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BY DEAN FOX
MURFREESBORO – Knoxville Catholic’s run of girls tennis state championships came to end, but the effort showed the pluck of the Irish.
Baylor snapped Knoxville Catholic’s four-year championship run Wednesday, defeating the Fighting Irish 4-1 at the Adams Tennis Complex to capture the Division II-AA girls tennis state title.
The Red Raiders clinched the match with a dominant showing in singles, winning four of the six courts. Claudia Finlay delivered the final blow, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Mary Caroline Ellis at the No. 6 position to seal the team title and start the celebration.
“I’m really proud of our team,” senior Lillian Murphy, a Furman signee who won both her matches on Wednesday. “From the beginning of the season to the end of the season, I’ve seen so much growth, especially from Abby Hammontree and Nalla Webb and my sister, Lauren Murphy. I’ve seen them rise to the ocassion.”
Catholic coach Rusty Morris agreed.
“You never want to just say you’re happy to be here, especially when you think you can win,” Morris said, “but we had to overcome a lot this year. We had a lot of new players, and we saw them step up and win big matches.”
Baylor’s Sloan Proffitt and Evie Mahler also notched straight-set singles victories, with Proffitt defeating Karenna Thurman 6-1, 6-1 and Mahler topping Nalla Webb 6-4, 6-0. Millie Beukes added another singles win for the Red Raiders, rallying after a close first set to take down Lauren Murphy 6-4, 1-0 (retired)
Catholic entered the final seeking its fifth consecutive state championship but quickly fell behind in singles. Their lone point came at the top spot, where Lillian Murphy defeated Margarette Berdy 6-1, 6-1. Murphy and her sister Lauren also picked up a convincing 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles, but by then, Baylor was in control.
It was Baylor’s first title since winning nine in a row from 2011-2019.
When the season began, Knoxville Catholic was recovering from heavy graduation losses, and the forecast was challenging. But it rose to the occasion before falling just shy.
“We had two girls come up who had never experienced high school tennis or had been to state before, and those are hard shoes to fill,” Lillian Murphy said. “At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know where we’d be. … I think we had a good showing. Sometimes things don’t go your way, and that’s tennis.”
Morris was quick to credit Baylor.
“Baylor’s suffered at our hands the last four years,” he said. “They played well today. Our girls fought as hard as they could.”
CAK BOYS FALL TO LAUSANNE
The Christian Academy of Knoxville boys tennis team finished runner-up for the second time in three years, falling to Lausanne 4-1 on Wednesday. Lausanne has now won four consecutive state titles in boys team tennis.
CAK has won five boys team tennis titles but none since 2017.