Vermilion Catholic tennis teams each win a state title

The Vermilion Catholic boys’ and girls’ tennis teams traveled to Monroe on Monday for the Division IV LHSAA State Tennis Tournament. They left Tuesday with three state championships, including the girls’ doubles, girls’ team, and boys’ team titles.
While VC had previously claimed an individual state tennis championship, neither the boys nor girls had ever won a team championship. Tuesday, they killed two birds with one stone.
Vermilion Catholic head tennis coach Duane Dartez knew he had a talented team going in, but talent alone doesn’t win championships.
 “We knew we had something special,” Dartez said. But you have to put it together, and they did. People are really surprised by the unity of our team in an individual sport.”
Emma Williams and Ali Broussard claimed the Division IV girl’s doubles championship in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, over Louise McGehee. That victory avenged the semifinal loss for their teammates and secured the team championship for the Lady Eagles.
Heading into the finals, the sophomore duo knew they needed to win that match to win the team title. Instead of feeling the pressure, the girls used it as motivation.
 “It was a big deal because the team needed that point win the title,” Broussard said. “After the semifinals, we knew the boys were in the lead and would win. We had to win it for the girls.”
 After dropping the first set, Broussard and Williams fell behind in the second set 3-0. Instead of giving up, the girls found a way.
“We easily could have given up,” Broussard said. “Three more points and they were state champs. But that was the strongest we’ve ever been mentally. We just kept going, and we got it.”
In the third set, Williams pointed to the fight to win deuce with the score 4-3 as the moment she realized they were on their way to winning.
 “We went to deuce a bunch of times,” Williams said. When we finally won it, we were like, hey, we got this.”
As for the game, set, match, and championship point, the girls were up 40-30, trying to break their opponent’s serve. They rallied back and forth until Louis MeGehee’s return sailed out.
   “I was receiving,” Williams said. “I was just focused on returning it to them and waiting for them to mess up. We went back and forth a few times. Finally, the other girl hit one, and it sailed out. I was like oh my gosh!”
As soon as the ball landed out, the celebration started.
“We started jumping up and down, screaming and crying,” said Broussard. “It was like – Oh my God! We just won it!”
“Our individual win gave us the points we needed so that our whole team won the state championship. It wasn’t just us. Everyone was so excited because we all got the title. It was awesome.”
John Fontenot secured the boys’ team title with his semifinal victory. The junior reached the finals this year after advancing to the semifinals as a freshman and the quarterfinals as a sophomore.
Fontenot cruised to the semis, only losing three games in the first three rounds. In his semifinal matchup, he defeated Andrew Kautz of St. Mary’s in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
In the finals, Fontenot lost 6-4, 6-1 to Patrick LaForge of St. Martin’s Episcopal. However, Fontenot wasn’t discouraged by his individual defeat. His goal was the team title.
“Of course, I wanted to win the individual state championship,” Fontenot said. “But it meant more to me to get that big trophy and bring it to school. The whole time, it wasn’t about me winning. It was about counting the points to ensure we’d secure the team title if I won my semifinal match.”
“It was really emotional for me,” Fontenot continued. “This is what I worked for since I was 10 years old. It felt good to help bring the first boys tennis team state title to VC. It was really special to me.”
Now that he brought the big trophy home to VC, Fontenot’s future goal is that individual title.
“I have to win now,” Fontenot exclaimed.” I have to win the whole thing individually. Hopefully, that comes with another team title.”
Fontenot pointed to the support from the VC community as to why a small 1A school in Vermilion Parish can consistently contend for state championships in various sports.
“It means everything,” Fontenot said. “For my semifinal match, most of our team was already done. But they all stayed, and they all came to support me. It means so much when you look up, and you see all those faces cheering for you. Even when I lose, they’re there to be there with me. They support me no matter what the result is.”