For the fourth year in a row, the St. Catherine’s girls tennis team advanced to the VIS Division I state championship match. And for the second consecutive season it was local rival Collegiate that awaited them. In every previous trip, the Saints came away empty-handed, but on Saturday, the fourth time was the charm as St. Catherine’s defeated the Cougars 5-4 to claim their first state championship trophy.

  The two teams split regular season meetings and Collegiate edged St. Catherine’s in the LIS championship. Therefore, the fourth meeting between the two teams was not expected to go easily for either.

  The nearly five hour match played at St. Christopher’s was almost a mirror image of last year’s title contest where Collegiate entered the tournament ranked number one and St. Catherine’s number two. The Cougars pulled out the 2009 championship in a match decided in a doubles tiebreak.

  This year the rankings were reversed and once again the contest came down to a doubles tiebreak but it was the Saints who came out on top.

  The two teams split the singles matches with St. Catherine’s Callie Whitlock, Charlotte Bemiss and Caroline Jones taking wins at one, two and five. Collegiate’s Erin Anderson, Frankie O’Neill and Sarah Johnson picked up wins at three, four and six to send both squads into doubles competition tied 3-3. It was not a position that St. Catherine head coach Richard Peyton favored. “Our record against Collegiate hasn’t been great in doubles,” he said. “I was concerned about our number two doubles.”

  Ironically, it was at number two doubles where Collegiate head coach Karin Whitt felt most confident. “The one spot we’ve always won is number two doubles,” she said.

  Therefore it only seemed appropriate that the state championship came down to the number two court.

  At number one doubles, the Saint’s Callie Whitlock and Annie Peyton Leitch made quick work of the Cougar’s Connor Brewer and Erin Anderson 10-6.

  Collegiate’s Hannah Carl and Sarah Johnson re-knotted the championship with a 10-4 win over Kristine Scherger and Terrell Williams at number three.
  Then all eyes towards the number two court where Saints’ freshmen Bemiss and Jones battled Ellie Whitlock and O’Neill.

  The Cougars took an early match lead only to see Bemiss and Jones fight back to hold a 9-7 advantage. But with a state championship going to the winner, Whitlock and O’Neill refused to yield, gritting their way back to grasp a 10-9 edge and they appeared to be on the verge of taking the trophy; which gave Peyton a feeling of déjà-vu. “I thought we were just doomed to never beat them,” he said.

  But backed in a corner, the Saints freshmen played with a maturity beyond their age to knot the match at 10-10 then win the tiebreak 7-3.

  Peyton was beside himself with pride. “For them to pull out this win and do it in a dramatic way with the tiebreaker, it’s pretty impressive for two freshmen,” he said.

  But the coach was also happy for Callie Whitlock, his senior star who has not lost an LIS match in three years. “Really I’m thrilled for her because she deserves it,” he said. “Being the anchor to this team for three years, she deserves a state championship.”

  Even though Collegiate did not claim a tournament trophy, after a season of adversity, the Cougars completed a great accomplishment just reaching the title match.

  “I’m just so proud of the girls, all they’ve gone through from May on,” Whitt said.  “(We’re) just fortunate that they were here today and could compete to win.

  “Some you win, some you lose,” Whitt said. “You’ve just got to hold your head up high. Our motto is; no excuses, no regrets and hopefully they didn’t have any.”

Singles: Callie Whitlock (SC) d. Connor Brewer 10-0; Charlotte Bemiss (SC) d. Ellie Whitlock 10-7; Erin Anderson (Col) d. Annie Peyton Leitch 10-2; Frankie O’Neill (Col) d. Kristine Scherger 10-7; Caroline Jones (SC) d. Hannah Carl 10-7; Sarah Johnson (Col) d. Terrell Williams 10-3
Doubles: Callie Whitlock/Leitch (SC) d. Brewer/Anderson 10-6; Bemiss/Jones (SC) d. Ellie Whitlock/O’Neill 11-10; Carl/Johnson (Col) d. Jones/Williams 10-4
Records: St. Catherine’s 18-1; Collegiate 16-2