Perfect start propels New Trier to 4th straight state crown — a first for Trevians tennis

As New Trier tennis coach Jerry Morse-Karen tells it, being part of a team is fun.

“It’s fun to take a bus ride. It’s fun to take a road trip. It’s fun to do activities as a team that are non-tennis — keep things fun, keep things interesting,” he said.

And, of course, winning is fun, and the Trevians do plenty of that, as proven once again in the IHSA Class 2A championships Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 21-23.

New Trier topped the field to win a fourth straight state championship — the first four-peat in New Trier tennis (boys or girls) history.

The Trevians finished with 37 points, 10 more than runnerup Highland Park (27 points), which earned the first state trophy in its history. Hinsdale Central (23) placed third, Wheaton-Warrenville South (22) fourth and Conant (21) fifth.

The North Shore was also represented well in the 1A field, where Deerfield earned its second consecutive state championship and Lake Forest placed fourth. North Shore Country Day’s Evie Drexler was the 1A singles runnerup.

The result gave New Trier its 13th state championship, including one as New Trier West; seventh state trophy in a row; and 12th in the past 16 seasons.

Leading the way for New Trier was senior Julia Ludwig, who finished second in the singles bracket, falling to state champ Estela Loureiro 6-2, 6-3 in the finale.

Ludwig was trailing 5 games to 0 in the second set, before putting pressure on Loureiro, a training partner of hers, with a three-game run.

“I think I was really nervous … playing in front of all those people,” Ludwig said about her start to the championship match. “So it definitely took time … but in the second set, being down 5-0, I think that helped me relax a little bit and I was able to play more free.

“But it was a really good match and we’re really good friends… I see her like every week.”

Ludwig, along with teammate Ingrid Fiedler, came into the tournament seeded in the 5-8 grouping. Ludwig began her weekend with three straight-set wins on Thursday, including 6-3, 6-1 over seeded Khrystyna Pivtorak, of Conant.

That set her up for a Friday showdown with top-seeded Jessie Janiak, a freshman from Lyons. Ludwig controlled the match to win 6-2, 6-4, pushing her through to a semifinal against fellow senior Lucy Stein, of Oak Park-River Forest.

Ludwig and Stein faced off in the 2025 IHSA 2A third-place bout, a three-set match that Ludwig came back to win. She repeated history on Friday, outlasting Stein with an epic 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 result.

“We had an amazing match. The third set was amazing. We were both right there and it could have gone either way,” Ludwig said.

The weekend experience marked Ludwig’s fourth time competing in the IHSA 2A championships in four years. She finished third as a junior, and her first two years competed with Coco Zabel in doubles. They won four matches in 2024 and placed sixth in 2023.

And, of course, all four years the Trevians won the 2A team state title.

“Julia seems to be a constant,” Morse-Karzen pointed out. “She’s a pretty good person to have. … She’s kind of special, don’t you think?”

New Trier’s weekend began on the best of notes, as all four Trevians entries won their three opening matches on the first day, Thursday, Oct. 22.

The perfect start gave New Trier 24 team points and a significant advantage heading into the second day. Then, with Ludwig and Hermann-Orlando gaining eight more total points with consolation wins, the Trevians took a commanding advantage en route to the title.

“It gave us a lot of confidence going into the second day, knowing we were all in the quarterfinals,” Ludwig said. “It pushed us to even do better and see how we could go. It was an amazing run as a team.”

Junior Ingrid Fiedler finished in sixth place, claiming her third medal in three years (also 6th in 2025, ’24).

Doubles team of Lily Hermann, a senior, and Olivia Orlando, a sophomore, placed fourth. The pair won their first four matches before running into state champs Riley Lepsi and Reese Lepsi, of Wheaton-Warrenville South. They then fell 6-3, 6-4 to Maine South’s Emma Militaru and Kristina Nikolova in the third-place match.

Seniors Annabel Kim and Zeyn Malm went 4-2 on the weekend, advancing to the consolation semifinals.

New Trier’s four-peat is the first in IHSA girls tennis since Hinsdale Central (2007-2010), which also had a three-peat in 2014-’16. Oak Park-River Forest has the other girls tennis four-peat from 1972-’75. No girls tennis program has one five straight state championships.

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