SPRING 2019 BOYS TENNIS: Greg Morgione Ursuline

Ursuline junior Greg Morgione has all the motivation he needs to return to the state tennis tournament. As a sophomore, Morgione qualified for state but was ousted in his first match.

Qualifying again last month, his goal was to win his first two matches at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason to advance to the final day of competition.

Mission accomplished as Morgione ousted Miami Valley’s Niyanth Reddy and Waverly’s Penn Morrison to make the state’s final four.

On championship day, Morgione defeated Wellington School’s Trevor Ball (7-6, 5-7, 6-0) but leg cramps brought on by severe heat forced him to withdraw from the state championship match.

“It gives me something to work for,” Morgione said. “That’s the main goal in high school, to win a state championship. [Coming] so close and not getting it motivates me more.”

Morgione was 5 when his dad, Greg, first put a tennis racquet in his hands. His mom, Kristin, gets credit for driving him to tennis events in summers as he developed. She’s a teacher at Canfield Middle School.

“Without her availability and support, I could not have practiced as much,” Morgione said.

He remembers once being frustrated that his dad was hitting the ball “with too much spin. I never thought I would see that, but in the end, it only helped me. He knew what he was doing.”

His siblings Anna (freshman) and Will (sixth grade) also play tennis.

Morgione is no stranger to team sports. He played basketball his freshman and sophomore years, then switched to soccer last fall.

“The [basketball] season goes into early March, so it didn’t give me a lot of time to get ready for [tennis] season,” Morgione said. “I had to make a tough decision — I love basketball [but] soccer would give me a lot more time to practice.

“I’m big on not playing one sport — it’s easy to get burned out.”

Morgione enjoys playing for Irish coach Kent Blacksher.

“When things are going well on the court, he always knows how to get your mindset into a better place,” said Morgione, explaining that sometimes it’s with humor. “He’ll just get you in a better mood to compete.”

Morgione is undecided about whether he wants to play tennis in college. His favorite subjects are economics and computer science. His goal is a career in finance.

Michelle Kerr, his math teacher for four years at St. Christine’s, is his favorite teacher.

“A big sports fan,” said Morgione, adding that she made math fun with “stock market games. We just bonded. It was fun while learning a lot at the same time.”