Kaiserslautern's Abby Hover hits the ball during the girls singles final against Sigonella's Charlize Caro at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

WIESBADEN, Germany – Everyone crowded around the far court at the T2 Sports Health Club on Saturday afternoon for the girls singles final of the DODEA European tennis championships.

Kaiserslautern’s Abby Hover and Sigonella’s Charlize Caro were the last two playing as the other final matches had wrapped up quickly.

The duo traded blows back and forth in the second set, pushing all the way to a tiebreaker.

In the end, Hover squeaked out the second set to clinch the girls singles crown 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

The match was indicative of Hover’s season, trying to carry on the tradition of the Raider No. 1 singles winning five straight European crowns while facing opponents believing Kaiserslautern’s stranglehold was vulnerable.

“(Hover) had to fight,” said teammate Emma Bailey, who with Alisa Dietzel won the girls doubles tournament with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Vicenza’s Annika Svenson and Addie Wilson. “But she did really well, and she played hard.”

Beating Caro not only stretched it to six consecutive girls singles titles going to Kaiserslautern, but it also gave Hover a fourth European title.

During her freshman year, Hover went the distance with Stella Schmitz, who after two European singles titles in 2022 and 2023 didn’t play her senior year, in doubles. Then, in her sophomore and junior campaigns, she teamed up with Dietzel for two more doubles trophies.

“I would have never thought in a million years that I would be in this place right now because of everything that’s happened throughout the four seasons,” Hover said of winning four championships. “It feels pretty great.”

Kaiserslautern's Emma Bailey prepares to hit the ball during the girls doubles final with teammate Alisa Dietzel against Vicenza' Annika Svenson and Addie Wilson at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Kaiserslautern's Alisa Dietzel hits the ball during the girls doubles final with teammate Emma Bailey against Vicenza's Annika Svenson and Addie Wilson at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Sigonella's Charlize Caro watches her serve during the girls singles final against Kaiserslautern's Abby Hover at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Kaiserslautern senior Abby Hover serves during the girls singles final against Sigonella's Charlize Caro at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza's Addie Wilson reaches for a ball at the net during the girls doubles final with teammate Annika Svenson against Kaiserslautern's Alisa Dietzel and Emma Bailey at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza's Annika Svenson serves during the girls doubles final with teammate Addie Wilson against Kaiserslautern's Alisa Dietzel and Emma Bailey at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Naples' Liliana Stutzman runs up to hit a ball during the girls singles third-place match at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. Stutzman defeated Stuttgart's Bella Farias in the match. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Wiesbaden's Sophie Rainey hits the ball during the girls doubles third-place match at the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 26, 2024, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. Rainey and teammate Isabella Na lost to Stuttgart duo Isabel Williams and Isabella Suber. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Caro, the 2023 runner-up, gave Hover everything she could handle.

Both players interchanged between baiting their opponents into making mistakes with long, slow and looping shots and attacking them with aggressive, hard hits. They ran each other ragged, spraying shots all over the court and forcing the other to chase down the ball.

Toward the end of the second set, Hover let a chance to finish the match slip away at 5-4, with Caro winning a pair of games to create a chance to extend the match to a third set. The Raider senior recovered in the next game to force a tiebreak.

Caro took a 3-2 advantage there before Hover won three straight points to take a lead she didn’t relinquish.

“I just really had to tap into the mental game,” Hover said of coming back down 6-5. “Some people don’t realize it’s physical and mental, and I just had to preserve and keep playing.”

Just like in the singles competition, the Raiders continued their dominance in girls doubles.

Dietzel, a senior, equaled Hover with her third title in the competition, and she said the crown meant a bit more because it was with a new partner in fellow senior Bailey.

“It feels even more rewarding because it’s like the first one,” Dietzel said. “We played good matches, and they were really tough ones. They were the most fun matches I’ve ever had.”

After surviving a three-set thriller against Stuttgart’s Isabel Williams and Isabella Suber in the semifinals, the Raider pair had a date with Svenson and Wilson on Saturday, a duo Dietzel knew well.

The Cougar team had faced Dietzel and Hover in the 2023 final.

Bailey said the previous day’s result calmed her nerves of playing in the championship match.

“I had heard all these things that they are really good,” Bailey said. “But after our Stuttgart match, which was a tough match, I felt like we could come out on top, that we could pull it together.”

For all three Raiders, Saturday featured their last high school match.

For Dietzel and Hover, the T2 Sports Health Club held three to four years of precious memories, while Bailey made her first in her only European appearance.

They hadn’t had time to process it after the matches.

“It has not hit yet,” Dietzel said. “Everyone here is so nice, and to not be able to come back again and see them all, it’s hard. It’s so fun with all these people throughout the years to grow together and care for each other.”