GIRLS TENNIS: Sutton hopes for a hat-trick | Sports

Sutton ended his junior season with a straight loss to North Oldhams Emma Beavin in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

It was his only loss of the season.

I learned a lot, said Sutton after the loss. I learned that I have to go back to the drawing board, get a little better and come back next season and see what I can do. I think I can improve and go a little further next year.

Sutton will be joined by Senator Caroline Vowels; juniors Katelyn Edwards, Jessica Antele, Taylor Brock, Jazmin Erickson, Briana Sharps and Alei Tellez; and seventh grade students Mallory Mathews and Katie Wilcoxson.

The Lady Trojans, under first-year coach Dan Duncan, have won the last three regional championships.

q ELIZABETHTOWN. Seniors Anastasia Newsome and Ann Bell and junior Abby Henson lead the Lady Panthers.

Bell and Henson won the 5th regional doubles championship last season, while Newsome finished second in the singles competition.

Bell and Henson reached the knockout stages of the state tournament, where they lost to potential state champions.

Newsome was defeated in the second round of the state event.

Our goals are consistent from season to season, said coach Karen Henson. We want to see improvement from game to game, qualify as many states as possible and win the region. We also want to continue to develop our program for the future.

We try to involve the kids in college and get them as much experience as possible during the season. Then we like the extra work that so many of our players put in off season to be ready to contribute when it’s their turn.

The trio will be joined by seniors Meg Fiepke, Megan Flynn and Heather Mooney; juniors Ashton Bailey and Natalie Schory; sophomores Ella Thompson and Eva Schmid; and freshmen Jai Garris and Liz Hanson.

I think our greatest strength in the girls is our depth this season, said coach Henson. We haven’t lost any of our starters from last season. This team tied points with North but lost the championship as a percentage of games won by a very narrow margin.

Newsome will be joined on the singles list by Garris.

I’m out of breath, said Henson. She goes for every hit and has incredible legal coverage. We think these two will push each other and make a deep run for us if we can play. (Ann Bell and Abby Henson) would certainly like the chance to defend their region title from last year.

Bailey and Fiepke will be the No. 2 doubles team.

Ashton and Meg were already starting to gel as a double team in training and our pre-season preseason games have been postponed, said Henson. So we know they can take over and be ready to help our team if we can play.

It is really all these children who want to do, go out and compete. It is difficult for all athletes at this stage not to do what they love. And for seniors, they may or may not have that chance again. It’s hard to think about what could have been for our players and our team if we don’t play at all this season.

q CENTRAL HARDIN. First-year coach Jody Bingham is new to the Lady Bruins, but not new to the game, and has a lot of talent at his disposal.

“Our goal is to win a regional team conference and championship,” said Bingham, who also added that it would be a first to win a regional title. Our goal is to win all individual and double titles. We plan to send our six daughters to the KHSAA state tournament (five qualified last year). If the six players participate in the KHSAA tournament, we want to think that we have an outside chance for a state championship.

Freshman Hadley Jones returns after making the state tournament in first year.

Seniors Sarah Jiranek and Mallory Vowels, who lost in the knockout stages of the doubles round, and senior Riley Reed, who teamed up with graduate Tatum Cox a year ago, also participated in the state event la last season. They lost in the first round of doubles.

Our strength is that we are dismissing four players who were state qualifiers last year, said Bingham. Our depth is incredible because we have 25 girls and we could play about eight to nine girls in the regional tournament. Our strength is that we are dismissing 5 out of 6 players, including the two single players ranked among the top four in the region. Hadley will be joined by Annie Yates, who was a conference semifinalist last season. Jones and Yates are much improved.

KK Ditto (first-year student), Emmi Redford (second-year student), Maddie Stevenson (second-year student) and Laci Thomas (first-year student) are looking to fight for single and double positions.

To complete the list, Jenna Reynolds, senior; second student Reagan Reed; freshman McKenna Cox; and Emory Jones, eighth grade student.

There are no juniors in the program.

q JOHN HARDIN. The Lady Bulldogs have seven seniors on the list of Brooke Graham, Erin McGlone, Briana Harness, Abigail Coleman, Faetra Bivins, Dulce Diaz and Brittany Ross.

Brooke Graham will return to first place in singles where she played most of the season last year, said coach Mike McCune. I think she has the potential to have a solid senior year and is one of the hardest working players I have ever coached. Sarah Abdellatif (sophomore) will move to singles 2 after playing singles 3 last year where she has shown steady improvement throughout the past season.

Summer McCune (sophomore) and Briana Harness were seeded at last year’s regional tournament and returned to doubles # 1. They were a very competitive game away from the state tournament the last season when they lost to the quarterfinals of the regional tournament. They should be our best duo again this year and have the potential to be very strong and have a chance to make noise again in the regional tournament this season. Dionna Morgan (sophomore) and Bailey Lowe (sophomore) are back as No. 2 doubles team this season. The number 3 singles spot will likely vary throughout the season and may change from match to match.

We didn’t have any senior graduates last season in the boys or girls teams, so we have several players returning from last season with a lot of experience, so that’s a big plus for us. I hope this experience will carry us through the season and help us through many difficult games.

q MEADE COUNTY. The Lady Waves have 14 players on the roster and only one senior in Autumn Griffin.

Our team of girls is very new and inexperienced. We have lost several seniors to the team in recent years, said coach Rob Miller. Our best returns from last year are Cara Miller (sophomore) and Ashton Wardrip (junior). They both bring the experience they will need this year. I think they will be strong competitors in the region, but more importantly, will give us the leadership that will be needed within the team.

We have several girls on the team who are new to tennis, but who work extremely hard and are athletic. I have been impressed with the progress made since the start of the season. I know they will quickly bounce back after this break from coronavirus.

To complete the training, juniors Molly Aebersold, Madelyn Collard, Zoey McCaffrey and Kelli White; second-year students Alex Kieder, Loren Littrell and Kacie Ray; freshmen Taryn Campbell and Natalie Nelson; the eighth Annabel Babb grader; and seventh student Peyton Bradley.

q LARUE COUNTY. Under the guidance of coach Allison Elmore, the Lady Hawks have elders Ariana Silva, Holly Yingling, Maggie Cecil and Kirsten Harper; Olivia Hazelwood junior; and sophomore Lacey Cecil.

q FORT KNOX. Under coach Kristie Carrasquillo, the Lady Eagles have senior Rebecca Boulware; Madeline Hill junior; sophomore Allison McCreary; freshman Thaddious Brown; eighth grade students Daniela Huizar and Kristen McCreary; and Natalie Zollinger, seventh grade student.