Regional tennis opening day goes as expected
May 24—There were no major surprises on the first day of the 3rd Region Tennis Tournament on Monday at Moreland Park.
Seeding held up across all the draws, with top seeds getting byes to the round of 32.
Owensboro's Dylan Mather is the top seed and defending regional champion in boys singles. He won his match 6-0, 6-0 over Butler County's Spencer Cohron.
"The last day is a lot easier when you've been moving the first couple of days," Mather said of if he makes the championship match Wednesday. "Just want to get a full body stretch. I've got to focus on if I'm moving my body now, it will help me stay loose during the week. I'm concentrating on drinking a lot of fluids, stay hydrated for the last day.
"My fitness always peaks at the end of the season, and I just try to get acclimated to warm weather last week, but now it's in the 60s. The one thing I did focus on last week was getting a full body warm up. I ran around the court, got my hip flexors warmed up, I hit for 15 minutes, took volleys, took serves, so every part feels like it's getting worked."
Ella Cason from Owensboro Catholic is the girls singles top seed. She is a freshman who won the regional last year in 8th grade.
Cason won her first match 6-0, 6-0 over Muhlenberg County's Kendra Walker.
"There will be some good matches here, I want to work on form, I placed the ball really well, hit with some pace," Cason said. "I had a great spring, worked hard to get to this point."
Boys doubles was considered the most competitive draw overall. Cooper Danzer/Houston Danzer from Catholic will meet Colton Glenn/Austin Walker from Grayson County in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Heath Embry/Paxton Evitts from Muhlenberg County will meet Andy Peeples/Sam Smith from Daviess County. Anthony Thompson/Parthj Haria from DC will face Clay Dupin/Ethan Medley from Meade County. Chase Richardson/Griffin Powell from Grayson County will meet Brett Conder/Tucker Ray from Catholic in the quarterfinals.
In girls doubles, Olivia Hayden/Aisha Merchant (Catholic) moved to quarterfinals and will meet Anastasia Kolomiyets/Morgan Lucas (DC). Alexa Salamah/Caroline Smith from OHS will meet Sophey Jennings/Elise Wilson from Apollo in the quarterfinals. Woosley/Sanchez from Grayson County will meet Katelyn Mitchell/Claire Augenstein from Catholic. Sarah-Cate Boggess/Baker Hardison from Muhlenberg County will meet Ella Hayden/Kyndall Hayden from Apollo. Hayden/Hayden went to a third set tiebreak to win its round of 16 match to beat Angela Ho/Sydney Schrader from Ohio County.
In girls singles, Cason (Catholic) will face Emma Parker from Apollo in the quarterfinals. Kacie Ray (Meade) will meet Allessa Hall from Daviess County. Kaylee Lindsey (Edmonson) will meet Ella Grace Buckman from Catholic. Emma Embry from OHS will face Charly Hayden from Daviess County.
In boys singles, Mather (OHS) will meet Davis Brocato (Catholic) in the quarterfinals. Peyton Johnston from Meade County will meet Jameson Franey from Apollo. Matthew Hyland from Catholic will meet Brayden Johnson from Edmonson County. Isaac Whitaker from Muhlenberg will meet Owen Brown from Grayson County in the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played Tuesday at Moreland Park. Championship matches are scheduled for Wednesday.
