District girls tennis
Where: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason
When: Early rounds today; semifinals and finals Saturday
Area qualifiers
Division I
Singles: Tecumseh — Taylor Culbertson, senior
Division II
Singles: Kenton Ridge — Ashley Wallace, senior; Northeastern — Kaleigh Cummins, junior
Doubles: Kenton Ridge — Olivia Zink, senior, and Kylie Reed, senior; Northwestern — Addie Smith, sophomore, and Allison Sigler, junior
After the celebration at Dairy Queen ended, Kenton Ridge High School girls tennis coach Sherri Bennett lugged the league championship trophy back to the team bus.
“We passed it around the bus,” Bennett said, laughing. “It’s heavy.”
It was nothing compared to the burden that was lifted. After 17 seasons of waiting, the Cougars won their first league championship in Bennett’s tenure. By Bennett’s estimate Kenton Ridge has finished second in the league tournament about 10 times.
“It was a nail-biting day, but it was a good day,” Bennett said of the victory on Sept. 25.
She’s hoping for another today at the Division II district tournament in Mason. Seniors Ashley Wallace (singles) and Olivia Zink and Kylie Reed (doubles) are among the area hopefuls battling for a spot in next week’s state championship.
Joining them in D-II are Northeastern junior Kaleigh Cummins and the Northwestern doubles team of sophomore Addie Smith and junior Allison Sigler. Tecumseh senior Taylor Culbertson is the area’s lone representative in D-I.
The early rounds start today with the semifinals and finals on Saturday. All matches are at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, host of the Western & Southern Open and the world’s top tennis players.
“Playing down at the Western & Southern site is wonderful in itself,” Bennett said. “It’s going to be exciting for them. It’s going to be intimidating. To get to district is a great thing.”
Wallace, for one, will soak up the atmosphere. She came up one win shy of qualifying in doubles as a sophomore and rolled her ankle in singles last year.
“I think as long as she goes in with a positive attitude and plays 100 percent she’s going to do fairly well,” Bennett said. “She was excited because this is her goal. Anything can happen.”
Just as it did at the CBC championships. KR led Tippecanoe 12-10 after the regular season based on league wins. The Cougars edged the Red Devils 18-15 in the CBC tournament for the 30-25 overall victory.
Among notable matches, Hannah Zawada won the second singles title despite rolling her ankle in the first set of the title match. Cassandra Freshour avenged a regular-season loss to claim the third singles title in three sets.
Among other area CBC champions, Tecumseh’s Culbertson won first singles and repeated as the league’s athlete of the year. Northwestern’s Smith and Sigler won the first doubles title and Northwestern junior Hannah Miller and sophomore Destinee Wilson claimed the second singles championship.
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