By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic won the inaugural state tournament for boys tennis teams with a 3-0 victory over McCracken County in the championship final on Tuesday afternoon at the University of Kentucky.
The teams played five matches — three singles and two doubles — and CovCath won three of them to take the title. Last year, the Colonels won their first state championship under a format that awarded teams points for matches won in singles and doubles at the state tournament.
“It was a really cool feeling,” CovCath senior Brady Hussey said of winning the first team tournament. “Everybody on our team, we’re so close, and our families are close. Everyone wanted it this year and we got it.”
In the state final on Tuesday, Hussey won his No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-0, and juniors Kalei Christensen and Alex Yeager posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory in No. 1 doubles.
The team’s other victory came in No. 2 doubles with a 6-0, 6-1 decision by freshmen Jacob Kramer and Will Tribble.
Hussey’s younger brother, Blake, and Ryan Scheper were the other two singles players for CovCath. Their matches was discontinued after their teammates got three wins.
Last week, Christensen and Yeager won the state doubles title for the second straight year and Hussey was state runner-up in singles. Hussey, who recently made a commitment with the University of Dayton, reached the state semifinals in singles as a sophomore and junior.
He said finishing his high school career on a state championship team was “a good way to go out.”
“They definitely helped win it all,” Hussey said of his teammates. “They had my back and had some pretty big wins. We were all doing it for each other.”
In the semifinal round on Tuesday morning, CovCath defeated Louisville St. Xavier, 3-1, with victories in two doubles and one singles match. St. Xavier had won 29 boys state titles under the previous format.
The only semifinal match that wasn’t completed was No. 1 singles. Hussey won the first set, 7-5, and had a 2-0 lead in the second set when the match was discontinued after CovCath picked up its third victory in another match.
“It was definitely a finals feeling playing St X in the semifinals,” Hussey said. “It was a good match and awesome to win the first team (tournament) match against them since it was changed.”
In the girls team tennis tournament, Louisville Sacred Heart defeated Corbin, 3-0, in the championship final on Tuesday. Notre Dame was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
BOYS TENNIS TEAM STATE TOURNAMENT
Championship — Covington 3, McCracken County 0
No. 1 singles — Brady Hussey (CC) def. Aaron Lundberg (MC), 6-1, 6-0.
No. 1 doubles — Kalei Christensen/Alex Yeager (CC) def. Hutch Crabtree/Hayden Taylor (MC), 6-2, 6-0.
No. 2 doubles — Jacob Kramer/Will Tribble (CC) def. Conner Campbell/Jack Thompson (MC), 6-0, 6-1.
Semifinal — Covington Catholic 3, Louisville St. Xavier 1
No. 2 singles — Alex Yeager (CC) def. Mac Bowman (StX), 6-0, 6-0.
No. 3 singles — Jacob Ray (StX) def. Owen Erpenbeck (CC), 6-1, 6-1.
No. 1 doubles — Kalei Christensen/Blake Hussey (CC) def. Aditya Shah/Walker Bush, 7-5, 6-2.
No. 2 doubles — Jacob Kramer/Will Tribble (CC) def. Henry Wagner/Nolin Underhill (StX), 6-3, 6-1.