LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Colby Berson and Ellie Hammond have known each other through tennis for about half their lives. They were tennis teammates at ages 9 or 10 and regular hitting partners.  

They have a great respect and admiration for each other's games.

"He can do a lot," Hammond about Berson's game. "He's really smart. He can hit hard. He's got awesome slices, awesome volleys. He's got all the different serves. He's just really smart and well-balanced player."

"She's really hard to beat mentally," Berson said about Hammond's game. "She's never out of a match. Like, you think you can beat her and then she just keeps playing and she never gives up. She always fights for every point."      

And now, they are both state champions. 

Their state tournament victories happened almost simultaneously on courts next to each other in Lexington last Thursday.

"Oh my gosh," Hammond said. "We won at basically the same time. I won, and then, 10 seconds later, I see him on the ground celebrating. I was so excited, so happy for him because he works so hard and he deserves as much."

It was third straight singles championship for Hammond, who will play her college tennis at Davidson College. 

"I felt a little bit more pressure but I also felt free because I had won it twice before," Hammond said. 

"After she won her first title she goes 'OK I'm going to at least take one day off'," Sacred Heart tennis coach Whitney Thompson said. "And that day killed her. She said she was so bored. So, just to have that love and that drive to do it for yourself, you can move mountains and you can make dreams happen. So I had all the confidence and faith in her."

It was the first state title for Berson, who has another year to go at Louisville Collegiate. 

"He played as well as I've ever seen him play," Collegiate tennis coach David English said. "All the coaches and players throughout the state really, really enjoy Colby. He's just a really good kid, and, as I said on my Facebook post, it's nice that nice guys can finish first."

Berson can't win three in a row like his friend Hammond but he was one year left at Collegiate and is hoping to add a second title. 

"Yeah, that's my goal," Hammond said. "I'll be a senior next year so I'll try to go back-to-back.  

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