Blue chips: ODA family finishes another strong tennis summer

All three siblings finished top-three at the USTA National Doubles Championships in Orlando

By Ryan Kohn
| 11:10 a.m. August 29, 2018

Connor Krug, Liv Hovde, coach Heath Turpin, Ava Krug and Jake Krug celebrate after finishing high at the 2018 USTA National Doubles Championships. Courtesy photo.

East County
Sports

Lakewood Ranch's Krug family of tennis players finished off a strong season over the weekend and proved why all three The Out-of-Door Academy students desrve their five-star rankings from the Tennis Recruiting Network.

Jake and Connor Krug, high school sophomores, finished third in boys 16 division of the 2018 United States Tennis Association National Doubles Championships, which ran in Orlando Aug. 23-25. They received the tournament's "bronze ball" for their efforts, which included defeating Nicholas Vroman of Massachusetts and Casey Kania of Connecticut 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals, and South Carolina's Ashe Ray and Maxwell Smith 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-3 in the consolation finals. As of Aug. 29, Connor is ranked 12th in the Tennis Recruiting Network's national recruiting rankings and Jake 22nd.

Ava Krug, a seventh grader, also finished third at the USTA National Doubles Championships, taking the "bronze ball" in the girls 14 division with partner Liv Hovde of Texas. The pair defeated Harmony's Lilly Pleasant and Orlando's Lexington Reed 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and Isabella Brilliant (Meridian, Idaho) and Madison Smith (Bountiful, Utah) 7-5, 6-4 in the consolation finals. Ava Krug is ranked third in the national recruiting rankings.

author

Ryan Kohn

Ryan Kohn is the sports editor for Sarasota and East County and a Missouri School of Journalism graduate. He was born and raised in Olney, Maryland. His biggest inspirations are Wright Thompson and Alex Ovechkin. His strongest belief is that mint chip ice cream is unbeatable.