Allie Faulkner with her parents, Eric and Sharon Faulkner
BY DAVE LINK
MURFREESBORO — Allie Faulkner of Christian Academy of Knoxville and Lillie Murphy of Catholic rolled to straight-set victories Friday morning and won state singles championships at the Adams Tennis Complex.
Both players are juniors.
Lillie Murphy with her parents, Paul and Whitney Murphy, and her sister, Lauren Murphy (far right)
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Faulkner defeated freshman Noor Sandhu of Lausanne Collegiate School of Memphis 6-1, 6-1 in the Division II-A final, winning her fourth straight singles title and tying a state record.
Webb School of Knoxville’s Anna Catharine Feaster won fourconsecutive titles from 2011-14 before going to play at Davidson.
“That was definitely the goal,” Faulkner said, “but I knew that I had been in the situation three times before so I knew what the pressure would be like, and she had never experienced it, so just to capitalize on key moments really helped me pull through.”
Murphy beat Melanie Woodbury of Memphis Hutchison 6-4, 6-3 in the Division II-AA final. She won state doubles championships the previous two years with Catholic senior Eleni Liakonis.
“I feel like singles is totally different,” Murphy said. “You still feel the same level of pressure. Eleni and I won the last two years in doubles, but singles, you’re out there all alone. Eleni’s a great partner to play with, but you’re out there all alone, so you have to do a lot for yourself and figure it out mentally.”
Faulkner, a 5-star recruit by tennisrecruting.net, has not committed to play in college but is being heavily recruited.
“Power Five schools, that’s all I’m going to say for that,” when asked what schools are recruiting her.
She’s ranked No. 2 in the state, No. 26 in the Southeast, and No. 76 in the nation for the Class of 2025 by tennisrecruiting.net.
“I took a break from tournaments last year,” Faulkner said, “so I’ve been gearing up for tournaments more and I feel a lot more prepared for tournament play. I think just getting more reps(helps), and I’ve been playing college girls lately and playing against them has been great.”
It showed Friday morning in the finals.
“I feel like this was one of the more solid finals I’ve played,” Faulkner said. “I definitely came out a little nervous in the first game, but then I settled down and my serve was doing great and my forehand was doing great. I played a really solid match today.”
Faulkner said she thinks she’s going for a state record five in a row next year.
“We’ll see when the time comes,” she said.
Murphy, a Furman commitment, is also a five-star recruit by tennisrecruiting.net, which ranks her No. 1 in the state, No. 17 in the Southeast, and No. 48 in the nation for the Class of 2025.
On Wednesday, Murphy and the Lady Irish won their fourth consecutive state team title with a 4-3 victory over Chattanooga Baylor.
She teamed with her sister, sophomore Lauren Murphy, and helped Catholic win the doubles point against Baylor; Lauren Murphy had the clinching singles point against Baylor.
“After the team deal, it was really a lot of excitement,” Lillie Murphy said, “but the next day I was like, ‘All right, I’ve got to focus up and kind of start over again.’
“You’re starting the quarters, you have three matches, so I tried to hydrate and fuel up and be ready for the matches ahead. (Thursday) I felt really good about my tennis. I felt like I played really well this morning.”
Murphy defeated Woodbury 6-1, 6-1 in Tuesday’s team semifinal victory over Hutchison, won by a 4-2 score; she also beat Woodbury 6-0, 6-4 in an earlier tournament this spring.
“Melanie’s a good player, so it was some good tennis,” Murphy said.
After falling behind 1-2 in the second set, Murphy reeled off nine straight points.
“I kind of took a break at the bench (between games), drank some water, and bounced back,” she said.
Murphy’s victory gives Catholic the past four state singles titles.
Maeve Thornton won the previous three championships and is now playing at Furman.
“I’m really happy, especially following up Maeve,” Murphy said. “She’s definitely a great example to follow up on, so hopefully I plan to do it next year and keep it going.”
Murphy hasn’t lost a singles or doubles match in her high school career.
“I’m going to take a few days off, go to the beach, and after that I’ve got a bunch of tournaments coming up, so go back on the tennis grind,” Murphy said.
Farragut senior Riley Cassity fell short in her bid for a third consecutive Class AA state singles title.
Cassity lost to Brentwood junior Evelyn Risner 6-7 (4), 6-1, 10-5 in Thursday’s semifinal match. She lost the third set in a 10-point tiebreaker.
Any match Thursday going to a third set was decided by a 10-point tiebreaker because heavy rains forced many matches to be played indoors, but any third sets Friday were played out.