KANAWHA CITY, W.Va. — As a freshman, Huntington’s Sammie Mercer has spent the season practicing with and competing against older players in her first high school season.
The same can be said for University’s Alexander Nagy.
So it perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that neither was overwhelmed or daunted in their first time competing at the WVSSAC State Tennis Tournament.
Still, both wrapped up their ninth-grade seasons in grand fashion Saturday by securing Division I singles titles at the Kanawha City Community Center.
Later in the day, after doubles play was moved inside to the nearby Charleston Tennis Club due to rain, Mercer and Nagy made it two state championships as they were part of doubles title-winning teams.
“That wasn’t really on my mind,” Mercer said of being a freshman. “It didn’t bother me that there was an age difference. I always play up with my friends when I practice with them.”
For Mercer, a 6-0, 6-1 win over Wheeling Park’s Madeline Bradshaw in the final brought an end to a dominant showing throughout the singles bracket in which she won each of the first three matches, 8-0.
“I like to be loud and move around a lot. It helps me stay focused,” Mercer said. “I try to take every opponent like they’re the best player.”
The younger sister of former HHS tennis standout AJ Mercer, who has played collegiate tennis for both Kentucky and Tulane, Mercer was more focused on her ability and opponent instead of age.
“I thought to myself to play my game,” Mercer said, “and everybody told me I was good enough to win and just be true to myself.”
The same applied to Nagy, who had his way with George Washington’s Alexander Michael, 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
“He’s a hard hitter and I had to make sure he wasn’t on offense too much,” Nagy said. “I had to make sure I was the aggressor and that worked out well for me.”
Nagy was challenged throughout his semifinal win, which came by an 8-5 result over Cabell Midland’s Rayyan Oudghiri-Otmani.
During that same round, Michael topped the Hawks’ Kalman Nagy, the older brother of Alexander, with an 8-0 win to prevent a family affair in the singles final.
“I was kind of worried about that one,” Alexander Nagy said. “That might’ve been closer since we’re more familiar, and sadly it didn’t turn out that way, but it worked well for me.”
Yet the Nagy brothers still garnered desired hardware together later Saturday when they knocked off Michael and doubles partner Ali Elkansa 6-1, 6-2 in a championship match played indoors at the Charleston Tennis Club.
“I worked so hard in-season and during the offseason and it all paid off here,” Alexander Nagy said.
Mercer also made it two state championships on the day by joining forces with teammate Olivia Akers for a 6-0, 6-1 win against Bradshaw and Samantha Piko.
“I worked really hard to be able to get here,” Mercer said, “and I just tried to do what I do in practice and in other matches that led up to this.”