Athlete of the Week - Claire and Aoife Loftus, Mayo Girls Tennis

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – For the Loftus Sisters, winning is becoming a family affair.

As they did it on the biggest state, as Claire and Aoife were crowned State doubles champions.

“Obviously, a state championship is something in itself, but especially to do it with my sister I think that was something special for us and our family,” Claire Loftus said.

“If one of them had been on court I would have been proud, but just having both of them on court made me super proud it just made it extra special,” Yuri Saito-Loftus, Claire and Aoife’s mom said.

The duo ripped through the Class AA bracket as a three seed not losing a set, dropping just seven games in four matches.

“When we won, I was just like holy I did not expect that, but also I was like we work super well together and our games just kind of clash,” Aoife Loftus said.

Their game according to Head Coach Jeff Demaray are two of the best in the state starting with Claire.

“She really doesn’t have a weakness, but her transition game is second to none. She’s probably the best forward coming in the state. She can play on any surface,” Mayo Head Coach Jeff Demaray said.

Younger sister Aoife isn’t far behind.

“Aoife likes to hit the ball and Aoife has a tremendous amount of power, she loves to step in and hit that forehand. At the state tournament she had so many forehands where she was just hitting rockets not only cross court, but down the line as well,” Demaray said.

The two though disagree on who has the upper hand when they play.

“Easily me. We’ve played practice matches before. I don’t actually thing we’ve played an official match that counts for anything, but we’ve played practice sets and I have won most of, I think all of the time,” Claire Loftus said.

I think I’m pretty close to Claire’s level even if she says that she can beat me super easily. They go to deuce trust me,” Aoife Loftus said.

Both said this is probably the last time they’ll play doubles, so, it’s only right it ended with them on top.

“I think it’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives, and I know we made our family proud, and I don’t it will always be something that’s a part of us and a part of our family,” Claire Loftus said.

Copyright 2022 KTTC. All rights reserved.