Hardin Valley’s Madison Huffman is the 5Star Preps Girls Tennis Player of the Year, presented by Garza Law. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY DAVE LINK
Madison Huffman didn’t walk the hallways of Hardin Valley Academy every day – she was home schooled – but she still got to enjoy the camaraderie with students at the school.
Huffman was the No. 1 player for the Lady Hawks’ tennis team, posting a 42-2 singles record the past two seasons and finishing runner-up in Class AA state singles two straight years. Both of her singles losses were in state championship matches.
Not all USTA tournament players like Huffman choose to play high school tennis. The 2026 graduate wouldn’t have missed it – especially this year
“It was my last year to play, and I’d had fun playing all the other years,” she said. “I just wanted to continue playing the sport I love and playing it with a team of girls that I love.”
Huffman, the 5Star Preps Girls Player of the Year, feels blessed to play tennis, which along with her religion led her to sign with Carson-Newman as a tennis player.
Garza Law is the proud sponsor of All-5Star Preps Tennis Teams.
She was thinking about playing for Cedarville University (Ohio), which has an NCAA Division II tennis program, when Carson-Newman came into her vision late in the recruiting process.
Huffman then changed courses and committed to C-N coach Nate Gangelhoff.
“If I’m being completely honest, it was a God thing,” Huffman said. “He opened the door for me to be able to play at Carson-Newman, kind of out of the blue. I had not expected it. I talked to the coach some, and everything fell into place, and it all worked out.”
Huffman started playing tennis when she was 3 years old. Tennis and dance were the only sports she played, and she gave up dancing when she was 12 and focused on tennis.
During those years, Huffman got her family involved in tennis. Her parents started playing. So did her grandma and uncle. And her younger brother Jaymeson, a home-schooled freshman on HVA’s boys’ team this spring, is the 5Star Preps Boys’ Co-Player of the Year.
“I had the opportunity to play the sport,” Madison said, “and my family loved it, too.”
Huffman doesn’t let a loss in her final high school match dampen the memories of her HVA career.
After winning District 4-AA and Region 2-AA singles titles for the second straight year, Huffman advanced to the state tournament and reached the singles championship with two straight-set victories.
But she was hardly at full speed when she played the final against Emma Baker of Franklin’s Page High, whom she beat 6-0, 6-1 in the 2025 state semifinals.
This time, Baker posted a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Huffman. Baker signed to play tennis last November for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, a Division I program in the Ohio Valley Conference.
“She had definitely improved a lot,” Huffman said. “I’m not making an excuse, but three weeks before state, I had something that started hurting, so I had to take some days off and then got sick.
“I was a little rusty going into state, and I still didn’t feel 100 percent, so I think if I had practiced and I was feeling 100 percent, then I could have had a different result, so I’m OK with the circumstances I was under.”
Huffman is planning to be 100 percent when she reports to Carson-Newman later this summer.
Her tournament tennis will be limited.
“I’ll play a couple of them,” Huffman said, “and then I’ll really focus on practicing and improving my game so I’ll be ready for college.”