Stuart claims second straight championship
By: Justin Feil
Kathryn Kitts exited her high school tennis career perfectly Wednesday.
"I couldn’t have asked for anything better," said the Stuart Country Day senior. "The team won. I won. Everything’s good."
Kitts, the team’s lone senior, was again the last one done as the Tartans wrapped up their second straight Prep B state championship with all five flights winning Wednesday. Last year, Kitts’ finals match wasn’t played until the day after the team had wrapped up the title due to her opponent’s illness. This year, it was Kitts who warmed up after a first-set loss to win a tiebreaker over Pennington’s Adrienne Markinson, who had defeated Kitts in the regular season.
"The first match Adrienne played great and I didn’t have my ‘A’ game that day," said Kitts, who has won the majority of their matches through the years. "Today, it was my senior year, my last high school match. It was the last time I’ll ever play Adrienne, though I might play her at a USTA tournament.
"I really wanted it. I don’t know what happened last time. I wanted to make sure I won, just in case we could win as a team."
Stuart had just a touch of its confidence shaken with a 3-2 loss to Gill-St. Bernards in the week before states began. But it served only to wake up the Tartans for the Prep B tournament.
"Coach talked to us after," Kitts said. "I had a few words after that. I told them to take this loss and get angry and get ready for preps. It’s not going to be easy. It was a great learning experience. We had kind of been beating everyone except the big schools. We had to get angry and get ready to play.
"Sunday (in the first rounds), everyone was not really knowing what they were doing. We had to wait all day to play. Then (Wednesday), everyone was running and stretching and getting ready to play. Everyone was pumped to win."
And every one of the Tartans did. Clare Wiles won at second singles, Kelsey Semrod won at third singles, Laura Patterson and Comfort Clinton won at first doubles and Lauren O’Gara and Elizabeth "Bits" Kitts. It was, as the elder Kitts had explained, far from easy. Both doubles teams won in tiebreaker sets as well.
"After I lost the first set, it clicked," Kathryn Kitts said. "I heard people cheering and I was thinking, ‘This is the last time I’m going to be doing this. We can do better here.’"
While it was Kathryn Kitts’ final time, it was Bits Kitts’ first time in the state tournament after playing first singles for the JV team last year. She teamed with O’Gara, the only other newcomer to the Tartans’ lineup after last year’s prep title.
"Going into it we were both pretty nervous," said the younger Kitts, who is a sophomore. "I was really nervous. I was thinking, what if we lose, what if we lose it because of us? It affected our tennis in the beginning. I was new to everything. I had so much fun once I got into my groove. Then we played so well."
All she had to do was think back to her older sister’s advice. Kathryn’s word was well respected going into her fourth state tournament of her career.
"She just said, go out there and have a good time," said Bits. "No matter what happens, you played well all season. We’re still a great team. We’re always going to be together. At the same time, she’s telling me how to play. There was a lot of wind and she was saying to hit with a lot of topspin. She helped. She’s a good captain."
One that Bits says will be missed on all levels by her and the Tartans team that concluded its best season in recent history with a 9-5 record.
"We’re going to be losing besides a captain and best friend and teammate, one of the best sisters ever, and I think it’s going to be hard," said Bits. "She’s always been our captain, always had confidence. She never worried about anything. That position has a lot of stress. We see that in so many other teams. Other teams are looking to them to be the best player. I think that would be a lot of pressure.
"Our team is going to have to figure out how to put someone in her position who can deal with stress and not get worried when something goes bad. But we’re a team and we’ll help each other. And hopefully we’ll win Prep B again."
The younger Kitts doesn’t feel pressure to follow in Kathryn’s footsteps. They are different players with different strengths. Winning Prep B titles may be the one thing she can hold over Kathryn. Kathryn was a part of the last two titles. With two seasons to go, Bitts could graduate with three team titles. Graduation may seem far away for Bitts, but Kathryn can tell her otherwise.
"It’s gone quickly," Kathryn said. "Honestly, probably everyone says it, but I remember having my first Prep B tournament as a freshman. I can’t believe today was my last. I’ll take some great experiences with me."
Kathryn still has a basketball season to look forward to, but it is tennis that remains her top sport. She is hoping to continue playing Division I tennis next year. Bits is hoping to be a part of another Stuart championship. Both were thrilled to share one Wednesday.
"It’s good we both won our matches individually," Kathryn said. "Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been as happy a car ride home."