Rising Star Roadtrip: Larned’s Abby Holt aims to be school’s first singles champion

LARNED, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - After being one of the top names in girls class 3-2-1A tennis, Abby Holt of Larned is ready for her role as a leader as a senior this season.

“She’s just not shy about saying ‘Okay, let’s do this drill instead,” said Larned head tennis coach Mark Lessard. “I sometimes may want to not go as hard with the girls and she’s like ‘No let’s do it.’”

In her first two years of high school, she found success on the court in doubles, with her partner being none other than her sister.

“It was a great experience, I loved it,” Holt said. “My parents actually joked they’re like, I don’t know if that’s going to work. But Kathryn and I, we had a blast together.”

After her sophomore season, she lost her doubles partner to graduation. So instead, she took the court as a single. It dodnt seem to matter much as the wins kept piling up all season long for the now Larned senior.

“I actually remember my first singles tournament last year... It was so different than doubles because I didn’t have a partner,” Holt said. “As we saw. It’s worked out pretty well.”

Worked out pretty well may be on the modest side, as in her first season competing as a single, she made it all the way to the state semifinals.

“She was developing throughout the year and peaked at the right time,” said Lassard. “[She] peaked at regionals and peaked at state.”

“It was a whirlwind,” said Holt. “It was definitely an exhausting day. But I would say I’m a pretty gritty player and a pretty gritty person. I just got down and fought hard for it. And it was it was a lot of fun too, for sure.”

Now after getting that close to the top, Holt is hopeful to finish the job off as a senior and etch her name into the Larned history books as the first singles champion to go through the school.

“Oh, it would be pretty awesome,” Holt said. “I would like that.”

“My fear was that she was satisfied with [her finish last year] and wouldn’t want to work hard for her senior year and just kind of coast,” said Lassard. “She has been working her rear off to improve.”

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