He found redemption; she claimed a repeat. State tennis champs ‘dialed in.’

Paul Laurence Dunbar senior Matt Halpin took home his second state championship in boys’ singles on Saturday at the University of Kentucky’s Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex. The victory makes for Halpin’s second state championship in three years.

Halpin defeated Brandon Chou of Trinity in three sets, falling 7-6 in the first, winning the second 6-1, and coming out on top in the tie-breaking third set, 10-8.

“The first hold of the second set was big,” Halpin said after the match. “Then when I broke him I think to go up 3-1, that was huge.”

Halpin had struggled mightily in the first set, seemingly not quite in control of his shots, allowing Chou to take the lead.

“I had a lot of chances,” Halpin said. “I just played a little tentatively and was letting him do his favorite things that he likes to do a little too much, wasn’t making him go to the second or third option, especially on break points.”

Halpin’s coach, Jonathan Thompson, said that Halpin calmed down after the first set, which helped carry him to victory.

“He kind of really relaxed into his game and started going after his shots,” Thompson said. “He was a little tentative in that first set, a little just feeling the moment, and then as he kind of got into it and started that second set, he started hitting his shots and going after the ball.”

Halpin won the the state championship as a sophomore, before falling in the semifinals last year to Robby Krick of Ashland Blazer.

“He’s just worked hard throughout his life to get to this point,” Thompson said. “Had a little bit of a hiccup last year but it was just great to see a kid like that come back and put all that work in.”

With the high school season over, Halpin will now head to the University of Notre Dame to continue his tennis career. Thompson said that he expects to see continued success from Halpin at the next level.

“He’s gonna be successful in whatever he does,” Thompson said. “He’s just got that attitude and that drive, it really helps him not only succeed in tennis, but he’s great in the classroom, I mean straight-A student and he just puts it all in everything he does so guys like that you always know there’s going to be something great for them next.”

On the girls side’ Sacred Heart’s Carrie Beckman took home her second state singles title in a row with a dominant performance over Scott County’s Olivia Gallagher. Sacred Heart also won the girls’ team state title.

“It’s really a great feeling,” Beckman said. “I know the team worked really hard this season to get here and I’m really proud of everything, especially with all the adversity that we faced this season, I’m really proud of everyone.”

Beckman took down Gallagher in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.

“I was obviously playing really well,” Beckman said. “I know Olivia had a really tough match earlier, a really long match. That could have contributed as well, but what really helped the most was having my team behind me and knowing that they were supporting me even when I wasn’t doing so well.”

Beckman’s coach, Whitney Thompson, heaped praise on Beckman’s performance.

“It was great,” Sacred Heart’s Thompson said. “She was really dialed in and I just told her to go out and play without any pressure, that she could just go out and play for herself. We’d already clinched the team title so when you have the team riding on your back it’s hard because you’re playing for all these other people so it was nice that she was able to go into that experience and just kind of play as relaxed as possible.”

In the doubles finals, Justin Lee and Ben Rueff of Trinity walked away with the boys’ championship, beating Aidan Sheridan-Rabideau and Hart Howard of Manual. In the girls’ doubles, Elizabeth Hamilton, who also won the state’s Miss Tennis award, and Haliemae Laurino of Ryle defeated Reagan Mangan and Willow Renton of North Oldham.

Sacred Heart won the girls’ overall team state title, while Trinity took home the hardware on the boys’ side. Halpin was named the KHSAA Mr. Tennis award winner.

This story was originally published June 1, 2019 at 6:30 PM.