The state tennis tournament of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association in June is always a family reunion for Northern Kentucky’s most decorated family in the sport.
This year, the Molonys and the Husseys had another member to celebrate, when Covington Catholic sophomore Brady Hussey advanced to the semifinals of this year’s singles championships.
Hussey, the No. 2 seed in the tournament going in, lost in the semifinal round June 2 after losing in the round of 16 last year. But the sophomore has two more years to advance even further.
"That was the goal this year. That was the goal last year. It's just a matter of time." Hussey said June 2.
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As in a lot of big sports occasions, CovCath had a large cheering section rooting him on, including his family.
“When we travel to state, it’s a big family reunion,” Covington Catholic head tennis coach Al Hertsenberg said. “His parents were there. Grandparents, aunts and uncles. It’s a big family event.”
Hussey ended this season as a two-time Ninth Region singles champion, and also a regional champion in basketball.
Hussey was a regular starter on the basketball court, especially in the postseason, when he was a key part of the backcourt for the Colonels. He made several clutch shots to help the Colonels to the state semifinals, where they lost to Warren Central at Rupp Arena.
Being a champion in both sports at the same time has rarely been seen in Northern Kentucky. According to Hussey’s grandfather Kevin Molony, the last local athlete to win a regional title in both basketball and tennis in the same season was Highlands legend Scott Draud.
Draud, of course, was the Ninth Region’s all-time leading scorer in basketball for nearly 30 years before starring at Vanderbilt. But while he was at Highlands, he was a three-time regional champion in tennis singles and an All-American tennis player.
Hussey is the latest member of his family to make noise on the tennis court in Northern Kentucky.
His brother Austin was KHSAA state singles champion in 2013, runner-up in 2014 and a semifinalist in 2015.
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Their mother Kara Molony-Hussey is one of the top players in local history. She once played on the Women’s Tennis Association pro tour and was a No. 1 singles player on the University of Cincinnati women’s team.
She has 11 titles in the annual Cincinnati Met women’s amateur tennis tournament.
Kara Molony-Hussey and her sisters Lyndsey and Molly had decorated careers at Notre Dame Academy and beyond.
Kara and Lyndsey won the KHSAA state doubles championship in 1997. Molly won that title in 2001 with Jackie Villines, who went on to play for Xavier.
Molly and Lyndsey also have plenty of success in the Met tournament, and Lyndsey, now Maynard, is the head coach at Notre Dame.
Kara is the head teaching pro at Summit Hills Country Club in Crestview Hills. There, she not only works with her son but an endless line of other rising stars in Northern Kentucky high school tennis.
“She just always convinces me to keep grinding, working on every part of my game,” Brady said. “She’s always keeping me motivated. It’s all about repetition, working on your shots every day.”
Because of his basketball commitments, Brady had not played in a major tennis tournament since last August. So when he reached the state semifinals, he began to draw a lot of recruiting notice from elite college programs.
"Losing in the semifinals was a silver lining because people were able to see that he was still playing," Kara said. "Since the recruiting period began June 15, we've been taking a lot of calls."
Kara said a lot of top 25 programs have called her son, including most of the top 10.
Kara was inducted into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010, and the University of Cincinnati Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. At UC, she is still the women's tennis program's record holder for the most single-season (36) and career singles victories (106),
Coaching her son has been fun.
"He makes it easy to have a mother-son relationship," she said. "He's very goal-oriented. Once he gets out there, he's all business."
According to Kevin Molony, Brady’s title this year is the 16th regional tennis title by a member of the extended family, and the family has won 15 team regional championships, counting Brady and his teammates on the basketball court.
Kevin Molony was a driving force behind CovCath’s new tennis complex, which is located on the north end of the CovCath campus.
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The facility, called the Yung Family Tennis Complex, opened in 2015. It has six courts, each one named after donors and first families of CovCath tennis, many of whom have had members of the team in recent years, including the Molony-Husseys. Others are Drees, Roebker, Feighery, Meier and Schafer.
The complex hosts the Ninth Region tournament every year.
CovCath didn’t have a dedicated place to practice or host matches until then.
“Kevin was the one who helped me lobby for this,” Hertsenberg said. “When the school bought the property, they were just going to put a practice field there. Then Kevin helped me talk to them. I would have been happy with four courts. I asked for eight and we got six. We owe his family a lot.”
Brady has a long line of friends and family members ready to hit balls with him. Austin is part of that group. Austin, who played college tennis at UNC-Wilmington, briefly attempted to play professionally but the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 cut short those plans. He now works at Fidelity Investments.
“He helps me all the time,” Brady said. “He’s won the title. He has the experience. He does everything he can to help prepare me.”
Hertsenberg, who has coached both brothers, said their games couldn’t be more different.
“Austin was more of a defensive player, and Brady is an offensive player,” he said. “When you play more aggressively on offense, you have to be sharper. In the semis, he had a lot of unforced errors. That was his downfall, and he wasn’t able to attack the shorter shots.”
Brady loved being part of the CovCath hoops squad, and the backcourt led by returners Evan Ipsaro, who is one of the top guards in the state, plus Kascyl McGillis, a dangerous outside shooter.
“Evan is one of the best, if not the best players in the state,” Brady said. “Kascyl is the best shooter in the state. We’re going to keep working and try to win the title next year.”
Balancing both sports is sometimes easier than others. Hertsenberg said Hussey's late start on the tennis courts after an extended season on the basketball court may have hurt his chances at a state title earlier this month.
Currently, balancing both sports is difficult while Scott Ruthsatz’s hoops squad is in the middle of organized team activities, workouts and open gyms.
Since the school year ended, Brady has spent a lot of days working on his tennis game for several hours during the daytime, then taking part in basketball activities in the evening.
“It’s intense, but I love it,” Brady said. “The coaches have supported me doing both and they’re behind me 100 percent. If I didn’t want to do both sports, I could just pick one, but I enjoy playing both.”
His mother enjoys coaching him and all her other students.
"It's a lifetime sport that can teach you life lessons," Kara said. "I get such a thrill out of teaching students, where it's adults, 3-year-olds, or kids who are going for scholarships. I have a passion for the sport and I hope to instill that in my kids."
Brady grew up playing a lot of different sports, eventually narrowing down to his top two in middle school.
He enjoys how both sports are similar in physical skills but different in mindset.
“My footwork and reflexes in tennis help me out a lot in basketball, and running around the whole time in basketball helps me in tennis,” he said. “Tennis, it’s all on you. If you lose, you only have yourself to blame. You’re in control. Basketball, I love being part of the team, being part of CovCath and contributing any way I can.”
The two sports feed into each other in big moments. Hussey plays a lot of junior tournaments with big cheering sections in addition to the high school postseason tournaments.
Playing in front of big crowds is second nature to CovCath basketball teams.
“Being in front of crowds helps me, gives me energy,” he said. “In basketball, we play at NKU, UK and at CovCath, and it’s an awesome experience.”
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