SkyHawks grind out 3rd straight tennis title
Omaha Skutt coach Sheryl Vaughn was shaking and jumping after every shot during senior Mary Lausten’s match Friday in the Class B girls state tennis championship at the Nebraska Tennis Center.
Last year, the SkyHawks wrapped up the state championship after the morning semifinals.
This year, Vaughn couldn’t celebrate until after Lausten clinched the SkyHawks’ third straight Class B championship with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Omaha Duchesne’s Uma Ravipati in the No. 1 singles final.
After Lausten won, Vaughn jumped as high as possible and did a bunny hop all the way to the court.
“It was an out-of-body experience,” Vaughn said. “I was moving around and didn’t sit all day.”
Duchesne and Skutt were both in the hunt after the morning semifinals. Skutt pulled away after freshman Alexis Kaiser beat Duchesne’s Catherine Tran 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 2 singles third-place match. Skutt’s Christine Bolas and Julianne Kincaid also finished third in No. 1 doubles.
Lausten’s win in the No. 1 singles finally sealed the deal. Lausten, who played No. 1 doubles last year, didn’t lose a single set during the tournament.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her when she asked to move to singles,” Vaughn said. “Coming from doubles, I knew how hard it was going to be for her.
“It’s unbelievable to work as hard as she did and to come out and win. I couldn’t ask for a better player.”
In the No. 2 doubles, Beatrice’s Amber Engler and Daleigh Fossler finished the year with a perfect record and beat Kearney Catholic’s Ellen Baldwin and Janna Montgomery 6-2, 6-3 in the finals. The Beatrice duo competed in No. 1 doubles last year.
“We got a lot better this year and improved on a lot of little things we needed to work on,” Engler said.
Beatrice couldn’t sweep the doubles as Kearney Catholic’s Molly Heeney and Nickola Messbarger beat Mallory Johnsen and Jamie Gay in a three-set thriller.
After losing the second set, Heeney and Messbarger took a 5-2 lead in the third. But Gay and Johnsen, who were undefeated until the finals loss, fought back and won four straight games.
Heeney and Messbarger, last year’s No. 1 doubles champs, suddenly found themselves two points away from elimination. However, the pair won four-straight points to force a tie-breaker. They carried the momentum into the tiebreaker and took the first four points en route to a 7-3 win.
“Since we already had been there, I felt a lot more relaxed through the whole day because we had already done all of this before,” Messbarger said.
They never thought they’d say it during the middle of the third set, but their second-straight No. 1 doubles championship was a nice comeback win.
“I was thinking, ‘One more point, one more point, that’s all we need,’” Heeney said. “I’m sure you heard me screaming it during those games. Then, I was like, ‘Um, OK, two more points.’ I was pretty nervous, and it was exciting.”
Reach Tommy Dahlk at 473-7431 or tdahlk@journalstar.com.
Last year, the SkyHawks wrapped up the state championship after the morning semifinals.
This year, Vaughn couldn’t celebrate until after Lausten clinched the SkyHawks’ third straight Class B championship with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Omaha Duchesne’s Uma Ravipati in the No. 1 singles final.
After Lausten won, Vaughn jumped as high as possible and did a bunny hop all the way to the court.
“It was an out-of-body experience,” Vaughn said. “I was moving around and didn’t sit all day.”
Duchesne and Skutt were both in the hunt after the morning semifinals. Skutt pulled away after freshman Alexis Kaiser beat Duchesne’s Catherine Tran 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 2 singles third-place match. Skutt’s Christine Bolas and Julianne Kincaid also finished third in No. 1 doubles.
Lausten’s win in the No. 1 singles finally sealed the deal. Lausten, who played No. 1 doubles last year, didn’t lose a single set during the tournament.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her when she asked to move to singles,” Vaughn said. “Coming from doubles, I knew how hard it was going to be for her.
“It’s unbelievable to work as hard as she did and to come out and win. I couldn’t ask for a better player.”
In the No. 2 doubles, Beatrice’s Amber Engler and Daleigh Fossler finished the year with a perfect record and beat Kearney Catholic’s Ellen Baldwin and Janna Montgomery 6-2, 6-3 in the finals. The Beatrice duo competed in No. 1 doubles last year.
“We got a lot better this year and improved on a lot of little things we needed to work on,” Engler said.
Beatrice couldn’t sweep the doubles as Kearney Catholic’s Molly Heeney and Nickola Messbarger beat Mallory Johnsen and Jamie Gay in a three-set thriller.
After losing the second set, Heeney and Messbarger took a 5-2 lead in the third. But Gay and Johnsen, who were undefeated until the finals loss, fought back and won four straight games.
Heeney and Messbarger, last year’s No. 1 doubles champs, suddenly found themselves two points away from elimination. However, the pair won four-straight points to force a tie-breaker. They carried the momentum into the tiebreaker and took the first four points en route to a 7-3 win.
“Since we already had been there, I felt a lot more relaxed through the whole day because we had already done all of this before,” Messbarger said.
They never thought they’d say it during the middle of the third set, but their second-straight No. 1 doubles championship was a nice comeback win.
“I was thinking, ‘One more point, one more point, that’s all we need,’” Heeney said. “I’m sure you heard me screaming it during those games. Then, I was like, ‘Um, OK, two more points.’ I was pretty nervous, and it was exciting.”
Reach Tommy Dahlk at 473-7431 or tdahlk@journalstar.com.
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