By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Conner senior Natalie Elleman pulled out an 11-9 win in a tiebreaker set to defeat top-seeded Kay Johnson of Cooper in the 9th Region girls tennis singles final on Monday at Boone Woods Park.
Johnson, the region singles champion the last two years, took the first set, 6-2, in Monday’s match. But Elleman won the second set, 7-6, with a 7-3 tiebreaker and went on to complete the upset.
Elleman entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed. She defeated No. 2 Lilliana Berling of Notre Dame, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, in the semifinals to reach the championship match for the first time.
In the doubles final, Avery Love and Niveditha Salvaraju of Ryle claimed their third straight title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Isabella Mcelwee and Malia Christiansen of Notre Dame.
Love and Salvaraju won all four of their region tournament matches in straight sets for the second consecutive year. This was the first time Mcelwee and Christiansen made it to the region final.
The semifinalists in Region 9 girls singles and doubles advance to a semi-state tournament on May 20 at Lexington Sayre High School. Those brackets will also include semifinalists from Regions 10, 11, and 12.
In other high school tournament action on Monday, Dixie Heights defeated Ryle, 9-7, in the District 5 boys lacrosse final and the Ryle boys volleyball team defeated Powell County, 3-0, in the first round of the state playoffs.
Ryle (18-3) advances to the volleyball state quarterfinals and will take on undefeated defending state champion Louisville St. Xavier (27-0) at 11 a.m. Friday at George Rogers Clark in Winchester.
In lacrosse, Dixie Heights and Ryle will play the Region 7 winner and runner-up in the opening round of the state tournament on Wednesday.
Newport baseball team ends 79-game losing streak
The Newport baseball team snapped a 79-game losing streak dating back to the 2022 season with an 8-5 win over Holmes last Friday.
The Wildcats lost their first 19 games this season before getting the long-awaited victory. They scored a season-high eight runs on 10 hits and had 10 stolen bases. The winning pitcher was junior Adam Kuebel, who gave up five runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.
The team’s leading hitter was senior Donovan Avila-Macario, going 3-for-4 with one RBI. Sean Hurry had a double and home run. Ethan Koster had two hits, two stolen bases and scored twice.
Newport lost the last three games in the 2022 season. After forfeiting its first game in 2023, the team cancelled the rest of that season due to a lack of players. The Wildcats restored the varsity team under coach Ian Plank and went 0-25 and 0-31 the last two years.
During the team’s 0-19 start this season, 13 games ended early because of the 10-run mercy rule. Newport started the final week of the regular season with a 15-0 loss to Ludlow in three innings on Monday.
Highlands grad joins Morehead women’s basketball team
Highlands graduate Marissa Green has joined the Morehead State University women’s basketball team through the transfer portal.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore played for the University of Illinois-Chicago last season. She averaged 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 14 games, including one as a starter.
Green finished her high school career with more than 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for Highlands. In her senior season, she 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds and shot 63.4 percent from the field.
Last season, Morehead State posted an 18-15 record that includes a loss in the first round of the WNIT post-season tournament. The Eagles placed fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 13-7 mark.