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Star player Maeve Thornton is gone – she’s playing at Furman University – but the Catholic girls’ tennis team forges on this season as the three-time defending state champion in Division II-AA.
Thornton played a huge role for the Lady Irish the past three seasons, playing No. 1 singles and doubles for the team while winning three consecutive Division II-AA singles titles against the best competition in the state.
And Thornton never lost a high school match.
Despite Thornton’s absence, Catholic is a formidable team featuring two Division I college players – senior Samford signee Eleni Liakonis and junior Furman commitment Lillie Murphy.
“We have a good team,” said Rusty Morris, who coaches Catholic’s boys and girls. “I guess we would be the (girls’) favorites to win (state), but we have much less margin for error.”
Thornton wasn’t the only Division I signee playing for the Lady Irish during their three-peat. Anderson (S.C.) University signee Gigi Sompayrac also was in the lineup for the state tournament runs.
The Lady Irish, who won Class A-AA state titles in 2016 and ’17, made the move to Division II-AA in 2021 (the 2020 season was cancelled) and were an impact with Thornton leading the way.
They defeated Chattanooga Baylor 4-2 in the 2021 Division II-AA state title match, ending Chattanooga Baylor’s run of nine straight state championships.
Catholic beat Baylor the next two seasons in the finals – both years by 4-1 scores – and spent most of the 2022-23 season ranked No. 1 nationally by Universal Tennis Ranking.
Morris said the Lady Irish aren’t nationally ranked this season and expects Baylor to be a top contender in their region (Division II-AA East) and at state this year.
“I’ve seen Baylor’s roster,” Morris said. “They pretty much have the same team (as last year). It will be more of a battle of depth, not necessarily up top (in the lineup).”
Catholic’s girls won’t be the only team in the 5Star Preps coverage area looking to make a run at a state tennis championship during Spring Fling on May 21-24 in Murfreesboro.
Here’s a look at some of the area’s top teams (in alphabetical order) and top players (in no order):
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