Mercer Girls Tennis Returns Same Team With New Coach

Arpan Dixit
Herald Staff
sports@harrodsburgherald.com

Like the boys program, the Mercer County Lady Titans tennis program is undergoing changes as well.

Steve Lyons takes over the program previously coached by Alyssa Butler.

Lyons has coached in other sports like football, basketball and baseball, but this is his first opportunity to coach tennis.

He hopes to motivate his team to compete for 12th Region titles.

“I’m brand new to tennis, but I’m a quick learner,” said Lyons. “I hope to get these girls competing for region titles individually and as a team.”

Matches will be played in terms of six-point and nine-point matches.

Listed below is the Mercer girls tennis roster organized by grade.

12th: Avery Thompson.

11th: Gracie Caton.

10th: Reagan Long, Mei Mei Li, Chloe Barnett and Kiersten Bryant.

9th: Ania Boutin, Carmen Murray and Rebekah Trent.

The Lady Titans are returning everybody from last season. From the first few weeks of practice, Lyons knows this group of girls want to get better each and every practice and match.

“We’ve won both matches we’ve played so far and I’m proud of what we’ve done to this point,” said Lyons.

Tennis is an individual sport, but Lyons says winning as a team is a top priority.

“I want our girls to realize that although it is important to win individually, it’s also important to win collectively,” said Lyons.

Lyons said he is disciplined on how he does things.

“Nothing is given to you. You have to work for it. There has to be a different attitude on how you approach the game to change that,” he said. “That’s been my biggest emphasis to this point. I don’t care where you’ve been, I care where you’re going.”

He said being new to the sport, he has to keep an open mind and learn everyday.

Seeding for the Lady Titans is listed below, based off their previous five-point matches.

Singles: Trent, 1; Caton, 2; Boutin, 3.

Barnett, Li, Murray, Thompson and Bryant have the opportunity to play singles in matches as well.

In doubles, Thompson and Long will be the number one seeds, while Boutin and Bryant will play number two. Seeding can change based off opponents, according to Lyons.

He said lineups can always change from match-to-match. Girls who don’t normally play singles can get the opportunity and girls who mainly play singles can get a shot at doubles.

The Lady Titans defeated Garrard County in their last match 5-0, on Tuesday, March 27.

Trent won her singles match 8-0, Caton won her match 8-1, Barnett won her match 8-0.

In doubles, Bryant and Boutin won 8-0, while Thompson and Long won 8-5.

The Lady Titans will be back on the court Tuesday, April 10, when they travel to take on the Lincoln County Patriots.

To learn more, check out this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald.