Clinton County dominated play in the SBAAC girls tennis season in 2023.

Clinton-Massie was 10-0 in league play and won the American Division, holding off second place Wilmington who was 8-2.

This is the second straight SBAAC American crown for the Falcons.

Blanchester was back on top of the National Division at 9-1 with East Clinton a solid third place.

Georgetown won the title in 2022 but Blanchester had won the previous three and 12 of the last 15.

BLANCHESTER

Blanchester was back on top of the SBAAC National Division girls tennis standings last season after finishing third the year before

With Matt Sexton as head coach, Blanchester has won 12 SBAAC titles in 17 seasons. He is assisted by his brother Michael Sexton.

The Wildcats were 9-1 in league matches. Lilly Bates was 9-1 for the Wildcats at first singles and was tournament runnerup. She earned first team All-SBAAC along with teammate Katelyn Toles.

Bates is one of three returning players, along with Lydia Siler and Breanna Weldon, who earned second team All-SBAAC honors last year.

Also returning to the program are Ryan Maines, Jenna Pelosi, Madison Taylor, Sydney Woodall, Grace Jones and Abby Thomas.

“Lilly and Ryan have been regulars this summer at our open courts,” Sexton said. “I expect both of them to be leaders of this team. Also, Lydia and Breanna as seniors will be leaders.

“I like how hard this group worked last year. I didn’t know most of them after taking a year off so I didn’t know what to expect. I was really pleased with how willing they were to put in the work needed to win the league.”

Newcomers of note, Sexton said, are Trinity McCollister and Sidney Turner, both freshmen.

There are holes to fill for the Sexton brothers. Toles, Greta Quigley, Gracie Kaehler and Taylor Baker are not returning this season and all earned all-league honors.

“We lost four starters from last year, so we’re going to need to have some people step up and fill those roles if we’re going to have a chance to repeat,” said Sexton. “It won’t be easy, as I expect East Clinton and Georgetown to be very strong again this year. CNE is going to be very good at the top of their lineup as well.”

Sexton has Bates at the top of the lineup in the BHS quest to repeat as champions. “I’d like to see Lilly win player of the year this season. She was very close last year and she really did it with athleticism and mental toughness. Her tennis game has come a long way this summer,” Sexton said.

“I really like this group of kids. I don’t know if we’ll be deep enough to win a league title this year, but I know we’re going to have a group that’s going to work hard and have a lot of fun. It should be a fun tennis season,” the coach concluded.

CLINTON-MASSIE

Julie Kirby will be entering her fifth season as the Clinton-Massie girls tennis coach and the program will be seeking SBAAC American Division championship No. 3 in that span.

The Falcons were runaway winners in the American last season and finished with a 20-1 record.

Addison Swope, a two-time first team all-league player, was the American Division player of the year for the Falcons while Kirby was named the coach of the year.

Maria Jones was a perfect 10-0 at second singles for the Falcons in league play and won the tournament bracket. Elle Dunham and Noel Gasaway were 10-0 at second doubles. Mikayla Wonderly and Brylie Green also were all first team All-SBAAC. For Green and Gasaway it was a second first team honor.

Wonderly and Dunham graduated from CMHS in the spring.

Gasaway, Jones, Swope, Dakota Cartner, Green, and Lilly Logsdon are seniors on the Massie roster this season.

Kirby said Cartner leads a strong group of junior varsity players from 2023 who will move on up this season. “Dakota … is such a coachable athlete,” Kirby said. “I think we are going to be seeing her on the varsity court a lot more this year. We lost two varsity seniors (from 2023) and all the JV players have been working this summer to be able to fill the spots. I am very pleased to see that it will be a tough decision to see who will be in the line up.”

Juniors on the team include Ellie Smith, Paige Oberweiser, Alyssa Lorenz and Jenny Anderson.

Kirby said the “sensational six” seniors lead this team in a variety of ways, whether it be keeping “coach on track,” helping younger players, team spirit and attitude, focus or player improvement.

“They all bring their best game and truly want to win,” said Kirby. The team will sit atop the league again if it remains “focused and remembers the team comes first. The girls have had an amazing run the past two years for themselves and the school and I think they just want to continue on that path and have all the fun they can have doing it.”

EAST CLINTON

East Clinton finished third last season in the SBAAC National Division standings with a 7-3 record. Doug Stehlin is the head coach, entering his ninth season at the helm.

There are five players returning for East Clinton — Stephanie Lambert, Rylee Kempton, Josi Balon, Abigail Prater, Mallory Thomason.

Kailyn Mason at first singles, Rylee Kempton at third singles and the doubles duo of Balon and Prater were first team All-SBAAC.

However, Mason, Molly Seabaugh and Megan Hadley graduated from EC this spring.

“We lost some good players to graduating but we also have some good kids that are ready to step up and fill those spots and continue to improve and get better,” said Stehlin. “Mallory Thomason joined the team late last season but is ready to be part of the starting lineup this season. Freshman Alaysia Burney is new to tennis but will be jumping in right away.

“Stephanie Lambert is a senior and has improved over the years and Rylee Kempton has put in a lot of work in the off season are both expected to be leaders for the team. Both girls will probably spend a majority of the year at first and second singles this year.”

Stehlin said the Astros need to “get back to practice and get into the daily routine of working hard at practice and continue to improve throughout the season. Last year, we lost a couple of important matches during the season but had a great day at the SBAAC tournament. We tied Georgetown for first at the tournament but did not get us enough points to finish at the top in the final standings. We need to be ready for the entire season. I would like to see EC battle it out all year and make another run at bringing home an SBAAC championship.”

WILMINGTON

Doug Cooper begins his 13th season as the Wilmington High School girls tennis coach. Once again, he will be assisted as the junior varsity level by Steve Reed.

The Hurricane finished 12-8 last year, 8-2 in league play, bringing Cooper’s record to 133 wins.

The Cary Holliday and Bailey Wheeler pairing finished 10-2 at first doubles.

Layna Holmes at first singles and the Holliday/Wheeler duo were first team all-league.

Holmes, Holliday and Wheeler return for Wilmington as does Reagan Henry. In all there are seven letterwinners and five starters back for WHS in 2024.

Among those not returning are Josie Heys and Elena Gatti.

Cooper said Holmes, Henry, Holliday and Sofia Castillo are “leaders by virtue of their dedication to off-season play and helping out younger players.”

The team is experienced and coming off a successful 2023 campaign but they’ve “worked hard to get better. They love the game and have a very strong team bond,” Cooper added.

Consistency is the main area of improvement in all facets of the game, Cooper added. He believes this is a championship contender.

“If we remain healthy, we will once again present a formidable challenge to every team in our conference,” he said. “Clinton-Massie is the team to beat; we came very close last season. They, like us, will have most of their players back. It should be a very exciting season.”

Aside from an SBAAC title, Cooper said the team has set goals of having a winning record, win a third title in the Coaches Classic and its first-ever title in the Hurricane Invitational.