Tennis has hit the regional tournament in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association postseason and the Ninth and 10th region girls have found their singles and doubles champions.
Conner’s Natalie Elleman won the singles crown while Ryle’s pairing of Avery Love and Niveditha Selvaraju won the doubles bracket for the third consecutive season. In the 10th Region, a pair of Scott players met in the final for the singles title.
Here are the results from the girls 9th and 10th Region tournaments, including the state tournament qualifiers.
Conner’s Natalie Elleman wins battle in Ninth Region singles final
A year ago, Elleman missed a berth in the KHSAA state tournament after losing 6-1, 6-1 to Cooper’s Kayla Johnson in the Ninth Region quarterfinals. This season, on May 11, Elleman met and took down Johnson for the Ninth Region championship.
Elleman, a senior, had a bye in the opening round before beating Newport Central Catholic’s Anna Zechella 6-0, 6-2 in the round of 16 and Villa Madonna’s Victoria Sebald 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. The win over Sebald sent Elleman to the semifinals, which meant she had qualified to the state tournament. In the semis, Elleman dispatched of Notre Dame junior Lilliana Berling 7-6(7-5), 6-3.
Johnson, also a senior, beat Beechwood sophomore Emma Ahlers in the semifinals to meet Elleman in the finals.
Johnson claimed the opening set over Elleman, but the Conner senior worked through to take a tiebreaker and set two before wrapping up the 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (11-9) victory.
Ryle’s Selvaraju and Love repeat as regional doubles champions
For the third consecutive season, Ryle senior Avery Love and freshman Niveditha Selvaraju claimed the Ninth Region doubles championship.
The duo won for the first time in 2024 when Love was a sophomore and Selvaraju was just a seventh-grader.
In the 2026 tournament, the pair went right into the round of 16, thanks to a bye, where they beat Beechwood’s Ellie Stamm and Annabel Arlinghaus 6-0, 6-1 before beating Newport Central Catholic’s Lilly Middendorf and Hailey Ryan 6-1, 6-0. In the semifinals, they beat Conner’s Bethany Arnett and Aurora Sandfoss 6-2, 6-1.
On the other side of the net in the finals were Notre Dame juniors Isabella McElwee and Malia Christensen.
McElwee and Christensen beat Beechwood junior Cassidy Derry and senior Isabella Norvell 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6) in the semifinals, avenging a loss from last year’s regional semifinal.
Selvaraju and Love took the final round 6-0, 6-0 over McElwee and Christensen.
Scott’s Beatreice Chiessi beats teammate Lovell in 10th Region final
It was an all-Scott High School final in the 10th Region singles final, pitting junior Beatrice Chiessi against senior Kaylin Lovell in the championship round.
The younger Chiessi took the friendly rivalry, winning 6-3, 6-0.
Campbell County senior Isabella Jayasuriya reached the semifinals, falling to Lovell 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7). Campbell County also qualified a doubles pair to state. Senior Grace Heidelberg and sophomore Izzy Hardin reached the championship semifinals, falling to the eventual runner-up team from Bourbon County.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ryle, Conner, Scott girls win KHSAA Region 9 and 10 tennis titles
