Triplets are a component of a strong returning lineup for the Worthington Christian girls tennis team.
Attention opponents of the Worthington Christian girls tennis team: you might think you’re seeing double, but there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight. Junior Elise, Tori, and Evie Bourgeois are a set of triplets playing for the Warriors, and, just to add a little bit of fun to the mix, they threw in a cousin, Alaina Bourgeois, who also plays in the lineup.
Elise enjoys the confusion the four create.
“It’s really fun,” Elise said with a chuckle. “Teams will be playing us, and they will see one of us. And then they see another. And another. I remember someone saying last year, ‘I keep seeing more of you.’”
And that might not be a good thing for opponents. Combining the Bourgeois clan with a host of returning players might make the Warriors a tough team to beat.
Worthington Christian returns all but two starters from last year’s team that went from being a 7-8 finisher in 2023 to a 16-2 finisher last year under first-year coach Angela Flanigan.
“We went about doing things a little differently and had a great turnaround last year,” said Flanigan, whose team opened the season against Westerville North on Aug. 13. “We had a deep team, which helped. My goal is to have at least the same kind of record, but every year is different. You must replace starters and build again.”
Replacing graduates Emma Flanigan, Coach Flanigan’s daughter, who is now playing at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, and Brooke Stone won’t be easy. Stone and Emma Flanigan were two-time Division II Central District tournament qualifiers.
As juniors, Stone and Emma Flanigan won a doubles title at the Division II sectional tournament at Columbus School for Girls and lost in the quarterfinals of the district tournament.
Last year, the two returned to the district tournament, only with different partners. After placing second in the CSG sectional tournament, Emma Flanigan and junior Juliette Piper lost to Columbus Academy’s Tamanna Arya and Sophie Wu, the eventual district champions, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the district tournament. Stone and senior Avi Gullion took third at the sectional tournament. They defeated Cambridge’s Emma Krise and Miranda Cole 7-6, 7-5 in the district’s first round but were tripped up by Arya and Wu 6-2, 6-0 in a semifinal.
Coach Flanigan said it’s hard not to see the two graduates at practice this year.
“It’s sad because Emma’s my daughter, but I think a lot of the kids were close to (those two) last year,” she said.
“(Our strength last year) was team unity. Last year, we were so close and loved being together. They worked hard and pushed themselves and each other.
“We must take on a new personality this year and let these new girls step up and take on leadership roles.”
The Warriors should have a deep team this season. Piper, who was 15-1 playing singles last season, is expected to take over the first singles role while Elise Bourgeois (16-4 playing singles) moves into the second singles slot. Junior Brianna Woodruff, who was 6-1 in a limited role with the team last year, slides into third singles.
In doubles, Gullion, the lone senior in the lineup, and Tori Bourgeois are expected to play first doubles while Evie and Alaina Bourgeois take over at second doubles. Gullion was 19-0 in doubles with Stone last year, while Tori and Evie Bourgeois were 13-3 in doubles.
For the postseason last year, all three of the Bourgeois triplets played singles. After taking third at the sectional tournament, Elise was the team’s lone singles representative at the district tournament. She lost to Columbus Academy’s Gabrielle Stewart 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. At the sectional tournament, Tori Bourgeois lost to Bexley’s Gabbie Thelle 6-4, 6-3 in a quarterfinal while Evie Bourgeois outlasted Marion Pleasant’s Anya Miller 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round and Bexley’s Peyton Thelle 6-4, 6-2 in the second round before falling to the Unicorn’s Iva Karagirova 6-0, 6-0 in a quarterfinal.
Evie Bourgeois said that how she and Gullion talk with each other will make a huge difference.
“Communication is key in doubles,” Evie said. “If you’re not communicating well with your partner, it’s hard to play. You must say to each other, ‘Mine!’ ‘Yours!’ and ‘You’ve got it.’”
By the time they reached the postseason, Worthington Christian had seen most of the area’s top competition, with Academy, CSG, and Bexley all emerging out of the Central Buckeye League. All four of the Division II state qualifiers from the Central District (CSG’s Priya Mehta and Victoria Dizon, Academy’s Tamanna Arya and Sophie Wu in doubles, and Bexley’s Amiya Bowles and CSG’s Ava Karagirova in singles) came from the CBL. Bowles went on to claim the Division II state singles championship.
The Warriors finished third in league competition with a 6-2 record behind Academy (8-0) and Columbus School for Girls (7-1). Piper earned first-team All-CBL honors while Elise Bourgeois was a second-team selection and Emma Flanigan was a third-team pick.
Asked if repeated exposure to the best players in town helps prepare her team for the postseason, Angela Flanigan shrugged.
“I don’t know if that prepares you or not,” said coach Flanigan, whose team lost to Academy 4-1 and CSG 3-2 last year. “We have a lot of strong teams in our conference and a lot of (developing) teams. The Academy is always strong, Bowles is otherworldly good, and I don’t think CSG graduated anyone.
“For us, doubles will be the make-or-break factor. As a coach, you look at how their games complement each other. You must keep on trying until you find something that works.”