Lexington, Ky. — The Lawrence Co. boys lost to McCracken Co. in the first round of the tennis team state tournament held at the University of Kentucky.
L to R Coach Joey McClanahan, Junior Landon Frazier, Sophomore Alex DeSario, Sophomore Cayden Sweeney, Sophomore Aiden Mynhier, Senior Max Levefer, Freshman Chase Kendrick Senior Kaine Music and Coach Sarah Simpson
The state tournament for tennis was held in two parts. The first part was the individual tournament for boys and girls that made the final four of their respective region tournaments in singles and doubles. Lawrence County had 4 boys qualify, Chase Kendrick and Blake Maynard in singles and Alex DeSario and Cayden Sweeney in doubles. The girls were represented by two seniors Kennedy Gauze, in her fourth state appearance and Riley Sammons in her first, both in singles.
Unfortunately, none of the Bulldogs made it past the first round. Several had to play players and teams highly ranked in the state. Blake Maynard played the number one boy in the state from St. Xavier, a private school in Louisville. Kennedy Gauze split sets with her opponent and lost 11-9 in the third set super tie-break.
Chase Kendrick returns a shot in the state tournament.
The second part of the state tournament is a team event. Lawrence County’s girls lost in the regional championships to Johnson Central, but the boys won their regional team tournament against Pikeville and were put in a 16 team bracket like other sports do.
Lawrence County drew McCracken County, from extreme Western KY. On paper it looked like McCracken had a team full of higher ranked players which made them deep, an advantage in playing 7 players against other teams.
When play started, all five matches, 3 singles and 2 doubles went on at the same time. Once a team won 3 of the 5 matches, play was stopped in the other matches. Lawrence County had an unfortunate injury when Seniors doubles team of Kaine Music and Max Lefever had to withdraw from their match in just the second game when Music injured his knee. Music was obviously disappointed to end the match that way and felt he and his partner had a good match up.
The Sophomore team of Aiden Mynhier and Cayden Sweeney played the best players from McCraken and won a game in two sets. A couple of Lawrence County’s top players were not able to make the trip and it forced coach McClanahan to make some last minute lineup changes.
The third seed singles, Junior Landon Frazier, lost his match and that gave McCraken County the 3 points they needed to end the match. The number 2 singles match with Sophomore Alex DeSario was getting close in the second set and Freshman Chase Kendrick was actually leading in the second set after winning the first set. McCracken County advanced all the way to the finals, beating Ashland in the semi-finals and losing to Covington Catholic in the finals.
Alex DeSario serves in the state tournament against McCracken Co.
Lawrence Co. Coach Joey McClanahan
COACH’S COMMENTS
“…All of my kids played very well. I was impressed with how they traded shots with some very talented athletes. In each game we won points and pushed several to deuce, but our opponents were always a couple points better in each game and that’s what decided each match. I’m really proud how our players continue to represent Lawrence County and Eastern KY in the state tournament and I expect we will be able to give some of the top players a real run for their money in the next few years.”
“…,McCraken County did not have a weak spot in their lineup, yet our boys were still finding ways to win some games and I know we would’ve had at least one win. Had we had our full roster and catch a couple of breaks here and there, I think we could have matched up a bit more equally to a team that made it to the finals! I am so proud of the players that stepped up and gave it all they could in their teammates absence. The team event gives smaller schools a chance to stand toe to toe with the ‘big city’ schools and you saw a team from Western Kentucky make to the end. That gives me hope for next season. We’ll be back!”
