Lexington Catholic sisters dominate to win state doubles tennis championship

Lexington Catholic tennis stars Amanda and Madison Miller were made a promise by their dad ahead of the final day of the KHSAA State Tennis Championships at the University of Kentucky Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex on Saturday.

If the sisters won the girls' doubles title, he'd treat them to dinner at the restaurant of their choice with no restrictions on what they could order. Dad's wallet is about to take a big hit.

The Miller sisters knocked off Lexington Christian's Jessica Hill and Caroline Lancaster 6-2, 6-0 to claim the state doubles championship and earn their special supper.

"When dad said he'd take us wherever we wanted if we won, I said 'oh, I love it. Great idea,'" Amanda Miller said. "So we're headed to Chop House later and I'm gonna get the most expensive thing on the menu."

Watching the sisters dominate the championship match, it was hard to believe they'd only been playing together as a full-time team for a few weeks. In the leadup to the 11th Region Tournament, Lexington Catholic Coach Ann Bruggeman suggested the girls had a good shot to bring home a state title if they focused on doubles.

"When she brought it up to us, I thought it was a really good idea, and we decided to take a chance," said Amanda Miller, a sophomore. "My goal is to win state in singles and doubles. It feels great to get the doubles (title) and doing it with my sister makes it really special."

It was also hard to believe that Madison Miller is only an eighth-grader. She was fearless at the net while her older sister patrolled the baseline.

"Madison really surprises people with the way she plays at the net, she's so good at it," said Amanda. "She just has this ability to send everything back. No matter how hard you hit the ball at her or where it ends up, she always seems to get to it. She's just really likes to go on offense."

Madison said her aggressive style is borne out of her need for speed.

"I just like it when things are going really fast out there. I hate when people start lobbing and playing really slow, so i just try to speed it up," she said.

Bruggeman said the decision to pair the Millers together for a run at state was a bit of a dice roll.

"When sisters play together it can go one way or the other. It can be a good thing or it can be a disaster," she said. "But they really complement each other, and in this case, it was a special thing for them to share. When they bought into it, they bought in fully and went after it."

Amanda noted that the rivalry she and Madison share helps each of them sharpen their skills.

"We're both very competitive with one another — especially where Madison is the younger one, she always wants to beat her older sister, and I always want to put Madison in her place like 'I'm the oldest, I'm the best,'" Amanda said. "But when we play together, we're family and we stick together like glue. We did that today and I love it."

Other finals

St. Xavier's Alex Westbrook won the boys' singles title, defeating Robby Krick of Ashland Blazer 6-3, 6-2. Krick upset defending state champion Matt Halpin of Paul Dunbar in the semifinals, winning a tiebreaker.

Preston Cameron and Will Stuckert of St. Xavier won the boys' title over brothers Brandon and Michael Chou of Trinity. Carrie Beckman of Sacred Heart knocked off teammate Ellie Eades to win the girls' singles title.

This story was originally published May 19, 2018 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Lexington Catholic sisters dominate to win state doubles tennis championship."