KNOXVILLE, Tn.- The season for the Women's Tennis team has come to an end as the Royals wrap up their season with a final record of 11-11.
For the Royals, this season saw high levels of success for the team as well as individuals. The Royals as a whole had the highest individual match winning percentage in the ten year history of the program and the first time winning over 50% of their matches. They also saw an increase in the number of conference wins and qualified for the AAC Tennis Tournament for the first time. The Royals were led in both singles and doubles wins by sophomore Paola Testa who became the All-Time winningest player in the history of either Johnson tennis programs. Throughout the season, Junior Lauren Murray earned the top spot on the All-Time doubles wins list and joined Caitlyn Bowling on the All-Time top 5 wins list overall.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference also recognized a handful of Royals tennis players for accomplishments throughout the year. Freshman Haley Thompson was named a member on the All-AAC freshman team. Thompson had a breakout freshman campaign earning 10 singles wins and 15 wins overall, including the clinching point against Point University which sent the team to the Conference Tournament. Sophomore Paola Testa was named to the AAC Champions of Character team for displaying the five core values of integrity, responsibility, respect, servant leadership, and sportsmanship. The AAC also honored 6 Royals, Brooke Hilemon, Lauren Murray, Caitlyn Bowling, Paola Testa, Halle Leslie, and Haley Thompson, to the All-Academic Team for their accomplishments within the classroom.
The Royals will bid farewell to lone senior Brooke Hilemon who graduated this past year and competed on the Royals team while finishing her first year of graduate school. Hilemon leaves the Royals having contributed to the 2nd most team wins in the history of the program. As the lone senior, Hilemon served a valuable leadership role for the team for the past two seasons.
Coach Hale summed up the end of the season, "This season was one where we really got to see some pieces click and I'm so proud of the overall growth throughout the season. With only one senior and one junior on the team, we were mostly competing with Freshmen and Sophomores and we seemed to have a new breakthrough every week. We peaked well and were playing our best tennis at the end of the season and we saw the results by qualifying for the tournament for the first time. We will definitely miss Brooke on the court next year as she played all up and down the lineup to give others some opportunities and constantly displayed the fight and attitude we want to model here at Johnson. That being said, with a majority of the team coming back, I'm really excited to keep building next year!"
The Royals will return six players next year and are still building their incoming class to prepare for another successful year in 2023-2024!