.
As a former player and assistant coach on the NKU men’s basketball team, Brenden is looking forward to returning to the Norse athletic department. His father is also a former NKU basketball player.
“Black and gold runs in my family’s blood,” he said, referring to the NKU school colors, “and the chance to give back to this university was a no-brainer decision for me and my family. I am excited to get started and help Jeff take this program to a new level.”
Hans was hired as NKU’s head coach in April. He compiled a 339-42 record at Thomas More University, where his teams won three national championships – two in NCAA Division III and one in NAIA. He’s taking over an NKU team that had a 11-20 record last season.
“It is great to have Brenden back in the Norse family,” Hans said. “Brenden excels in the X’s and O’s and will be instrumental in our player development. He is a hard worker that has a passion for NKU and will help us be successful on the court and in the classroom.”
Hans also hired Molly Bateman and Gabby Johnson as assistant coaches. Bateman was an assistant at Xavier the last three years. Johnson spent three years as an NKU assistant coach early in her career and was an assistant at South Dakota the last two seasons.
Ryle senior sets state’s highest mark in pole vault at region meet
Ryle senior Ethan Southerland set the state’s highest mark in the pole vault this season when he cleared 15 feet, 7 inches during the Class 3A, Region 5 track and field meet on Tuesday at Scott.
Southerland won the event when he was the only competitor to clear 13 feet. After reaching 14 feet, 6 inches and 15 feet on second attempts, he crossed the bar at 15 feet, 7 inches on his next vault.
He had the bar raised to 16 feet, but failed on three attempts at that height. The state record is 16 feet, 3 inches set by Wyatt Stewart of Madison Central at the 2022 Class 3A state meet.
Current state leaders in girls statewide rankings on the milesplit.com website include Ryle senior Viktoriya Emelianova in the shot put (42 feet, 8.5 inches) and the Campbell County girls 4×800 relay team (9:34.27).
Neither of them surpassed those marks Tuesday when they won those events at the Region 5 meet. Emelianova is still recovering from a broken ankle, but she had a winning mark of 37 feet, 10.5 inches in the shot put.
Villa Madonna names new head coach for girls basketball team
Villa Madonna Academy has named Tony Fields as the new girls varsity basketball coach. He is currently head softball coach for the Vikings and will continue in that role as well.
A graduate of Lloyd High School and Northern Kentucky University, Fields has coached for more than 35 years in middle and high school sports in the area. He was a boys assistant coach at Villa Madonna for two years.
He’s taking charge of a girls basketball team that finished 6-21, 4-26 and 4-23 the last three seasons under former head coach Katie Kortekamp. The last time the Vikings had a winning season was 2015-16 when they posted an 18-13 record.