Kempner’s Noey Do is AGH Boys Tennis Player of the Year

Kempner’s Noey Do, the Chronicle’s All-Greater Houston Boys Tennis Player of the Year, may be extroverted and a jokester off the tennis court, but he’s a silent menace on it. Do’s third year of high school was no different from the first two as the junior completed another perfect season while claiming his third state championship in May.

“This is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever got to experience,” Do, a Rice commit, said. “I have a whole support team from my school, I have a lot of friends, a lot of teachers, coaches supporting me throughout my high school journey up to now, so being able to get this title again for the third time is incredible.”

The difference in Do’s on-court and off-court personality is striking.

“He loves to have fun. He loves doing TikTok videos and enjoying whatever he’s doing with his friends and then when he gets on the court, it’s a different Noey,” Kempner head tennis coach Anne Southard said.

“It’s all business. He knows what he’s supposed to do. He knows what he wants to do, and he goes out and he does it.”

Following sweeps over Comal Smithson Valley’s Jude Bruce in the quarterfinals and Prosper Walnut Grove’s Blake Anderson in the semifinals, Do beat Austin LASA’s William Gu in straight sets to win the UIL Class 5A boys tennis singles championship at Annemarie Tennis Center in San Antonio.

Do, who earned AGH honors as a freshman, credits his mindset — one of his greatest strengths — for all the success.

“I would say I have the will to win because freshman year through junior year the only reason why I won was my passion to beat the other player, even though I was down multiple times against a lot of great opponents,” Do said. “I don’t get angry too often, and I knew that if I stayed calm and keep striving for my goals throughout my match, stick to routines, I was able to win, and that’s how I was able to do it from my freshman year to junior year.”

Do, who has yet to lose a single match in his high school career, enjoys himself off the court. He said it’s important to stay authentic to himself in a sport that’s incredibly demanding mentally.

“I’m always focused during the match. I’m pretty quiet,” he said. “I’m very hard-working, passionate and determined to get better and win more matches as opposed to when I’m outside the court. I’m very outgoing and blunt. I’m very talkative and I make a lot of comments and jokes, specifically to my friends.

“Tennis is a very stressful sport and being able to have great friends, a great community, big support is something I always try to look for.”

Do has shown the ability to perform at the highest level, time and time again. Do’s heart and determination are on a level that Southard has never seen before.

“The amount of stress that young man is under and that he’s handled so well, in addition to the tennis aspect of it, it’s just amazing to me how well he does and that makes me very proud of him,” Southard said. “He’s very gracious in winning, and to me, that’s a big part.”

Do is in rare territory already after becoming the first player from the Houston area to win three consecutive state titles. He’ll aim to extend that run next year and tie Corpus Christi London’s Dillon Humpal, who won four straight titles from 2014-17.

“The word amazing keeps popping into my head because he’s done something nobody else in the Houston area has done,” Southard said. “My expectations would be that he continues that and he’s driven to do that. He wants to go undefeated all four years and he wants to take that title for all four years.”

Do, who had not dropped a set until his junior year, has every intention to keep fulfilling those high expectations.

“I haven’t really thought about it, but I hope to continue this record. I’m trying not to lose a set next year, but I’ll definitely go for my fourth state title,” Do said.

Do has already tackled a big hurdle ahead of his senior year. Aside from boasting one of the highest-rated universities in Texas to go with a top-notch tennis program, Do said Rice’s proximity to home made it the perfect fit.

“The most exciting thing about Rice is just going to college in general, playing for a team that is really good, practice with a lot of great players and hopefully compete with the team, striving to get better,” he said.

Do might be perfect on the court, but he will head into the summer hungry, looking to improve his game, starting with his forehand.

 “I want to be a little more aggressive. I think my skill level is pretty high up there and hopefully I can keep finding more weaknesses, improve and get better,” Do said.

Player of the Year: Noey Do, Jr., Kempner

Coach of the Year: James Bramlett, Seven Lakes

Bramlett guided the Xu brothers to school history as sophomore Allan Xu became the first Spartan to win the singles state championship after beating Austin Westlake’s Luke Riezebeek in straight sets in the 6A championship match. Allan became the first boys player from the Houston area to win it all since 2019 with his brother freshman Aidan Xu reaching the state semifinals.

Boys singles: Allan Xu, Soph., Seven Lakes
Boys singles: Juno Pethe, Soph., College Park
Boys doubles: Brady Enstrom, Sr., Benjamin Vo, Sr., Tomball Memorial
Boys doubles: Michael Lanni Jr., Sr., Yan Terekhin, Sr., Friendswood
Mixed doubles: Gabriel Segubiense, Jr., Elizabeth Shu, Jr., Fort Bend Clements
Mixed doubles: Sebastian Delgado, Soph., Andrea Delgado, Sr., Richmond Foster

Players of the Year: Alex You, Jr., Andy Wu, Soph., The Village School

Alex You and Andy Wu captured the boys doubles title at the TAPPS 6A state championships, besting teammates Sungmo Kang and Lingchuan Wang in straight sets in the title match. The pair of underclassmen dominated the competition, dropping just one set in four matches.

Coach of the Year: Eric Streisfeld, The Village School

Streisfeld steered The Village School boys to the TAPPS 6A title this spring with a score of 33 over Antonian College Prep (23) and St. Thomas (11.5). The Vikings produced three of the top four scorers with You and Wu prevailing in the all-Vikings 6A boys doubles finals. Innes Macaulay took second place in the singles title and Roger Shen reached the semifinals.

Boys singles: Innes Macaulay, Sr., The Village School
Boys singles: Roger Shen, Fr., The Village School
Boys doubles: Sungmo Kang, Soph., Lingchuan Wang, Soph., The Village School
Boys doubles: Adrien Pruneda, Sr., Evan Filley, Soph., St. Thomas