Four seniors lead the charge as tennis Hounds seek another successful regional title defense

CHS Tennis Senior Kaiden Walden

With 21 consecutive titles for the boys’ team, and 13 consecutive titles for the girls, the Corbin High School tennis program is seeking to continue its absolute dominance in the region this spring, and four senior players are leading the way.

Allison Lundy and Abby Lunsford are doubles partners who are looking to finish their high school careers on a high note, and help add yet another trophy to the case for the Lady Hounds.

“Tennis is more mental than it is physical, in my opinion,” Lundy said. “It can be easy to beat yourself up when you make a mistake, which is why I like competing in doubles more. When you do make mistakes, you have someone else out there to talk to. It makes it easier to work through things.”

“Allison was actually the one who got me started with tennis,” Lunsford said. “It was challenging mentally and physically, but it gave me something to strive toward, and something to work on. There can be some stress at times, but it has helped me to become more resilient, and has improved my work ethic.”

When asked about the competition within the region this year, Lundy said that it is a little difficult to pinpoint exactly where everyone is right now since  the season just got underway in recent days, but she did mention North Laurel as a team to look out for, because they also feature some strong senior leadership.

Lunsford commented on the experience of getting to play at Corbin, saying, “There is some pressure, but at the same time, it gives you a feeling of pride to get to be a part of something like this. I just want to make the team proud, and hopefully help us win another region championship.”

Ben Mynatt is also a doubles specialist for the Redhounds, playing with his teammate, junior Jacob Frazier. He is also the senior on the team with the most overall experience, having competed in tennis since his freshman year at CHS.

“I didn’t know anything about tennis when I started playing,” Mynatt said. “I hadn’t played many sports, but I wanted to get into something to get into shape and get healthier. It started out as more of a hobby, but it has developed into the most competitive aspect of my life.”

Speaking about how things are looking for the Corbin boys team in 2023, Mynatt said, “The team is young, but everyone is really willing to work. I have a lot of confidence in myself and my partner. I think we have a chemistry that many other teams don’t have.”

Finally, after turning heads with her performance on the court as a newcomer in 2022, Kaiden Walden is hoping to build on her success as a singles competitor in her final year at Corbin.

Walden, whose athletic background is mostly in soccer, said it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to excel in a new sport, but she is glad that she made the move.

“I started at the bottom, not having played my whole life,” Walden said. “It was definitely hard, but I think that me playing soccer before has definitely helped me. I had to learn a lot of form with tennis, but you need to have good footwork in both sports, so it correlates. You also have to be quick.”

Even though Walden proved to be a fast learner on the tennis court, she said that her overall lack of experience still makes her feel like the underdog in most situations. “I have to get a good warm-up in before my matches,” she explained. “And I have to get out of my own head when I’m out on the court. If I lose a point, I might think back on it and ask, ‘What did I do wrong,’ or ‘How can I fix it?’ That is definitely something that I have to work on, because if you get frustrated with yourself out there, then your level of play will go down.”

Walden admits that she has placed some high expectations on herself as a senior Lady Hound, but she feels that if she can stay loose and keep things from getting too tense, then she will be able to accomplish her goals.

“I definitely have high hopes,” Walden said. “We have to focus on doing what we need to do in the region, but beyond that, we want to go back to state and do better once we get there.”

The Corbin High School tennis teams have gotten off to a great start in recent weeks, with several important dates on the schedule in the days ahead.

After spring break, they will travel to Whitley County and Oneida Baptist Institute before welcoming in Lexington Christian Academy and Knox Central for their next pair of home matches.

This year’s regional tennis competitions will take place in mid-May, with state-level competition occurring in late-May/early-June.