Bethel-Tate senior Chloe Henderson finished her high school tennis career at the district tournament last week.

Bethel-Tate senior Chloe Henderson finished her high school tennis career at the district tournament last week.
By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

The Southwest Ohio District tennis tournament was a story of two different ends of the spectrum for the local athletes involved: Milford’s Amanda Reinhart and Bethel-Tate’s Chloe
Henderson.

While both Reinhart and Anderson were making their first individual appearances at the district tournament, the two Clermont County products were on the opposite ends of their respective high school careers.

For Henderson, a senior, the advancement to districts was the culmination of a successful final season in the scarlet and gray while Reinhart, a freshman, solidified herself as one of the most talented up-and-coming players in the area.

Neither player was able to advance past the first round of the district tournament, ending their seasons on the blue courts of the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, yet both could find solace in the fact that they had accomplished something truly special in 2014.

Reinhart lost to Carley Sickinger of Miamisburg High School, the No. 1 seed coming out of the Dayton sectional in three sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

“I think the nerves were definitely there,” Milford head coach Claire Smalley said. “She’s young and to make it to districts her freshman year is a huge accomplishment in and of itself.

“She played well, but just not consistently — she was making some unforced errors. After making some adjustments, she came back and won the second set, so that tells you that what she can do when she figures out what she wants to do and sticks to that game plan.”

The district loss culminated a season that saw Reinhart go 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. She also finished second in the end-of-the-season tournament.

Having done so well her first season, Reinhart and Smalley are encouraged and inspired by what could be to come for the Lady Eagles top singles player.

“(Reinhart) has a natural confidence, that ‘it’ factor that you can’t coach. When she walks on the court, she has no fear,” Smalley explained. “She has three more years to get better and that’s exciting because she hasn’t hit her peak.

“She’s a state contender and that’s what our goal is now. We want her to move up each year. My goal this year was to move someone on to districts and we did that. Now, we want to do one better and build off (of what we’ve accomplished) and prepare her for college. She’s a Division I tennis player if that’s what she wants.”

On the other side of the coin, Henderson wrapped up a career that saw her rise to become the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division Player of the Year this season following an undefeated mark in the league.

Playing district runner-up and state qualifier Jillian Milano of Carroll High School, Henderson fell in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the district tournament. Despite her early exit from the tournament, the senior helped put her school on the proverbial map and received a groundswell of support from her town.

“Being her last year, (Henderson) wanted to go out with a bang,” Bethel-Tate head coach Susan Morrison said. “She showed that (Bethel) is a small town, but we can really play tennis. We don’t get this opportunity that much, but we pulled together as a community to support Chloe.”