Iowa High School Tennis Season Comes to end with mixed doubles tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — The culture that is tennis at Cedar Rapids Xavier was on display Tuesday in Waterloo.

As the season concluded with the annual mixed doubles state tournament at Byrnes Park, the Saints were looking to make one final piece of history. Both the girls’ and boys programs’ already had completed the "double-triple,“ sweeping Class 1A state titles in singles, doubles and the team events.

It’s a feat that had never been accomplished in the long history of high school tennis in Iowa.

The Xavier senior duo of Ruby Smith and Tyler Jasper came up short in the mixed doubles final, dropping a 7-6, 6-3 decision to Kate Holton and Parker Stroh of Waterloo Columbus. Two other Saints seniors, Isabel Tobin and Bradey Johnson, finished in fourth.

Girls head coach Matt Foxhoven, who handled the coaching duties on Tuesday, and boys’ coach Jim Potts have celebrated just how close their teams have been all season.

"It was kind of a surreal feeling (Tuesday)," Foxhoven said. "Both programs had great seniors and the coed tournament is such a fun way to honor those seniors and let them go out together.

"These four have grown up playing tennis together. They were all talking about playing in a tournament against each other in 5th grade. They are all great friends and it was a fun way for them to end their careers."

Foxhoven said the four seniors all came a long way since coming in as freshmen. The four seniors were a part of 25 state place-winning performances between team, individual and co-ed events

"That's pretty amazing considering none of them played in the varsity lineup their freshman year," Foxhoven said.

Jasper relished the opportunity to have one more opportunity to represent Xavier, playing alongside Smith. Even though they came up short in the final, he said the year was one to remember.

"It's just awesome," Jasper said of the Saints’ domination this season. "We were able to go support the girls and they have been there to support us."

The numbers put up by both teams were impressive. The only dual loss suffered by either team was the boys falling to Class 2A state runner-up Prairie in the regular season. Gabi Fleming won the girls’ singles title while Smith and Tobin took doubles honors. For the boys, Charlie LeGrand won the singles crown with Bennett Link and Jacob Schmit prevailing in doubles.

"I think this group of kids made things possible this year, I can only speak for the girls' side of things but our team was very connected on what goals they wanted to accomplish this year," Foxhoven said. "We had a group of girls that were just as excited for their teammates to win as they were."

Foxhoven went on to add this about the culture:

"We speak a lot about leading by example and leaving the program in a better place," he said. "I have been very fortunate to have teams that grow through their time in the program and when they reach their senior year they really embrace that leadership role.

"Izzy and Ruby really took that to heart, they watched (2024 graduate) Avery Link last year and how she handled things and kept building on that."

There will be plenty of changes the next time both teams take the court. The girls’ season in Iowa is moving to the fall, meaning Foxhoven's team will be back on the court in a little under two months. The boys will have a new leader next spring as Potts, after winning six state titles in his 12 seasons, has retired.

Potts' replacement has not yet been named, but Foxhoven said it will not be him.

"I work outside the schools so it's just too difficult to get away for two seasons," he said. "I am sure there will be plenty of people looking to take over that program and what Jim has built."