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Senior Kylie Hornbeck wins sixth at State

Head tennis coach Meghan Parrott recalls the day a quiet little girl, with no ego and no attitude, came walking up to the tennis courts and blew everyone away.

‘She was unexpected,’ Parrott said.

This little girl was senior Kylie Hornbeck, four years ago.

As this year’s co-captain who has held the number one position on the team all four years, Hornbeck recently ended her STA tennis career with a sixth place finish in singles and a third place team finish at State Oct. 24.  Hornbeck has been to State three out of her four years at STA with a top 12 finish in singles sophomore year and a seventh place in doubles junior year with doubles partner ‘Ëœ09 alumna JoEllen Redlingshafer.

According to Parrott, Hornbeck leads by example.

‘She’s all action, not talk,’ Parrott said.  ‘A lot of people can say the right thing.  [Hornbeck] just does it.’

Hornbeck’s favorite STA tennis memory comes from the Sectional finals of this year.  It was cold and late on the night of the Teresian dance; all of the other STA girls were busy having dinner with their dates while Hornbeck and her doubles partner, freshman Murphy Marx, were down 5-3 in a match against Park Hill High School.  This match decided whether or not the team would advance to State.

According to Parrott, when Hornbeck came over to talk to her, Parrott told Hornbeck, ‘You can do this.’

‘It was like a switch went on,’ Parrott said.  ‘[Hornbeck] said, ‘ËœOkay.  We can do this.’  And [she and Marx] went out there and won four games in a row.’

To make it to the Sectional finals, Hornbeck and Marx had to play Liberty High School’s number one position, senior Leslee Feldhaus, and her doubles partner.  Hornbeck and Feldhaus have played in many games over the years with Hornbeck winning three and Feldhaus four.  Hornbeck lost to Feldhaus in doubles freshman year, doubles and singles sophomore year, doubles junior year, and beat Feldhaus in singles junior year and both singles and doubles this year.

‘[Hornbeck is a] smart player,’ Feldhaus said.  ‘She never gets rattled even when she is losing, she’s level headed. She’s a strong singles and doubles player.’

Parrott agrees that Hornbeck is a strong player.

‘This is a team, but [Hornbeck] is a key, key foundational part of that,’ Parrott said.  ‘She is an excellent tennis player.  She runs into very tough competition and she just fights.  She works and she listens to criticism and coaching.  She has carried this team on her back.  She made it happen.’

Hornbeck said she has practiced hard and played a lot to get to where she is and Parrott believes Hornbeck is not even done improving.

According to Hornbeck, she is sad to see her final season of tennis at STA come to a close.

‘It’s been so much fun all four years,’ Hornbeck said.  ‘I’ll miss the STA tennis team.’

Parrott said she will really miss Hornbeck.

‘We’ve grown up together, me as a coach and her as a player,’ Parrott said.  ‘It’s been fun to watch her grow up.’

As for the future, Hornbeck hopes to play college in tennis, but has not yet decided whether it will be varsity or club.

‘I think wherever I go, I’ll be playing tennis,’ Hornbeck said.

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