30-05-2025
Covington Catholic tennis standouts sweep singles, doubles at KHSAA state championships
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association's boys tennis state tournament again belonged to the Covington Catholic Colonels. A year removed from claiming the doubles title with a runner-up in the singles bracket, the Colonels claimed both titles in 2025.
Kalei Christensen and Alex Yeager, who had won the last two doubles state championships, weren't together for a three-peat, but both took home gold.
Kalei Christensen, Blake Hussey win the 2025 doubles title
Despite his two-time state championship partner now in singles competition, Colonels senior Kalei Christensen still led a doubles team to another state championship.
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Paired now with sophomore Blake Hussey, the pairing of Christensen and Hussey dropped just five total sets through the first four rounds of the tournament.
The semifinal rounds began the final day of the state meet. There Christensen and Hussey faced their hardest test yet from Louisville St. Xavier's Jacob Ray and Logan Elliott. The CovCath duo took the match after a pair of 7-5 wins.
Colonel sophomores William Tribble and Jacob Kramer played in the other championship semifinal, but an all-Covington Catholic final was prevented by a 6-4, 6-1 win from Louisville St. Xavier's Aditya Shah and Walker Bush.
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In the state finals, Christensen and Hussey grabbed the first set 6-1, but needed a tiebreaker to win set two. Tied 6-6, the Colonels won the tiebreaker 7-1 to take the final set and the state championship 6-1, 7-6(7-1).
Alex Yeager wins KHSAA singles gold
Covington Catholic's Alex Yeager returns a shot by Christian Academy's Landon Ecarma in the boys KHSAA state singles tennis championship at the UK Hilary J. Boone/Downing Tennis Complex in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 29, 2025.
Senior Alex Yeager completed the Covington Catholic sweep and won his third state title after battling through the final three rounds of the state tournament.
Yeager swept his first two matches and won 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. His final three matches would all need a third-set tiebreaker.
The senior won his quarterfinal match over North Oldham's Samuel Gurevich 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 before a 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 win in the semis against Louisville Collegiate's Colby Berson.
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Yeager needed to play from behind to win in the state finals.
Christian Academy-Louisville senior Landon Ecarma beat Yeager 6-3 in the opening set and stormed back in set two to tie Yeager 6-6. In the second set tiebreaker, Yeager scored a 7-3 win to send the match to the final set.
Up 11-10, Yeager secured his comeback victory and the singles state championship when Ecarma sent a shot long, giving Yeager a 3-6, 7-6(7-3), 12-10 finals win.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Covington Catholic boys tennis sweeps KHSAA singles and doubles titles
