Notre Dame girls tennis prepares for state tournament

Instead, the opposite happened. Notre Dame went undefeated (13-0) throughout the regular season and was the runner-up in regional play, enabling the Fighting Irish to qualify for the state tournament.

The top two teams from each of the four regions qualify for the state tournament.

“It’s so exciting, we’re so proud,” Notre Dame coach Krista Paugh said. “They all come out and try 100% of the time. They stay after practice; they practice on weekends; they keep their grades up; every single one of them is in the Honor Society, and they’re really good humans. They’re fun to be around, and it’s fun to see them accomplish it. We’re really, really proud of them.”

No. 5 Notre Dame will face No. 4 Charleston Catholic in the state tournament at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Kanawha City Community Center in Charleston.

The winner of that match will face the winner of the match between No. 1 Williamstown and No. 8 Weir.

The other side of the girls bracket includes No. 3 Logan versus No. 6 Oak Glen as well as No. 2 Chapmanville versus No. 7 Shady Spring. Those matches are on Thursday as well.

Coach Paugh pointed out that while the Notre Dame girls tennis program has had a member of its team qualify for the state tournament in the past, it has been several years since that happened. None of the current players on the roster have been to state.

“It’s great because we’ve never been, so it’s exciting,” Austyn Paugh, who often plays No. 1 singles and doubles, said.

Notre Dame’s full roster, including seeded and unseeded players, includes: juniors Austyn Paugh, Rachel Baker, Emily Besten and Molly Korn; sophomores Piper Fryer, Lexi Shaffer and Caroline Lewis; and freshmen Emily Fitch, Francesca Reed and Brayden Paugh.

“Amazing,” coach Paugh said when asked what it was like to see the team’s improvement throughout the year. “We have two (seeded) freshmen on the team; it’s their very, very first year ever playing. They’re seeded players, and they have improved tremendously.

“We have our No. 2 doubles girl, this is her first year playing. We don’t have any seniors, we have all juniors (as our oldest players). We have Austyn (Paugh), she has played for three years and has played the most, and then Emily (Besten) and Piper (Fryer) have played two years. We’re a young team, and they’ve improved a lot.”

Throughout the season, Austyn Paugh, Besten, Fryer and Reed have primarily played in singles rounds. Austyn Paugh and Besten (No. 1 doubles), Fryer and Shaffer (No. 2 doubles) and Reed and Brayden Paugh (No. 3 doubles) round out doubles play.

“I would say the strategy of it, the mind part of it, we’ve told them is so important,” Notre Dame assistant coach Cindy Iquinto said when asked which aspect of the game she has seen the most improvement in. “The mind part of sports in tennis is so important. Stay strong, don’t get down on yourself, and I think they have come a really long way on their mental and their physical game.”

Iquinto also credits the competition that Notre Dame has faced in its region, which has required the Fighting Irish to make long-distance trips to Moorefield and Petersburg.

“We have a pretty tough region,” Iquinto said. “There’s about 14 teams, I think, in our region. And some of them are a little far away, so it makes for (long) trips, and much bigger schools. Single and double A are together in tennis, so we are small but mighty. But we have faced a lot of pretty good competition this year — great people, great teams, great coaches.”

Notre Dame has played its home matches at the Bridgeport Country Club this year. Some of its victories this season include: a 6-1 victory over Trinity Christian; a 5-2 win over Lewis County; a 6-0 win over Moorefield; a 4-3 victory over Lincoln; a 7-0 win over Grafton; a 4-3 victory over Liberty; a 7-0 win over Robert C. Byrd; a 5-2 win over Elkins; a 5-2 win over Petersburg; and a 4-3 victory over Parkersburg Catholic among others.

“It definitely helps us, especially since we’ve played tougher competitors, but it’s been good,” Besten said when asked if Notre Dame’s regular season schedule prepared it for the state competition.

Notre Dame’s coaches thanked the team’s manager as well as the players’ parents for everything they did this season.

“We also would like to give a shoutout to our team manager, Jill (Hollen), and all of our wonderful parents and families, because in a tennis match, we could be out here for five hours, and people just sit and watch and everyone’s in a good mood and supports us,” Iquinto said. “Anything we need, they’re always here, so we appreciate it.”