The Park Hill doubles tandem of Andrew Miller and Carter Lovitt hardly broke a sweat in the Class 3 District 8 Tournament, cruising to a second consecutive district championship on Friday, May 2.
The top-seeded pair dominated the bracket, outscoring opponents 36-5 across three matches to defend their district crown. Undefeated with an 18-0 record playing together this year, Miller and Lovitt secured a return trip to the MSHSAA State Tournament later this month.
Miller and Lovitt opened the tournament at Liberty High School, dispatching Oak Park’s Owen Boswell and Truman Camarda in quick fashion with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Rain forced a venue change to Genesis Health Clubs – Clayview, but the weather delay didn’t slow the Trojans. In the semifinal, Miller and Lovitt overpowered Park Hill South’s Noah Patel and Samuel Patel, winning 6-1, 6-0 to officially punch their ticket to state.
After a long layoff as they patiently waited for the second semifinal to conclude, the Trojan duo were given the most difficult test of the day. Their final test came against the No. 2 seed — Kevin Poggemiller, the reigning district singles champion, and Asav Gupta from St. Joseph Central. Even with the higher stakes, Miller and Lovitt stayed in rhythm and claimed the title with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win.
“We knew we had to stay aggressive and just do what we’ve been doing,” Miller said.
Miller, a junior, and Lovitt, a sophomore, said this year’s title run felt more comfortable than their breakthrough performance in 2024, when they needed a third-set tiebreaker to outlast Liberty’s Spencer Weishaar and Henry Mast in the district championship.
“A lot of work in the offseason,” Lovitt said about returning this year to have so much success. “But we didn’t play a lot of doubles in the offseason, so just getting used to each other again.”
Park Hill nearly produced a doubles sweep. The No. 3-seeded tandem of Will Poole and Franco Timotei knocked off Park Hill South’s Graham Albani and Roberto Shepherd, then outlasted Staley’s Cael Larocca and Austin Le in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal, with a spot at state on the line, Poole and Timotei gave Poggemiller and Gupta a good run but ultimately fell 7-6 (4) and 6-4.
Next, Park Hill shifts its focus to the team district tournament throughout this week, where it looks to repeat as champions. A potential Class 3 quarterfinal matchup with Rockhurst looms on May 12.
Miller and Lovitt, who placed seventh at state last season, will return to Springfield on May 16–17 with their sights set on something bigger: a state title.