Just as she did at the region meet last month, Victoria Lopez Rodriguez is quickly making her name known in tennis circles in the state.
The Fort Campbell junior upset the No. 9 seed in the KHSAA girls’ singles’ state tournament before falling in the second round — the farthest a Fort Campbell girls’ tennis player has advanced at state since 1992.
Lopez Rodriguez beat East Jessamine’s Lydia Prince 3-6, 6-2, 1-0, winning the tie-breaker 10-7. She used a strong first serve in the second set after getting over some first set jitters. Prince, who advanced to the third round of the state tournament as a sophomore, was a No. 9 seed at state this year. Prince has signed to play tennis at Georgetown College.
Lopez Rodriguez lost her second-round match to Beechwood senior Katherine Taylor 6-1, 6-3. Unlike Prince who played a more volley style, Taylor was all power and kept Lopez Rodriguez off-balance for most of the match.
Down 4-0 in the second set, Lopez Rodriguez rallied to win three straight points before Taylor, who has signed to play tennis at Transylvania University, finished the match with the final two points.
Taylor, who advanced to the second round as a sophomore, will face No. 2 seed and University of Kentucky signee Ellie Eades of Sacred Heart Academy in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
