Ecksteins win Class 1A mixed doubles championship

Luke and Adrienne Eckstein shared a house, meals, vacations and all the other things siblings share, literally their entire lives.

Until a month ago, however, they’d rarely shared the tennis court. Both were singles players, or paired up in other doubles teams, and the three-year age difference between them meant they didn’t pair up very often for mixed doubles.

That changed in this year’s Class 1A individual tournament. Matched together for mixed doubles, the St. Aloysius tandem ran roughshod over the competition and now share something precious — a state championship.

The Ecksteins won the Class 1A mixed doubles title in the MHSAA individual tournament last week in Jackson by sweeping through three matches in two days.

“It’s really satisfying,” said Adrienne Eckstein, a freshman. “I realize it’s going to be Luke’s last match in high school tennis, and it’s a good way to end it. I let him give me a hug.”

Luke Eckstein, a senior, capped off a memorable perosnal sports year with the victory.

He finished 13th at the Class 1A cross country meet in November to earn all-state honors. He was a Vicksburg Post all-county selection in basketball. In track, he medaled in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs while helping St. Al win the Class 1A team championship.

He’s also in line to be the co-valedictorian of St. Al’s Class of 2015 with a 4.61 weighted GPA — Jacob Kitchens has the same GPA — and has received an appointment to West Point.

Getting into the U.S. Military Academy was obviously the highlight, he said, and the success in sports has only added to a tremendous senior year.

“That was my life’s goal. I didn’t think there was much I could do after that, and it keeps getting better and better,” Luke said. “It was nice to have everything come together. In each sport, at different times we had difficult periods. It’s been a great run. Everything kind of culminated this year.”

The Ecksteins’ tennis tag team came together late in the season. In tennis, players often pair up or split up to try for doubles or singles championships in the individual state tournament,

St. Al’s Aaron Mathis opted to play in the boys’ singles tournament, and made it to the finals before losing to Tupelo Christian Prep’s Hank Leathers. Mathis finished second for the third consecutive year.

Lexa Baldizon, another senior, took girls singles, and the Ecksteins paired up for mixed doubles. They hadn’t played doubles together in high school before, but being brother and sister smoothed over some of the communications issues. It also caused some tension.

“It’s a different dynamic. You know each other better than anyone, their strengths and weaknesses, and you have to do things differently too, as far as how you treat each other,” Luke Eckstein said.

The siblings left any disagreements on the court, however, and were soon rolling through the Class 1A tournament bracket.

They didn’t lose a set in three matches at the state tournament. The closest was a 6-4, 6-2 win over Cathedral’s Silas Whitaker and Natalie Fletcher in the semifinals.

Both Luke and Adrienne Eckstein pointed to that match as key to their championship run, and not just because it got them into the finals.

Luke said he was off his game, and it was his younger sister that steadied the ship and carried them on to the finals against Greenville-St. Joe’s Craig Gardiner and Olivia DeAngelo.

“Our second match was closer than the finals, and she helped us through that one. She was a little more steady, and I didn’t play well at all,” Luke said. “They had enough skill to give us a lot of trouble. We figured something out and got past them.”

By contrast, the championship match was a cakewalk. Both Luke and Adrienne played well, and they took advantage of a favorable style matchup to beat the Greenville-St. Joe duo 6-2, 6-2.

“We’d seen them before in district. We were wary of them, but knew what skills they had and how to beat them,” Luke said.

When the match ended, Adrienne let Luke have his hug and they each got a gold medal for their efforts. They also got a family memory to treasure.

“It’s always special when you can share something with your family, especially with something as competitive as tennis when people aren’t just going to let you have it,” Luke Eckstein said.