Knoxville Catholic’s Lillie Murphy is the 2025 5Star Preps Girls Tennis Player of the Year, presented by Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic. (Photo by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY DAVE LINK
Lillie Murphy’s playing days for the Catholic girls’ tennis team are over but won’t be forgotten.
The 2025 graduate helped the Lady Irish advance to four state championship matches and win three team titles in Division II-AA, the most competitive division in state tennis.
Her success went beyond team titles.
Murphy also won two state championships in singles (2024-25) and two in doubles (2022-23).
“That was great, just the tennis aspect alone,” said Murphy, a Furman signee. “You couldn’t get much better than that, and the school itself, I’m really grateful for everything they’ve done for me. It’s a great school and a great community. It’s been fun. My sister (Lauren) still has one more year, so I’ll still be cheering them on for a little bit, as always.”
Murphy, who repeats as the 5Star Preps Player of the Year, didn’t lose a singles match in her four years playing at Catholic, continuing the unbeaten singles streak of Maeve Thornton, a current University of Tennessee player who didn’t lose a match (singles or doubles) in three years at Catholic (2021-23).
Knoxville Catholic’s Lillie Murphy (Photo by Danny Parker)
Murphy’s only two losses at Catholic came this season at No. 1 doubles playing with her sister against Chattanooga’s Girls Preparatory School.
“The record of Maeve and Lillie was so outstanding,” Catholic coach Rusty Morris said. “Maeve not losing a match, period, and Lillie not losing a singles match in her career is incredible. To have a run with players like that was amazing.”
Murphy wasn’t on Catholic’s 2021 team that beat Baylor 4-2 in the state championship match, ending the Lady Red Raiders’ run of nine straight state titles.
She joined the Lady Irish team for the 2021-22 school year, and that spring played No. 2 singles as Catholic beat Baylor 4-0 in the state championship match.
Murphy then won the state doubles title with Eleni Liakonis, a 2024 Catholic graduate now playing for Samford.
“There was a little bit of added pressure, walking into it my freshman year,” Murphy said, “but each year has had its own challenges as far as paths to state, every match, but I think each year it was fun to see us grow as a team, and people leave and see how we adjusted to that.”
Catholic beat Baylor 4-1 in the 2023 state final with Thornton playing No. 1 singles, ahead of Murphy, Liakonis, and Gigi Sompayrac. Murphy and Liakonis repeated as state doubles champions in 2023.
Murphy took over Catholic’s top singles spot in 2024 with the graduation of Thornton (Furman before Tennessee) and Sompayrac (Anderson University).
Despite the roster changes, Catholic won its fourth straight Division II-AA title in 2024 with a 4-3 victory over Baylor in the final.
And two days later, Murphy won the state singles title.
Baylor ended Catholic’s four-year run of state championships with a 4-1 victory in this year’s team final, but Murphy defended her state singles title a couple of days later.
“The division we’re in is probably some of the best high school tennis in the country, I’d say,” Murphy said, “and I got two years with Maeve and Gigi. That was really fun. I was on the same team with Eleni for three years. She’s going to Samford, and we’re going to be in the same conference now.
“And then last (spring), it was fun to see some of the younger girls step up and I think overachieve a little bit, having no experience really at all, and having some girls who step up into higher positions in the lineup.”
Although not all high-level tournament players play high school tennis, Murphy and Thornton were two exceptions.
“I wouldn’t have traded this high school experience for some USTA tournaments for anything,” Murphy said. “It might have not been what all the (college) coaches would have wanted you to do, but I think it’s just been such a fun experience getting to compete as a team. That love for tennis has definitely shown on-court.”
Thus summer, Murphy is playing an ITA circuit for college players. She’s already played a tournament at UT and has others at Wake Forest, Georgia, and Charlotte.
Murphy also recently spent two weeks at Furman working a youth tennis camp and practicing in her off time.
“It was fun,” she said. “It was good experience to get to know the (Furman) coaches a little bit and get to know campus a little bit better and get to know some of the other freshmen who worked the camp with me.”
Morris said Murphy’s combination of offensive and defensive tennis is rare.
“You can’t get a ball by her, and not only that, when she gets to it, she gets it back deep either with a slice or loop,” Morris said. “She slices real well, loops real well, and then she can also be aggressive with a big forehand and volley when she gets opportunities.
“You rarely see somebody that plays defense that well who can also play offense really well. Normally you have someone that’s highly offensive or highly defensive, but she can go from defending and turn it around to an offensive point real quick, and that’s what separates her. That and she’s a real smart player, understanding the role of both offense and defense and understanding when to use them and how to not give people the ball they want.”
Knoxville Orthopaedic Clinic (KOC) is the proud sponsor of 5Star Preps 2025 Spring Sports Postseason Coverage.