GIRLS TENNIS

Congratulations to junior, Emily Mallory and 6th grader, Ellie Gerlach for making it to the semifinal round at the Kentucky High School State Tennis tournament this past weekend in Lexington.

By finishing as one of the top 4 girls' doubles teams in the state, Emily and Ellie continued the strong tradition of excellence that Christian Academy has developed in tennis at the regional and state level. The doubles tandem, who were runners up in the Region 7 tournament, were the #6 seeds going into the tournament, but that was just the beginning.

"Going into the tournament, the girls felt they were one of the better teams in the state having beaten the #2 seed from Lexington Christian in the regular season and only losing 7-6, 7-5 to the eventual state champion, Sacred Heart in the regional final." said coach Jeff Mallory.

"By only getting the 6th seed, the girls felt as though they had something to prove.......which they did, especially in the quarterfinals when they defeated the #3 seed from Notre Dame, 6-0, 6-2".

Unfortunately, the rematch with Lexington Christian proved to be the end of the season on Saturday morning in the semifinals, with the girls losing a closely fought match 7-5, 6-2.

Results from the State Tournament:

Round of 64: Mallory/Gerlach defeated Lexington Catholic 6-0,6-1 Round of 32: Mallory/Gerlach defeated Boyd County 6-1,6-0 Round of 16: Mallory/Gerlach defeated Lone Oak 6- 2,6-4 Quarterfinals: Mallory/Gerlach defeated Notre Dame 6-0,6-2 Semifinals: Mallory/Gerlach lost to Lexington Christian 7-5,6-2

The 2008 girls’ tennis team recorded another solid season in the midst of tough competition. In addition to a strong regular season (7- 2), the team placed 4th in the Region 7 tournament behind Sacred Heart , Assumption and Collegiate. "This team was definitely one of the most talented in the 6 years that I have coached" said coach Jeff Mallory. "Besides their tennis skills, I was especially pleased with their work ethic, attitude, and obvious Christian character. We also will graduate no seniors, and thus should be highly competitive within the region and state again next year."

In addition to the team's strong finish in the regional and state tournament, other key individual highlights of the season were: - great 3-2 upset wins over Elizabethtown and KCD - Emily Mallory and Ellie Gerlach Region 7 Doubles runner up and semifinalists at State tournament! - #2 Doubles team of Haley Rose and Rachael Jessee made it to the quarterfinals of the regional tournament - Singles players Anna Rydeen, Becky Ewing and Tannis Bachman has solid seasons with multiple key wins - Sisters Mackenzie and Kirsten Soldan had wins at both singles and doubles in their first year of varsity competition

Jeff Mallory, Coach