16th Region Tennis finals: Meek and Johnson complete three-peat: Royals and Red Devils take doubles
May 18—ASHLAND — There are plenty of terms in sports for doing something three times. You can call it a hat trick, a turkey, a trifecta, or even a three-peat.
For Ashland tennis, whichever term you pick needs to be said twice.
On Wednesday in the finals of the 16th Region matches, seniors Abby Meek and Alden Johnson both took home their third consecutive region championships in singles competition.
"Both Abby and Alden came in at the beginning of the year as defending champions, but they stayed focused," Ashland coach Eddie Sizemore said. "They didn't take anything for granted. They worked hard every day. You have to be proud of them because they're both better now than when they started the year."
Meek's victory came in two straight 6-0 sets against Rose Hill freshman Lakin Deerfield. The third straight title had Meek at a loss for words.
"It feels pretty good. I don't really know what to say," Meek said with a laugh following the match. "I'm just so glad to get it and help out my team title."
Meek's entire performance in the regional matches was a dominating one as she dropped just one game across her four matches for the tournament.
Despite being the defending champion, the No. 1 seed, and the overall favorite in the tournament, Meek was focused on the fundamentals and stayed ready even if it mean navigating weather issues earlier in the week.
"It was mainly about me getting my confidence," Meek said of preparing herself throughout the tournament. "If my confidence is there, I can start to play through points. With rain delays, I wasn't able to get certain matches in each day. I would call my brother and say 'Hey, let's go hit.' He was a huge help throughout the week. He warmed me up today around noon. I was glad he was able to help."
That preparation was necessary according to Sizemore. He had told both of his top-seeded players they had bullseyes on them heading into the tournament.
"I told them, 'You're the No. 1 seed, and everyone who plays you, it's going to be their biggest match,'" Sizemore said. "When that happens you can't take anything for granted and you try to win the next point and stay focused. They both do a great job of that."
The win against Deerfield was a win against a player that Meek has a lot of respect for.
"Deerfield is a really good player," Meek said. "She's very athletic and young. She knows the game. I always feel pressure when I go out and play but I was able to play through it and get the job done."
Deerfield's coach, David Bush, sees a lot of potential in his freshman player as well.
"I'm super excited for Lakin," Bush said. "She's only a freshman but the way she extends through her shots and rips shots, it's really exciting for a freshman to do that. It's unlike freshmen to follow through shots and be aggressive. Usually, they're super timid. She was going for everything, but Abby is a really, really good player."
Johnson had to tip his hat to his opponent in the finals as well, Rowan County's Chris Gray. Johnson found himself having to overcome some cramping issues during his second set and he knew he had to adjust because Gray was more than capable of taking advantage of the situation.
"It was a struggle," Johnson said. "I started cramping there towards the end and I knew that I was going to have to find a way to pull it out. Chris is a solid player, and I knew that if I would've tried to stick to my normal gameplan, it could've flip-flopped and went the other way."
Having to make adjustments during a match is something that Johnson tries to prepare for going into his matches.
"I always try to have a backup plan," Johnson said. "If Plan A doesn't work, I go to Plan B, and if that doesn't work you have to find another strategy."
Sizemore is proud that his players have the mindset of knowing when to change their game and to solve problems as they arise.
"It makes you think that maybe you've coached them well," Sizemore said. "What a warrior Alden is. He's had a couple of other issues, his hip and his foot, so he's probably cramping up because he's been off for the last 10 days and then it warmed up today. So he did a good job battling through that."
Having to switch up match locations due to weather issues created its own challenges for Johnson.
"Going inside, you have perfect conditions," Johnson said. "Going outside, you have the sun and the wind. Like today, it was a clear day, and it was a struggle on the serve side to track the ball with the sunlight."
In the doubles competition, it was another win for a pair of Rose Hill girls. This is the third consecutive championship for the school in the division.
Two years ago it was the Sparks sisters, Delaynee and Bellamee, who won the region title. Last year it was Bellamee Sparks and Deerfield.
This year the region crown was captured by sophomore Abigail Justus and junior Isabel Hensley.
The win came against a game Russell pairing of Bella Quinn and Ava O'Neal. The Rose Hill pair won the match in two sets (6-4, 7-6) with the Royals duo coming from behind to take the second set tiebreaker (7-5).
"One of the things they did, specifically in the semifinals and finals, that was better than what they did the rest of the season was their volleys," Bush said. "They did a really good job of stepping up and using angles on volleys which we've been working on a lot, especially against teams that play two back. They did a really good job of stepping into that and using angles as opposed to staying back and trying to hit through the court. I was really proud of them for that and I think that made a massive difference in those two matches."
Justus credited the victory to the duo's ability to lift each other up.
"I think one thing that we have that works for us is we feed off of each other's momentum," Justus said. "So, when I was down a little bit during the tiebreaker, she looked at me and said, 'Let's go," and I just knew that we were locked in."
"We both definitely feed off of one another," Hensley added. "We always use that to pick each other up."
The two found themselves down 4-1 to start the tiebreaker. Bush said he's not surprised at the pair's ability to fight back to overcome that deficit and take the tiebreaker.
"They are proven players," Bush said. "I think they've had four or five super-tiebreakers this year and they've won all of them. When they were down 4-1, I said they were going to win this. There was no doubt about how calm they stayed in tiebreakers."
The mindset for the pair was to keep fighting regardless of what the outcome might be.
"We're not going to give up," Justus said. "Even if we lost, we were still going to fight for it."
By winning the tiebreaker, Justus and Hensley not only solidified their claim to the title but also capped off a great tournament performance which saw the duo win all four of their matches without dropping a set, including scoring 6-0 sweeps in their first two matches.
"It was a lot of work to get here," Justus said of the efforts the two gave throughout the week.
"But I think it went great," Hensley added. "We're just really happy to get the win."
The other doubles title in the region belongs to Russell thanks to the stellar play and down-to-the-wire performances of senior Gunner Cassity and sophomore Max Newman.
The pair defeated another senior/sophomore duo in the form of Boyd County's Ethan Parsons and Dylan Amos in a super-tiebreaker.
Cassity and Newman took the first set, 6-1, but gave up the following set to the Lions, 6-2.
In the 10-point showdown for the region title, the Red Devils duo managed to pull away from a 7-7 tie to take the super-tiebreaker 10-7.
Both players were grateful to come away with the win.
"All glory to God," Newman said after the win. "That's a great team over there, we fought hard, and I have a great partner here."
Cassity added that it was important to stay poised and know what brought you to the dance.
"You just have to make sure you do the things that you do the whole match," Cassity said. "You have to focus on the things you always have. You can't worry if you lose a point or two, you just have to keep a good attitude. That's one of the main things."
After winning their first match in the tournament (6-0, 6-1) and the second (6-2, 2-2), the pair had to go to a tiebreaker in the second set of their semifinals match (6-1, 7-6, 7-5) to advance to the finals.
"I feel like it went pretty well," Newman said. "There were some roadblocks and stuff like that, but we finished well and the pace of play was great."
The overall team results for the night saw Ashland and Russell flip positions for the team title.
In the boys' division, Russell took first place and Ashland came in second.
In the girls' division, Ashland got top billing, while Russell took runner-up.
Meek and Parsons are this year's recipients of the Julie Ditty Scholarship.
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