Sectional Draws |
Central D1 - D2 |
Ohio High School Tennis
SATURDAY,
Districts Seeding Day
There are many, many players who had the goal of getting to States. The first day of Districts was their biggest day. There is a much smaller group of girls who are "in it to win it" mode at States. This is a very important day for them.
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Bellbrook's Maya Brink- Click to enlarge |
Four more singles qualifiers were determined at the Northeast Districts yesterday. Orange's Alexis Nyborg defeated West Branch's Allison Zion and St. Vincent-St. Mary's Andie McKnight; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton beat Struthers' Daniella Mendel and Orange's Daniela DeMata-Hiciano; Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu defeated Hawken's Bella Hsieh and Ursuline's Anna Morgione; and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming beat Archbishop Hoban's Hayley Slay and Marlington's Elizabeth Mason. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There are still State Qualifiers who need to be determined. Central District D2 receives just one (1) spot for States and that match will be played this morning. That is correct. One.Shooting conditions were ideal at the Southwest Districts on Thursday. Note the subtle shade at Maya Brink's feet. It was even possible to get decent photos of visor wearers. I took 642 photos, which means that it will take forever to get even the best photos online. Web browsers diminish the quality of images slightly to improve load times. Click on Brink's photo to zoom in. Maya's and Sarah's photo from yesterday were two of my better photos this year. Make sure that you also click on Clark's photo. I was really happy with that one.
Individual photos of State Qualifers are needed. If you know that I already have a photo of your daughter, then that is great. I am all set. If you are quite sure that I do not have a photo, please email one to me.
For those who care to do so, please get a group shot of the qualifiers from your District. Please group the players by District and place the singles players in front. Click to view the Central District D1 qualifiers from 2020.
OTZ goes to the Central District D1 tournament today. The tournament is being delayed this morning by a couple of hours to let the courts dry.
FRIDAY,
Congratulations to the State Qualifiers
It was a perfect day for the first round of Districts. Most of the State Qualifiers have been determined except there are still a few open positions in Central D2, Northeast D1/D2, and Northwest D1. The State Qualifers are listed below and this list will continue to be updated. After the seeding rounds are played tomorrow, the players will be listed in order of their seeds.
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Turpin's Sarah Clark - Click to enlarge |
In some of the bigger second round matches yesterday, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Walnut Hills' Alexis Covington; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Magnificat's Anna Mancino; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt defeated Brecksville's Lakshmy Arakoni; Turpin's Sarah Clark beat Wilmington's Claire Burns; Eaton's Macy Hitchcock defeated Badin's Caroline Boyle; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz beat Olentangy's Pranjal Agochiya; Upper Arlington's Megan Basil defeated Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai; Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman beat Tippecanoe's Mira Patel; Solon's Niya Fried defeated Boardman's Ava Valko; Indian Hill's Brooke Arington beat Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson; Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova defeated Olentangy's Sheryl Gerald; Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri beat Olentangy Liberty's Kylie Wilson; Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Mika Morris; Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria beat Worthington Christian's Meghan Mayotte; Columbus Academy's Anna Chang defeated Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart; and Rocky River's Samantha Robertson beat Hudson's Sunny Fan. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
State Qualfiers
Central Division I
Singles: Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz, Upper Arlington's Megan Basil, Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova, and Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh Choudhuri.
Doubles: Olentangy Orange's Tyler Reed - Karol Korotkin, Upper Arlington's Ava Richard - Anna Leach, and Dublin Jerome's Lydia Foster - Adayla Coakley, and New Albany's Richie Francois - Paige Cornelius.
Central Division II
Singles: TBD
Doubles: TBD
Northeast Division I
Singles: North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher, St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt, Solon's Niya Fried, and Rocky River's Samantha Robertson. There is one spot to be determined.
Doubles: Magnificat's Audrey Smitek - Natalie Smitek, Magnificat's Kayra Koprulu - Caroline Moritz, Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman - Paige Reese, and North Canton Hoover's Izzy Warburton - Angelina Koinoglou. There is one spot to be determined
Northeast Division II
Singles: Orange's Alexis Nyborg, Laurel's Ellie Brotherton, Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu, and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming.
Doubles: Hathaway Brown's Ally Mills - Katie Mills, Revere's Morgan Dobos - Maddie Kavenagh, Hathaway Brown's Alice Lin - Alex Wolf, and Hawken's Hayley Garber - Hawken's Eliana Yang.
Northwest Division I
Singles: TBD
Doubles: TBD
Northwest Division II
Singles: Ottawa Hills' Catherine Rhegness, Lexington's Sydney Pfieffer, Lima Central Catholic's Libby Simmons, and Ottawa Hills' Lorelei Huber.
Doubles: Edison's Tori Keyser - Alli Vogus, Toledo Central Catholic's Bella and Lucia Spinazze, Bath's Elena Oliver - Anne Oliver, and Bryan's Emilee Bassett - Reese Grothaus.
Southeast Division II
Singles: South Point's Meredith Riley and Athen's Anna Chen.
Doubles: Logan Elm's Keller Clouse - Erin Gaskin and East Liverpool's Sydney Cooper - Gianna Davie
Southwest Division I
Singles: Mason's Shyla Aggarwal, Turpin's Sarah Clark, St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein, and Bellbrook's Maya Brink.
Doubles: Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw - Clara Owen, Mason's Danielle Reid - Danielle Lebedev, Mason's Anna Tonkal - Risha Chada, and Lakota West's Molly Grace - Leah Schleibaum.
Southwest Division II
Singles: Eaton's Macy Hitchcock, Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman, Indian Hill's Brooke Arington, and Indian Hill's Caroline Brown.
Doubles: Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader - Payton Puryear, Indian Hill's Lexi Larsen - Cassie Larsen, and Eaton's Grace Murphy - Mallory Hitchcock, and Milton-Union's Shannon Brumbaugh - Taylor Falb.
THURSDAY,
Notre Dame Academy Secures Final Four Spot | Districts
Notre Dame Academy defeated Sylvania Northview in a tight, 3-2 match to take the sixth Final Four Spot. There are just two remaining -- Central's D1 and Northwest's D2. To view the graphical results, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Much of the state competes in Districts today. That is a good thing because Friday looks like it could be damp. Northeast D2 began their Districts yesterday.
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Columbus Academy - Click to team page |
In yesterday's match, Sylvania Northview's Maddie Peisley defeated Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher; Sylvania Northview's Brynn Chaffee beat Notre Dame Academy's Emma Nofziger; and Notre Dame Academy's Charlize DelSantos defeated Sylvania Northview's Sophia Campbell. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Marc Wurtzman. They are Team Members. They are led by Arya Chabria, Anna Chang, and Yasemin Bilgin.
OTZ leaves for the Southwest Districts in a few minutes. They take place at the Lindner Family Tennis Center (the same site as States), and they include both the D1 and D2 teams. They utilize all 16 courts so it is a super busy day of racing around the entire facility.
The OTZ State Draw will include photos of all of the players. Please email a profile photo to OTZ after you qualify. No other state has anything like OTZ so be happy that you play high school tennis in Ohio. (Your state of happiness may vary when it is January and you do not play platform tennis.) Click for the most recent OTZ Boys State Draw.
WEDNESDAY,
Magnificat, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, & Hathaway Brown in Final Four | New OTZ Team Rankings
Three more State Final Four spots were determined yesterday. Magnificat defeated North Canton Hoover to secure the Northeast D1 spot. Hathaway Brown defeated Hawken and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy beat Eaton to earn the Northwest D2 and Southwest D2 spots, respectively To view the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. (There are no box scores currently available for the D2 matches.)
OhioTennisZone.com |
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| Division I | Division II |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM Final 4 | Hathaway Brown◄TEAM Final 4 |
| 2. Magnificat◄TEAM Final 4 | Columbus Academy◄TEAM Final 4 |
| 3. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM | Cinc. Hills Christ. Acad.◄TEAM Final 4 |
| 4. Centerville | Eaton |
| 5. Upper Arlington◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 6. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM | Wellington◄TEAM |
| 7. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM | Archbishop Alter◄TEAM |
| 8. New Albany◄TEAM | Hawken◄TEAM |
| 9. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM | Seven Hills◄TEAM |
| 10. Olentangy Orange◄TEAM | Laurel◄TEAM |
| HM: Highland◄TEAM | Revere◄TEAM |
| HM: Notre Dame Academy◄TEAM Final 4 | Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin◄TEAM |
| HM: Solon◄TEAM | |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. Final 4 - Denotes State Tournament District Representative |
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Among the top players, North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher defeated Magnificat's Audrey Smitek; Magnificat's Natalie Smitek beat North Canton Hoover's Lilly Altman; and Magnificat's Anna Mancino defeated North Canton Hoover's Bridget Fink. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The OhioTennisZone State Team Rankings were updated last night. The changes were primarily near the top of the rankings. Centerville moved up because of their great match against Upper Arlington despite not having one of their key players available. CHCA moved up after their big wins over Eaton and Archbishop Alter. Note that there are "Final Four" designations beside the teams that are playing in the State Team Final Four. For those not that great in math, there are now three spots remaining. The Central D1 and both of the Northwest spots are yet to be determined.
Also note that the rankings are listed in the right-side nav bar for easy access.
Districts start today for Northwest D2.
TUESDAY,
Mason Clinches Final Four Spot | Hoover and Mag Advance
Another spot has been claimed in the State Team Final Four. Mason defeated Centerville for the Southwest D1 spot. Magnificat defeated Kenston and North Canton Hoover beat Highland to advance in the Northeast District. In other matches, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin defeated Orange and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy beat Archbishop Alter. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Magnificat - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Magnificat. They are coached by Chris Johnson. They are Team Members. They are led by Audrey Smitek, Natalie Smitek, and Caroline Moritz.
To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
District Draws Now Posted
Sectionals were finished from throughout the state yesterday, and now players, coaches, parents, and fans are starting to pore over the District draws. The Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest draws were posted last night and Central's were posted this morning. Click on the links above to view the draws.
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Upper Arlington - Click to team page |
Among the top players who competed in Sectionals yesterday, Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart defeated Worthington Christian's Meghan Mayotte; Olentangy's Sheryl Gerald beat Olentangy Liberty's Kylie Wilson; Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria defeated teammate, Anna Chang. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Northwest District is the only district which has not posted all of its Sectional results
Today's featured team is Upper Arlington. They are coached by Shaun Stamps. They are Team Members. They are led by Megan Basil and Ava Richard.
Magnificat (H) plays Kenston in the State Team Tournament.
SUNDAY,
UNAUTHORIZED AND UNAPPROVED JABS AT TENNIS EVENT
The bees (or bee-like insects) were out in force yesterday at Pickerington Central Sectionals. It was not quite as bad as working at the lemonade stand at the Ohio State Fair but it was close. They terrorized everyone. A player would be standing in a ready position and then start running in circles. After a bee stung or jabbed one of the Olentangy Orange players, the players finally struck back in wack-a-bug mode.
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Pick. Central's Khandice Thomas - Click to enlarge |
The Central District was the furthest behind and they will be on the court again today as they finish their seeding round.
All of the other Districts finished their seeding rounds and some of those results are online. After my 8AM platform tennis match is over, more results will be entered.
Among the top players in the Central District, Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz defeated Upper Arlington's Megan Basil; Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai beat Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard; and Upper Arlington's Megan Basil defeated Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova.
In the Northeast District, North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher defeated Boardman's Ava Valko; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt beat Magnificat's Anna Mancino; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton defeated Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu; and Orange's Alexis Nyborg beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming
SATURDAY,
Alter Beats Oakwood | Sectional Matches Continue
Most of the state finished up to their Sectionals seeding rounds yesterday. The exception is in the Central District. Central's Division 2 and Reynoldsburg 2 (D1) sites begin their Sectionals today and will finish tomorrow.
There were two dual matches played. Archbishop Alter defeated Oakwood and Centerville-B beat Miamisburg-B. To view the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Mason - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Mason. They are coached by Mike Reid. They are Team Members. They are led by Shyla Aggarwal, Anna Tonkal, and Harshita Uppuganti.
Please contact OTZ via Feedback if there are in accuracies in the Sectional results. Coach penmanship will not be criticized until all of the Sectional results are in..
FRIDAY,
Centerville Beats Bellbrook | Sectionals Proceed in NW District
Sectionals continue to scramble with weather-related and court drying issues. Central's Reynoldsburg 2 site has rescheduled their first day to Saturday. The Northeast and Northwest Districts are proceeding well, and the Southwest's Centerville location has completely finished their Sectionals (including the seeding round).
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New Albany - Click to team page |
There was one dual match played. Centerville defeated Bellbrook. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated Springfield Holland's Ada Nuber; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt beat Avon Lake's Kayla Meier; Eaton's Macy Hitchcock defeated Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman; Rocky River's Samantha Robertson beat Avon Lake's Amber Korey; andBellbrook’s Maya Brink defeated Wilmington's Claire Burns. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is New Albany. They are coached by Marc Thomas. They are Team Members. They are led by Kary Hollenbaugh and Richie Francois.
The data entering process is going better than expected, but the Central and Southwest Districts really have not yet kicked into gear. Entering yesterday's results delayed this morning's update. Solon D2 will be entered after a bad link is corrected on the NE site.
THURSDAY,
Sectionals Today?
The weather is iffy today, but hopefully the Sectional show will go on..
There was just one dual match reported from yesterday. Whetstone defeated Centennial in the Columbus City League. To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Tippecanoe - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Tippecanoe. They are coached by Matthew Casey. They are Team Members. They had *all* seven of their players reach Districts. They are led by Mira Patel and Mia Tobias.
I am actually doing better than I thought I would with entering Sectional data, but I am nearing eye-strain mode. If that happens, I will have to avoid anything computer-related for a couple of days. That cannot happen so I will have to dial back today..
WEDNESDAY,
Upper Arlington Beats New Albany | More Districts Begin Sectionals
Perfect weather conditions greeted teams as more districts began their Sectionals. Weather conditions later in the week no longer look as dire.
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Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai - Click to enlarge |
In dual match play, OTZ #6 Upper Arlington defeated OTZ #7 New Albany to get to the Central District Finals of the State Team Tournament. It was a great 3-2 match that was clinched on first doubles. Other 3-2 matches included: Delaware Hayes defeated Hilliard Darby and Worthington Kilbourne beat Grove City. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Click to view the OTZ-Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
Among the top players, Upper Arlington's Megan Basil defeated New Albany's Kary Hollenbaugh; Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai beat Watkins Memorial's Abby Grove; New Albany's Richie Francois defeated Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley; and Dublin Scioto’s Yuka Nabeya beat Westerville Central's Sidney Choo. More players will be recognized in this paragraph in the later rounds of the Sectionals. Many of the early round matches are one-sided. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The above photo is of Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai in her Sectional qualifying round match against Abby Grove of Watkins Memorial. The green leafy background will change by Districts.
The OTZ goal is to enter Sectional results the day after they are posted on their respective District web sites (but seriously, does anyone think this will happen?).
TUESDAY,
Sectionals Begin | Dublin Coffman Defeats Olentangy Orange
The Sectionals began yesterday in Northeast Ohio. Central and Southwest kick into gear today. In the State Team Tournament, Dublin Coffman defeated Olentangy Orange to advance to the Central District Finals.
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Ready - Click to team page |
There were 16 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 1, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Columbus Academy beat Pickerington Central; Columbus School For Girls defeated Watterson; Hamilton Township beat Ready; Lehman Catholic defeated Valley View-B; Marysville beat Wapakoneta; Bloom-Carroll defeated Hartley; Olentangy Berlin beat Worthington Kilbourne; and Watkins Memorial defeated Logan. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players,Watterson's Sara Goodlive defeated Columbus School For Girls' Lane Sharfin and Worthington Christian's Meghan Mayotte beat Granville's Marie Weis. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's featured team is Ready. They are coached by Dan Skuce. They are led by Kayla Thomas and Victoria Foust.
Despite a Microsoft Blue Screen of Death near the end of today's update, it was still finished on time. This is the second time that a Blue Screen of Death has occurred from this specific MSFT update. This is not good - especially during this time of the season.. It appears that the quality levels of absolutely everything is slipping (but hopefully not OTZ)..
Upper Arlington goes to New Albany for the Central District semi-final. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Sectional Play Begins
Sectionals take place this week. In fact, some begin today. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Indoor courts are really not an option for Sectionals because of the large number of players competing. The early rounds have to be played outdoors. Since the tournament is a "one and done" before Saturday's seeding rounds, half of the field will be eliminated in the first round. Just a quarter of the entire field will survive the second round. If necessary, the seeding rounds could be played indoors.
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Ohio-based pros - Click to report |
Because of the large number of matches played, it will take time to get Sectional results on OhioTennisZone. One of the biggest challenges is to avoid posting duplicate scores. The goal is to wait until the entire Sectional is played but typically the results for the first three rounds (the non-seeding rounds) are posted first. The plan is to post scores for teams that have OTZ Coach or Team memberships.
It has been awhile since the professional rankings of Ohio-based players have been updated. COVID-19 led to some chaotic rankings last year and things are starting to get sorted out now. Peyton Stearns and Dalayna Hewitt achieved new career highs since these rankings were last updated. Click on the image to the right to go to the report (in left nav-bar). There are links to the players' records.
The OTZ College Report will be updated next. This is a very time consuming report to create. The goal is to show those high school players who were once OTZ members rather than identify all Ohio high school players who are now playing.
Much of the weekend was spent preparing for the platform tennis season and processing photos and performing web site updates for the Greater Columbus Tennis Association. Click to view Awards recipients. (Scrolling is necessary.) It is a fun report because it shows the award recipients (and their photos) back to 2002. Those who play tennis anywhere in Ohio will recognize a few of these central Ohio tennis enthusiasts.
SUNDAY,
Columbus Academy Earns First Final Four Spot
The Central D2 teams may have gotten off to a slow start but the Central District was still the first to claim a Final Four Spot in the State Team Tournament.. Columbus Academy defeated Wellington in a close 3-2 match. The score was tied at 2-2 before Academy's Tamanna Arya clinched the win on court 3 singles. Columbus Academy will face the Northeast District winner in the first round of the State Team Tournament. Click on Previous Day's Match Results to view the graphs. Click on OTZ State Team Tournament Draws to see how the rest of the state is doing in the State Team Tournament.
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Hilliard Davidson - Click to team page |
Wellington's Katie Zerbi beat Columbus Academy's Grace Philip. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Hilliard Davidson. They are coached by Adrian Tolentino. They are led by Abby Miksza and Lila Davis.
It appears as if the state may have to deal with rain during Sectionals week. This would not be good. With the large number of players involved, the first day of Sectionals has to be played outdoors.
SATURDAY,
Walsh Beats St. Vincent-St. Mary
It was another quiet Friday night for tennis, but it was a perfect evening for high school football. There was just one match recorded - Walsh Jesuit defeated St. Vincent-St. Mary. To view the result in graphical form, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Worthington Christian - Click to team page |
Obviously not all schools are OhioTennisZone members. That is completely ok. There are cases though where individual players still want their high school results and information to be able to be shared with friends, family, and/or college coaches. OTZ provides a way for individuals to do this. Contact OTZ via Feedback if interested.
Among the top players, Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy defeated St. Vincent-St. Mary's McKnight. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Worthington Christian. They are coached by Stefanie Mayotte. They are led by Meghan Mayotte and Audrey Mousa. Mayotte is also included on the new OTZ Top "By Court" Player Performance report. (This is a premium report that is currently available for everyone to see.)
Wellington hosts Columbus Academy today for the first Final Four spot in the State Team Tournament. The match takes place at 1pm. Wellington won their first contest.
FRIDAY,
Centerville Beats Archbishop Alter | Indian Hill Defeats 7 Hills
It looks like a wet weekend but hopefully things dry up in time for Sectionals next week. Yesterday's most notable matches included: Centerville defeated Archbishop Alter; Indian Hill beat Seven Hills; and St. Ursula Academy defeated Ursuline Academy. There were 23 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 7, and Northeast - 4. The close, 3-2 matches included: Centennial defeated Franklin Heights; Lehman Catholic beat Kenton Ridge; Beavercreek defeated Northmont; Granville eat Hartley; Hawken defeated Revere; Hilliard Darby beat Grove City; Pickerington North defeated Worthington Christian; Orange beat Perry; Centerville-B defeated Troy; Wellington beat Columbus School For Girls; and Turpin defeated Mariemont. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Carpico, Basil, Yakubov - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Centerville's Clara Owen defeated Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman; Revere's Morgan Dobos beat Hawken's Eliana Yang; Turpin's Sarah Clark defeated Mariemont's Ella Malafa; Indian Hill's Brooke Arington beat Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson; Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova defeated Watterson's Sara Goodlive; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon beat Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes; and Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard defeated Westerville Central's Lauren Muniu. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Greater Columbus Tennis Association (GCTA) had its annual awards banquet last night. The junior award winners this year were Brandon Carpico, Megan Basil, Reece Yakubov, and Ella Hazelbaker. The other award winners will be listed later this weekend on the GCTA.net web site.
Today's matches include Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (A) versus Columbus Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Centerville Beats Sycamore | NDA, Kenston, & Highland Advance
Last night was a very productive evening from a State Team Tournament perspective. Four teams advanced to the next round with Centerville earning a spot in the Southwest District Finals with their win over Sycamore. The other matches were: Notre Dame Academy defeated Anthony Wayne; Kenston beat Wooster; and Highland defeated Shaker Heights. Click to view updated State Team Tournament Draws
Other big matches included: New Albany defeated Dublin Coffman; Upper Arlington beat Olentangy; Columbus Academy defeated Dublin Jerome; and Mason beat St. Ursula Academy.
There were 26 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 10, Southwest - 8, Northeast - 7, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Revere - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Revere. They are coached by Kathy Shisler. They are Team Members. They are led by Morgan Dobos and Maddie Kavenagh.
Tonight is the Greater Columbus Tennis Association (GCTA) annual awards banquet. See everyone there!
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Archbishop Alter; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Revere; Highland (A) versus Walsh Jesuit; and Dublin Coffman (H) versus Watterson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
New Albany Defeats Olentangy Orange | Upper Arlington Beats Olentangy Liberty
As the end of the season nears, the strongest teams finally face each other in their respective State Team Tournament brackets. Upper Arlington beat Olentangy Liberty to advance in the Central District. In a match reported late, Eaton beat Indian Hill to advance in the Southwest on Monday. Click to view the State Team Tournament Draws.
There were plenty of close, 3-2 matches yesterday. Dublin Coffman defeated Columbus Academy; New Albany beat Olentangy Orange; Grove City defeated Lancaster; Mariemont beat Oak Hills; Olentangy Berlin defeated Watterson; Delaware Hayes beat Central Crossing; Harrison defeated Colerain; Chaminade-Julienne beat McNicholas; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin defeated Avon; Westerville Central beat Columbus School For Girls; and Turpin defeated Ursuline Academy. There were 22 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 6, and Northeast - 5. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Turpin - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Turpin. They are coached by Gail Maundrell. They are led by Sarah Clark and Brooke Malone.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Dublin Jerome; Dublin Coffman (A) versus New Albany; Solon (A) versus Hudson; and Wooster (H) versus Kenston. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Seven Hills Beats St. Ursula Academy | Orange Defeats St. Joseph Academy
Conditions were breezy but it was a great night for tennis. Results from the highest ranked teams include: Seven Hills defeated St. Ursula Academy and Orange beat St. Joseph Academy. Both were 3-2 matches. The 7 Hills match was clinched on first dubs and Orange's match was decided on second dubs. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hartley defeated Hilliard Davidson; Chaminade-Julienne beat Miami Valley School; Archbishop Alter defeated Tippecanoe; and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy beat Laurel. There were 23 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 6, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Centerville - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long. They are Team Members. They are led by Caroline Hinshaw and Clara Owen.
The Sectional draws remain in the upper right of this page. Northeast Ohio has added their D1 draws, but not their D2's.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Dublin Coffman; Avon (H) versus Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; Turpin (H) versus Ursuline Academy; and Massillon Jackson (H) versus Laurel. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Sectional Draws
The Sectional draws took place yesterday. As normal, the Central and Southwest Districts led the way by posting their draws first. The Northeast is typically the next group up, followed by the Northwest. The table at the top of this page provide links to the various draws.
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Tennis Ohio Women's Championship - Click to enlarge |
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Tennis Ohio Men's Championship - Click to enlarge |
The Tennis Ohio Championships were completed yesterday at the old Ohio State Varsity Indoor Courts. The competition was *great*. These are all players that either have or will be playing in the Grand Slams. The champions and finalists are listed to the right. While this event was closed to the general public, it will hopefully be open for fans next year. It is unique for a tournament of this size to have both men and women players.
This was Alex Guthrie's first stint as a Tournament Director. Guthrie had been the head tennis coach at Mayfield High School. Guthrie and his staff did a great job.
It was also nice to be court side again to take photos of professional players. The last time that I was court-side outdoors was in July 2020. The last time that I was court-side at an indoor tournament was in February 2020. Both of these tournaments were at the Top Seed Tennis Club outside of Lexington, KY. The downside of doing this is that it did take quite a bit of time away from my high school tennis efforts just as I was getting close to being caught up.. The rain early in the week made this a little more tolerable.
The Columbus Ohio Platform Tennis league is preparing for this season. For those new to the area, enter a Feedback message if you are interested in playing. There will be three divisions this year: Open, 4.0, and 3.5. Also check out PlatformTennisZone.com. This is a sister site to OhioTennisZone.com and PickleballZone.com. All three sites share quite a bit of code. When enhancements are made to one site, the changes are leveraged to the other sites.
Matches scheduled for today include: North Canton Hoover (A) versus Solon; Seven Hills (H) versus St. Ursula Academy; and Reynoldsburg (H) versus Dublin Scioto.
SUNDAY,
Sectional Draw Day | Mason Wins GCTCA
The all important Sectional Draw takes place today at 2pm across the state. Coaches will find OTZ very helpful to justify seeding positions and to identify weaker seeded players/teams to match up against. Use the Season-to-Date report under the Coach's Tools area to visualize all of your players' matches. OTZ will include the draws or links to the draws as they become available.
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Olentangy Berlin - Click to team page |
The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association Classic tournament finished yesterday. Mason won Flight A and Sycamore was the Flight B champion. Indian Hill was second in Flight A and Mason-B was second in Flight B. Other Flight Champions included: C - Oak Hills and D - Mason C. Since the B and C level teams do not get to participate in Sectionals, this is their big tournament of the season.
Highland won the Suburban League American Conference and Revere was second.
Among the top players, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein; Indian Hill's Brooke Arington; and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader. Indian Hill's Brooke Arington beat Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader and St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein. Mason's Harshita Uppuganti defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Payton Puryear; Indian Hill's Caroline Brown; and St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Olentangy Berlin. They are coached by Richard Hunt. They are Team Members. They are led by Ella Franz and Claire Emanuel.
SATURDAY,
Upper Arlington Beats Centerville | CHCA Defeats 7 Hills
It was a perfect evening for a high school tennis match (and a football game). There were just four matches recorded. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy defeated Seven Hills; Upper Arlington beat Centerville; Lancaster defeated Logan; and Upper Arlington-B beat Grove City. CHCA versus Seven Hills match was tied when it was clinched by Lynn Kader on Court 2. Centerville was short one of their key players. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw defeated Upper Arlington's Megan Basil; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Payton Puryear beat Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson; and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader defeated Seven Hills' Gabriella Kaskelis. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The photo of Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw was taken yesterday at UA. As is evident in the dark shadow trailing Hinshaw, it was once again a brutally harsh sun. Needless to say, it was a no visor / no hat day for photos.
I modified my photo processing work flow last night and I think I will be able to cut about an hour out of the process. Look for photos to be posted in a more timely basis in the future. (Yeah, right..)
The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Classic Tournament takes place today.
FRIDAY,
Magnificat Beats Massillon Jackson | Photo Friday
While high school boys scrambled for their longer shorts, parents and daughters sought out their warmer weather gear yesterday.. In the marque match of the evening, Magnificat defeated Massillon Jackson. There were 22 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 7, and Northeast - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Grove City defeated Jonathan Alder; Watterson beat DeSales; Olentangy Berlin defeated Olentangy Liberty; Olentangy beat Upper Arlington-B; and Wyoming defeated Madeira. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Wellington's Alexi Burkhalter - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Magnificat's Audrey Smitek defeated Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz beat Olentangy Liberty's Kylie Wilson; Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter defeated Worthington Christian's Meghan Mayotte; Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy beat Western Reserve Academy's Riya Hegde; Watterson's Sara Goodlive defeated DeSales' Molly Ballard; Dublin Jerome's Lydia Foster beat Gahanna's Frankie Nuss; and Westerville Central's Lauren Muniu defeated Hilliard Davidson's Abby Miksza. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There were 23 high school girls photos added for Photo Friday. There will also be a few photos added from the Tennis Ohio Championships. Please sign-in for the photos and then click Most Recently Added Photos. Note that a few of the photos of the professionals will be open for non-members to see.
At this point, all of the team photos submitted to OhioTennisZone are believed to be online. If you emailed a high resolution image to OTZ and it is not online, please send an email. I am also awaiting player names for many of the team photos for those teams that have OTZ Team Memberships. If you are wondering why a player photo is not included in an OTZ Player Profile, that is likely the reason why. (Parent help would be appreciated.)
One of the favorite OTZ tournaments is the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Classic. With the smaller flight sizes, the move to Saturday, the noon start time, and the home OSU football game, it will not work out this year. Hope to see everyone at the Southwest Districts.
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Upper Arlington; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (H) versus Seven Hills; and Wellington (H) versus Watterson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Hudson Beats St. Joseph Academy
Rain impacted most of the state. Just four matches were recorded. Hudson defeated St. Joseph Academy; Mason beat Colerain; Wooster defeated Lexington; and Sycamore beat Princeton. To view results in graphical form, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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JJ Wolf - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt defeated Hudson's Sunny Fan; Lexington's Gracie Pfieffer beat Wooster's Ava Mathur; and Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer defeated Princeton's Paris Harris. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
While it is raining outside, the Tennis Ohio Championships continue indoors. Today's photo is of J.J. Wolf. Wolf reached the finals in the State tournament as a freshman, playing for Cincinnati Country Day [tournament pdf] [2014 photo]. Cramping due to heat is a common problem at Boys States and that was also the case in 2014. Wolf also excelled at Ohio State before becoming a professional.
Today's matches include: Solon (A) versus Highland; Columbus School For Girls (H) versus Columbus Academy; and Highland (H) versus Shaker Heights. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Wellington Beats Olentangy Orange | Sycamore Defeats Oak Hills
Wet weather impacted yesterday's matches and conditions will be worse today. There were several good matches that included the top teams. Wellington defeated Olentangy Orange; Sycamore beat Oak HIlls; and New Albany defeated Olentangy. There were 20 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 9, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 3. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Kenston - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Kenston. They are coached by Torrey McNeal. They are led by Brooke McNeal and Madison Davila.
This would be a great day for coaches to enter older results so that the results can be easily shared for the Sectional Draws on Sunday. I will be around most of the day and evening to answer any questions.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (A) versus Orange; and Columbus School For Girls (H) versus Watterson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Upper Arlington Beats Wellington | Columbus Academy Defeats Olentangy Orange
Much of the Southwest District was rained out yesterday. Today and tomorrow looks bad for the entire state. Several of the top ranked teams competed. They included: Upper Arlington defeated Wellington; Columbus Academy beat Olentangy Orange; Magnificat defeated Laurel; and Solon beat Kenston. The Solon-Kenston match included three, 3-setters. The close, 3-2 matches included: Oak Hills defeated Lakota West; Grandview beat Central Crossing; Big Walnut defeated Dublin Scioto; Reynoldsburg beat Columbus School For Girls; and Revere defeated Aurora. There were 25 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 2, and Northeast - 9. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Big Walnut - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Big Walnut. They are coached by Ryan Balaz. They are led by Kina Ehlers and Molly McLane.
The Tennis Ohio Championships continue throughout the week for the WTA and ATP tournaments. A few of the Ohio State Men players compete today. Check out @OhioTennisZone on Twitter for photos. We live very close to this facility so it is rather easy to drop in and out to take a few photos. Unfortunately a platform tennis board meeting prevented me from getting New Albany's and OSU's Francesca Di Lorenzo's photo yesterday evening. She lost in a close 6-4, 6-4 match.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Massillon Jackson; St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Avon; and Wellington (H) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Very Busy Week..
Rain is expected to play a role again this week as the season zooms forward. This Sunday is the Sectional Draw so the goal for coaches should be to have all older matches entered on OTZ by the end of the week.
The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Classic begins on Thursday. This is the best tournament in the state outside of the actual state tournament. It combines all similarly skilled teams in groups of four. Prior to COVID-19, six to eight teams assembled at each site and hopefully that will be the case for the boys season.
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Peyton Stearns at Tennis Ohio WTA - Click to enlarge |
Columbus is the site for two professional tournaments this week. The ATP and the WTA are both having tournaments at Tennis Ohio. These are significant tournaments with the WTA having a rather large payout of $125K. Columbus and Ohio-based players include: JJ Wolf, Francesca Di Lorenzo, Mikael Torpegaard, Lauren Davis, Peyton Stearns, Eleana Yu, and Katrina Scott. [Also OSU's Cannon Kingsley, James Trotter, Justin Boulais, and Jake Van Emburgh] Tennys Sandgren is the men's number one seed. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the tournament is closed to the general public. In fact, players only get two spectator passes. These events are managed by Cleveland's Topnotch Management. Alex Guthrie of Topnotch Management (who previously coached at Mayfield HS) is the tournament director.
Tennis Ohio is at the "old" Ohio State University Varsity Indoor site. It now hosts the Kass Tennis Academy. Tito Bonadonna also leases space at this site for his tennis program.
This OTZ photo of Peyton Stearns is from her match yesterday against Coco Vandeweghe. It was a good match with Vandeweghe earning the 6-2, 6-4 win. Let's just say that the balls did not volunteer to play a role in this match.. Both women absolutely mash the ball. After returning to Cincinnati, Stearns zooms back to the University of Texas to play collegiate (see article). The last time that I saw Stearns play was at the G16 Midwest Qualifier at Upper Arlington (see photo). She qualified..
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Highland (A) versus Copley; and Upper Arlington (H) versus Wellington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Magnificat Wins Lexington Invite
There were more tournaments yesterday and the Lexington Invite had exceptionally good players and teams from around the state competing. Magnificat won the tournament and Centerville was second. Magnificat clinched the tournament by winning on 1st dubs with the Smitek sisters (Audrey and Natalie) beating Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw and Clara Owen in a three setter. In the tournament's singles division, St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt defeated Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black. Not to jinx anyone, but expect a few of these players to be competing on Day #2 of States..
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Magnificat - Click to team page |
In dual match play, Turpin defeated Sycamore and North Canton Hoover beat Boardman. Click on Previous Day's Match Results to see the bar graphs. In these two matches, North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Boardman's Ava Valko and Turpin's Sarah Clark defeated Sycamore's Ivy Miller.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's featured team is Magnificat. They are coached by Chris Johnson. They are Team Members. They are led by Audrey Smitek, Natalie Smitek, and Caroline Moritz.
SATURDAY,
Orange Beats Laurel | Revere Defeats NDCL
It was another beautiful evening and several teams took advantage of the weather by having great matches. The close 3-2 matches included: Orange defeated Laurel; Revere beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; and Notre Dame Academy defeated Walsh Jesuit. The NDA vs. Walsh Jesuit match was clinched on second dubs. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Delaware Hayes - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Delaware Hayes. They are coached by Dianna Hibinger. They are led by Cassie Klumpp and Tea Ilic.
Today is the Lexingtin Invite. I will be leaving for it in a few minutes. There will be eleven teams competing. Hopefully no one has bus troubles. That is happening a lot this year.. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Mason Defeats Indian Hill | Centerville Beats Eaton | Photo Friday
Well, this morning's update was a complete disaster. Now that school is in session, coaches/teachers might be a little more sleepy (and error prone) at the end of the week. Photo Friday was expected to include more photos but the extra minutes acquired from an extra early wakeup time were obliterated by the update rather than spent with photo processing.
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Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova - Click to enlarge |
Among the top teams, #1 Mason defeated #3 (D2) Indian Hill and #8 Centerville beat #2 (D2) Eaton. The Centerville match was tied at 2-2 until Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw clinched the match on Court 2 singles. The close, 3-2 matches included: Mount Notre Dame defeated Seton; Harrison beat Northwest; Watterson defeated Pickerington Central; Big Walnut beat Worthington Christian; DeSales defeated Grove City; and Badin beat Chaminade-Julienne. There were 16 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 5. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Indian Hill's Brooke Arington; Eaton's Macy Hitchcock beat Centerville's Clara Owen; Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri defeated Dublin Jerome's Lydia Foster; Turpin's Sarah Clark beat St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein; Hudson’s Sunny Fan defeated Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman; Watterson's Sara Goodlive beat Pickerington Central's Khandice Thomas; Avon's Denver Johnson defeated Medina's Eve Chester; Badin's Caroline Boyle beat Chaminade-Julienne's Morgan Dean; Worthington Christian’s Meghan Mayotte defeated Big Walnut’s Kina Ehlers; and Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw beat Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
While more photos were planned to be added, there were 19 images added to the Most Recently Added Photos area. Please sign-in first to view.
Today's matches include: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (A) versus Revere; Centerville (A) versus Lexington; and North Canton Hoover (H) versus Hawken. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Massillon Jackson Beats Kenston | St. Ursula Defeats Oak Hills
The Central District was largely rained out yesterday. Other parts of the state fared better. Among the top teams, Massillon Jackson defeated Kenston; St. Ursula Academy beat Oak Hills; and Mason defeated Turpin.
On August 23, it was reported that dual match score reporting was down 23% from the previous year. Things have improved slightly to being down 16%. There were 16 matches recorded from state-wide play last night. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 5. The close, 3-2 matches included: Seton defeated Walnut Hills; Loveland beat Summit Country Day; Copley defeated Tallmadge; Hilliard Davidson beat Hilliard Darby; Sycamore-B defeated Badin; and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin beat Gilmour Academy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Hilliard Darby - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Hilliard Darby. They are coached by Shawn Morris. They are led by Lexi Mincy and Mackenzie Davis.
I would really like to have a Photo Friday tomorrow, but I am waaay backed up on photos..
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Eaton; Turpin (A) versus Indian Hill; and Wellington (A) versus Olentangy Liberty. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
New OTZ Report: "By Court Performance" | Wellington Beats CA
A new report that further recognizes Ohio high school tennis players is being launched today, but last night's results will be covered first..
Among the top teams, #5 Wellington immediately spoiled the OTZ rankings by beating #4 Columbus Academy in a tight 3-2 match. This was not a State Team Tournament match so that will be the key match. Other close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy defeated Reynoldsburg; Hilliard Bradley beat Worthington Kilbourne; and Olentangy Berlin defeated Lancaster. There were 27 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 7. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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OTZ "By Court" Report - Click to report |
Among the top players, Magnificat's Audrey Smitek defeated Westlake's Neige DeAngelis; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz beat Lancaster's Mallory Thomas; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt defeated Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman; Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter beat Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria; Eaton's Macy Hitchcock defeated Bellbrook's Maya Brink; Olentangy's Sheryl Gerald beat Reynoldsburg's Kareen Meoko; and Wellington's Katie Zerbi defeated Columbus Academy's Yasemin Bilgin. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Archbishop Alter; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Dublin Jerome; Turpin (A) versus Mason; Worthington Kilbourne (A) versus Thomas Worthington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
New Report - By Court Performance
Another report designed to recognize Ohio high school tennis players is being released today. This new report that is called, "By Court" Player Performance. This report recognizes the top performing players on a "by court" basis. This way, even the Court 3 Singles and Court 2 Doubles players get additional recognition. As tennis fans know, these are often the courts that clinch championships..
Players are sorted by winning percentage and then by the number of wins. Players must also play a certain number of matches before they are included on the report. (This number will vary throughout the season.)
OTZ is a seven days a week, 10+ hour/day endeavor, but once additional data is gathered it can be molded into other reports without a significant amount of additional daily work. Once the data was created for the new roster information on the Team Report, it could be used for this new "view" of the data.
Yes, this single report could have been broken into five different reports to maximize the number of pageviews that OTZ generates, but OTZ has always been about maximizing the amount of information that fans receive as quickly as possible. Note the navlinks effortlessly enable fans to jump to the various courts.
This report is also very helpful to OTZ to identify the top players and top teams.
This is a premium report but it is available for everyone to view this week. After this week, fans will need to sign-in to view it. Non-members will only see the OTZ member player photos who are ranked. Click to sign-up for OhioTennisZone.com.
Players who should be recognized, but are not, need to talk with their coaches first, and then their athletic directors about having their coaches become OTZ members. Tennis players like to be recognized just as their classmates who play other sports are. Need help to determine who your school's athletic director is? Contact OTZ.
TUESDAY,
OTZ's Top 20 Players | Dublin Coffman Beats Wellington
It was a busy night for girls tennis and it has been a busy last few days at OTZ with the update of the OTZ Top Players and Watch Lists. First, more about last night's matches..
There were several matches that included the state's top teams. These matches included: Dublin Coffman defeated Wellington; Seven Hills beat Ursuline Academy; and Hathaway Brown defeated Laurel. The close, 3-2 matches included: Loveland defeated Seton; Blanchester beat McNicholas; Olentangy defeated Dublin Jerome; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy beat Sycamore; Gahanna defeated Dublin Scioto; and Notre Dame Academy beat St. Joseph Academy. There were 30 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 8, Northeast - 9, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Top 20 Girls - Click to go to the report |
Revere's Morgan Dobos beat Copley's Jillian Endres; Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu defeated Laurel's Samyuktha Iyer; Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova beat Wellington's Katie Zerbi; Avon's Denver Johnson defeated Mayfield's Hailey Inmon; Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer beat Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Payton Puryear; Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes defeated Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson; Olentangy's Sheryl Gerald beat Dublin Jerome's Lydia Foster; Kenston's Brooke McNeal defeated Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy; and Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard beat Gahanna's Frankie Nuss. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for State's Top Players.
The OhioTennisZone Top Players and Watch Lists were updated. While OTZ is certainly aware of the other ranking and rating services, the OTZ lists are based on high school competition. Comments from coaches are always welcome if they feel a player is deserving. As for comments from aunts and uncles, not so much.. The Top Players List will continue to grow throughout the season to about 25-30 players. The Watch List varies from year to year. Please sign-in to view all of the information.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Wellington; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Upper Arlington; and Orange (A) versus Hawken. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Updated OTZ State Team Rankings - Mason and HB Still #1's
The OTZ Girls State Team rankings have been updated. This is the first update since the OTZ Pre-Season Rankings were released on July 30th for Division I and August 5th for Division II (click for write-ups). There were numerous unexpected roster changes that helped some teams and hurt others. Note that this is *not* a coaches' poll. It was created by OhioTennisZone.
OhioTennisZone.com |
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| Division I | Division II |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM | Hathaway Brown◄TEAM |
| 2. Magnificat◄TEAM | Eaton |
| 3. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 4. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM | Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 5. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM | Wellington◄TEAM |
| 6. Upper Arlington◄TEAM | Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy ◄TEAM |
| 7. New Albany◄TEAM | Archbishop Alter◄TEAM |
| 8. Centerville | Hawken◄TEAM |
| 9. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM | Seven Hills◄TEAM |
| 10. Olentangy Orange | Laurel◄TEAM |
| HM: Highland◄TEAM | Revere◄TEAM |
| HM: Notre Dame Academy ◄TEAM | Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin◄TEAM |
| HM: Solon◄TEAM | |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. |
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There is normally a "Rosetta Stone" team and this year's version is North Canton Hoover. They have played 16 matches against strong D1 and D2 teams from throughout Ohio. By comparing how teams performed against Hoover, it is possible to get a good reading on how strong each team is.
Some teams have not played as many matches and others have not been diligent about entering their scores, so it is more difficult to evaluate their performance. It is more likely that this hurt their rankings rather than help them.
Teams that are OTZ Team Members have the green team identifier. Far more information is available for their players without first signing in to OhioTennisZone.
It takes many (many) hours each day, seven days a week to create the content for OhioTennisZone. While it would be nice if all of the top teams were OTZ Team Members, the minimal expectation for a Top Ten coach is to be a Coach Member.
The OTZ Top Players and Watch Lists are in the process of being reviewed and numerous changes have already taken place. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Wellington; Seven Hills (H) versus Ursuline Academy; Sycamore (A) versus Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy; and St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Notre Dame Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Massillon Jackson Beats Notre Dame Academy
Yesterday would have been much more pleasant day had we watched the Massillon Jackson versus Notre Dame Academy match rather than a specific college football game.. In high school tennis, Marysville defeated Lancaster and Massillon Jackson beat Notre Dame Academy. Click on Previous Day's Match Results to view the graphical results.
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Dublin Scioto - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Dublin Scioto. They are coached by Sean Gilbert. They are led by Amelia Kunard and Yuka Nabeya.
There will be new team rankings tomorrow and the Top Players and Watch Lists will be reviewed.
If you are awaiting an OTZ reply to an email, for a photo to be placed online, for an OTZ Player Profile, or for our yard to be mowed, please submit a Feedback.
SATURDAY,
Hawken Defeats Laurel | Indian Hill Beats Dayton Chaminade
As normal, Friday was a slow tennis night. Hawken defeated Laurel and Indian Hill beat Chaminade-Julienne in the State Team Tournament. There were 11 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 1, Southwest - 5, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Central Crossing - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Central Crossing. They are coached by Cody Hawkins. They are led by Sophia Toscano and Allison Antonoff.
The additional Team Report analytics mentioned in yesterday update were well-received. More player recognizing analytics are on the way..
Today's matches include: Marysville (H) versus Lancaster. It appears that Toledo St. Ursula Academy and Notre Dame Academy are headed east to play dual matches against Massillon Jackson and North Canton Hoover. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Team Report Enhancement | Centerville Defeats Ursuline Academy
There is a new enhancement to the team report which should make it easier to analyze teams. Plus, perfect weather conditions allowed a large number of great matches to take place yesterday.
First the matches.. In matches involving the top teams, Centerville defeated Ursuline Academy in the State Team Tournament and North Canton Hoover beat Solon. The close, 3-2 matches included: Jonathan Alder defeated London; Watterson beat Pickerington North; Loveland defeated Walnut Hills; and Dublin Jerome beat Dublin Scioto. There were 35 matches recorded from state-wide play from yesterday's matches, but 43 new scores were entered as coaches continue to catch-up. The breakdown by District was: Central - 16, Southwest - 11, Northeast - 6, and Northwest - 2. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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New OTZ Analytics - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated Bowling Green's Busselle; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming; Centerville's Clara Owen defeated Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz beat Olentangy Orange's Tyler Reed; Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman defeated Badin's Caroline Boyle; Solon's Niya Fried beat North Canton Hoover's Lilly Altman; Revere's Morgan Dobos defeated Archbishop Hoban's Hayley Slay; Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy beat Hudson's Sunny Fan; Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart defeated Columbus Academy's Anna Chang ; Rocky River’s Samantha Robertson beat Avon's Denver Johnson; and Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard defeated Dublin Jerome's Lydia Foster. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There was a new enhancement added to the Team Report earlier in the week. It shows the won/loss record for each player on the roster on a “by court” basis for dual matches. This report is typically seen in college tennis and it should be a nice addition to Ohio high school tennis as well. This report is behind the paywall so please sign in first. If you are not a member, click to Join OTZ. How much value does this information add to the report? 27.4%. Confused on how this percentage was computed? Don’t be. Click for a thorough explanation.In a behind-the-scenes view of OhioTennisZone, this is the first data table that is actually created using the OTZ system. All of the other data tables are created using elaborate Microsoft Excel tables. This is the first step in making the OhioTennisZone system self-aware. Hardly anything ever goes wrong when this is done. At some point, probably OTZ 3.0, the system will control the players so that they create the scores that OTZ enters for them before they play. This should speed up the OTZ update.
Today's matches include: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (A) versus Perry and Seven Hills (A) versus Wyoming. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Hathaway Brown Defeats Hoover | Mason Beat Centerville
It was a big night for tennis. Some of the most prominent schools played against each other. They included: Hathaway Brown defeated North Canton Hoover; Mason beat Centerville; New Albany defeated Upper Arlington; Wellington beat Dublin Jerome; and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy defeated St. Ursula Academy. There were 33* matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 8, Northeast - 11, and Northwest -1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Walsh Jesuit defeated St. Joseph Academy; Loveland beat Lakota West; Pickerington North defeated Lancaster; Reynoldsburg beat Marysville; Olentangy Berlin defeated Columbus School For Girls; Highland beat Revere; and Laurel defeated Brecksville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Sycamore - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Sycamore. They are coached by Mike Teets. They are Team Members. They are led by Gabrielle Frischer and Ivy Miller.
Today's matches include: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (H) versus Laurel; Centerville (A) versus Ursuline Academy; Magnificat (H) versus Kenston; Solon (A) versus North Canton Hoover; and St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Hawken. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
* While 33 scores were included for today, 49 total scores were entered as coaches "caught-up" and new coaches joined OhioTennisZone.
WEDNESDAY,
Olentangy Orange Beats Olentangy | St. Joseph Defeats Rocky River
Teams gingerly stepped back into competition after the holiday. Just 18 state-wide matches were recorded. The breakdown by District was: Central - 8, Southwest - 5, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1.
There were several good contests last night. St. Joseph Academy defeated Rocky River in a 3-2 match. The contest was clinched by SJA in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 thriller on second dubs. Olentangy Orange beat its older sister, Olentangy, 3-2. Other 3-2 matches included: Lehman Catholic defeated Preble Shawnee and Oakwood beat Chaminade-Julienne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Solon - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Solon. They are coached by Fredrik Nyborg. They are Team Members. They are led by Niya Fried and Phoebe Shi.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Mason; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Dublin Scioto; North Canton Hoover (A) versus Hathaway Brown; Revere (H) versus Highland; and Upper Arlington (H) versus New Albany. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Eaton Beats Seven Hills
This should be a big week for girls high school tennis, especially now that it appears that the weather is going to start to cooperate. Hopefully the high temperatures and rain are behind us.
There was one big match played yesterday. Eaton defeated Seven Hills in the State Team Tournament. With the match tied at 2-2, Eaton's Grace Murphy clinched the match on court 3 singles. Click to view the graphical view of yesterday's match on Previous Day's Match Results.
Click to view the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
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Jonathan Alder - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Jonathan Alder. They are coached by Bryan Deeken. They are led by Chloe Sullivan and Brooklyn Banks. This is one of the nicest team photos that fans will see this season. Nothing says Ohio high school tennis more than having a field of corn in the background.
Today's matches include: North Canton Hoover (A) versus Louisville; Watterson (H) versus Ready; DeSales (A) versus Hartley; and St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Rocky River. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Eager to Compete | TopSeed Tennis
This US Open has certainly had its surprises this year with relatively unknown players making big advances. Perhaps fans should not be as surprised as they are.. Last summer, there were still numerous unknowns associated with COVID-19. There were, of course, no vaccines. There were also no tournaments; no sharing of tennis balls; no freedom of masks restrictions around the courts; no indoor dining; etc. Still though, some players wanted to participate in competitive matches.
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Shelby Rogers - Click to enlarge |
Enter TopSeed Tennis of Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Working with players and their agents, Jon Sanders [photo] of TopSeed Tennis organized a charity, round-robin tournament called the Young Kings Scholarship Tennis Tournament. It consisted of Leylah Fernandez [OTZ photo], Shelby Rogers [see right], Jessica Pegula [photo], Caty McNally [photo], CiCi Bellis [photo], Genie Bouchard [photo], Jamie Loeb [photo], and Marine Partaud [photo].
While the competitive match play was certainly beneficial for the players, it also identified those players who were most eager to advance their games by traveling to compete during an Independence Day holiday. Many of the players paid for their own travel and lodging accommodations and there was no prize money.
With much of the U.S. still in heavy-duty lock-down mode, this club and community, which is located just south of Lexington, KY, were more accommodating. The competition included referees, line judges, media interviews courtesy of the Cracked Racquets crew [photo], and a few fans and fan dogs [photo]. I was permitted to sit near the courts to take photos. As for ball boys and girls, the players largely picked up their own balls during the games.
TopSeed's Jon Sanders added, "It was great to have these players compete for such a great cause. We raised over $9k for the scholarship fund! Seeing the continuing success of these players is a testament to who they are not only as athletes and competitors but as role models for young players everywhere. They have been constantly working on their games when nobody was watching and it shows now that the whole world is watching. The players we had compete are true role models in the behavior both on and off the court and it’s been an honor to host them and call them my friends.
TopSeed Tennis was further recognized by earning the first official tournament as restrictions were lifted by getting a WTA / Octagon Tennis tournament in August 2020. This event included Serena and Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, Garbine Muguruza, Coco Gauff, and others.
With Shelby Rogers and Leylah Fernandez still in the US Open main draw, Caty McNally in the doubles main draw, and Jessica Pegula in the main draw of the mixed doubles, it is pretty neat how they all competed in Nicholasville just 14 months ago.
SUNDAY,
Top OTZ Photos Updated
This season has been difficult in numerous ways, especially with frequent rain, and that has affected the number of photos taken. That is the main reason for the delay in this list being released this season. The initial group of photos in the OTZ Top Ten are pretty good, but some of them were taken prior to the season. These photos will probably be replaced first as more photos are taken. Click for the OTZ Top Ten Girls Photos.
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Cassie Klumpp - Click to enlarge |
As normal, these are the OTZ favorites. Some of the most desirable photo attributes include: great eye-on-ball, great lighting, interesting (i.e. the buses) or non-distracting background, and motion (as depicted by flowing hair, skirt, and/or feet off the ground). An automatic dis-qualifier is a Porta-Jonn in the background. Because of the importance of a "great sun", one match with great lighting can provide several photos to the Top Ten.
Occasionally Mrs. OTZ provides her feedback but that was not the case today. (Mrs. OTZ primarily likes cute dog photos.) She is also asked to provide "is this ok?" feedback from time-to-time on the girls' photos.
Today's featured photo is of Delaware Hayes' Cassie Klumpp. She is a junior. It was taken at the Hayes Invite at the beginning of the season and four photos in the Top Ten are from this tournament. (Plus, note that none of these four girls were wearing visors.)
Click for the Top Girls Photos for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014. It is doubtful that any of the 2014 photos would make the cut in 2021. There have been several (expensive) equipment upgrades since 2014. Plus, I think I have gotten better at taking photos.
The Top Photo taken by OTZ remains the 2017 Anna Rogenburk photo. Will a photo be taken this year that replaces it? Doubtful. Rogenburk is a great athlete and she was playing a great opponent (Zoey Weil) at States. Both Rogenburk and Weil are playing D1 college tennis.
SATURDAY,
Sycamore Beats Middletown
It was a slow day for tennis due to football games and the upcoming Labor Day holiday. Sycamore beat Middletown and Westerville South defeated Hartley. To view of the performance graphs from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Hartley - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Hartley. They are coached by Lynn Winters. They are led by Emily Thompson and Kiarra McElrath.
The weekend is expected to be quiet tennis-wise but OTZ is still in catch-up mode, especially with photos. More older scores are also expected over the next few days. While just two scores were from yesterday, there were nineteen reported and included in the OTZ database.
A new analytical report enhancement is expected to be released this weekend.
FRIDAY,
CHCA Beat 7 Hills | NDA Defeated TCC
The acronym bowls were played yesterday in perfect weather conditions. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy defeated Seven Hills and Notre Dame Academy beat Toledo Central Catholic. In other notable matches, Massillon Jackson defeated Highland and Magnificat beat St. Joseph Academy.
There were 35 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 14, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Buckeye Valley defeated Worthington Christian; Chaminade-Julienne beat Milton-Union; Laurel defeated Hudson; Turpin beat Milford; and Worthington Kilbourne defeated Westerville South. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Hilliard Davidson's Olivia Temelkoff - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Magnificat's Audrey Smitek defeated St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Wooster's Ava Mathur; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton defeated Hudson's Sunny Fan; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Payton Puryear beat Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson; Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman defeated Highland's Sarah Sgambati; Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai beat Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri; Mason's Rashi Loni defeated Lakota East's Natashi Kejriwal; Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe; Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart defeated Worthington Christian's Meghan Mayotte; and Pickerington Central’s Khandice Thomas beat Reynoldsburg's Kareen Meoko. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
While there were 35 matches recorded from yesterday's matches, there were actually 46 overall scores entered as coaches began to catch-up with entering older scores. With no matches being scheduled over the next four days, hopefully more coaches will enter scores so that their players can be recognized.Today is an abbreviated Photo Friday. More photos will be added later today. Sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos.
The sun was a bit too hot for great photos from the UA versus Hilliard Davidson match, and it impossibly harsh for those girls wearing visors. The reason why visors are so bad for photos is because the girls can pull them down lower than hats (since there is no material on the top of the hat to prevent this). When the sun casts too dark of shadow over the eyes, the photo is unusable. (This is probably why women pros do not wear visors.) If there are a few clouds in the sky to block the sun, there is normally an opportunity for me to go to a “visor” court to take a few photos but there were no clouds yesterday. Sunglasses are a great substitute for visors.
OTZ is also in catch-up mode over the next four days. If you are awaiting a response and it has been too long, please ping me again.
THURSDAY,
Olentangy Orange Defeated Dublin Jerome | Eaton Beat Archbishop Alter
The weather was perfect last night for tennis, albeit a bit windy. There were 25 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 12, and Northeast - 2. Matches involving the state's top teams included: Olentangy Orange defeated Dublin Jerome and Eaton beat Archbishop Alter. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hilliard Darby defeated Central Crossing; Chaminade-Julienne beat Wilmington; Seton defeated Anderson; Ursuline Academy beat Loveland; Dublin Coffman defeated Olentangy; and Watkins Memorial beat Westerville North. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Loveland - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Loveland. They are coached by Jennifer Kapszukiewicz. They are led by Sarah Heitt and Grace Haught.
The OTZ camera gear has not gotten much of a workout this season. I went to a match last night only to find out that it was delayed by an hour due to bus issues. I had an early hard-stop so that was another evening wasted after spending gas money and driving time going to the match.. Plus, breezy weather is great for girls' action photos..
New system enhancements are coming..
Upper Arlington (H) has their first match in their new facility. They play against Hilliard Davidson. Other big matches include: Notre Dame Academy (A) versus Toledo Central Catholic; St. Joseph Academy (H) versus Magnificat; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Highland; and Seven Hills (H) versus Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Hathaway Brown Beats Massillon Jackson
The Central District was largely rained out, but the rest of the state had matches. In the headliner match, Hathaway Brown defeated Massillon Jackson. There were 15 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3, Southwest - 4, Northeast - 6, and Northwest - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Orange defeated Hudson; Sylvania Northview beat Bowling Green; Laurel defeated Walsh Jesuit; Kenton Ridge beat Jonathan Alder; Pickerington Central defeated Lancaster; Badin beat Fenwick; and Anderson defeated Kings. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Archbishop Alter - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Archbishop Alter. They are coached by Charlie Painter. They are Team Members. They are led by Grace Lampman, Maggie Shope, and Annie Gayonski.
Today's matches include: Archbishop Alter (A) versus Eaton; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Olentangy; and Solon (A) versus Shaker Heights. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Ursuline Academy Beats Oak Hills | Sycamore Defeats Mariemont
The rain forecasted for yesterday was not as bad as projected. There were still 22 matches recorded. Among the top teams, Ursuline Academy defeated Oak Hills and Sycamore beat Mariemont. Both were 3-2 matches. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 7, and Northeast - 4. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Grove City - Click to team page |
As normal, the Southwest District is zooming along with completing matches for the State Team Tournament. Click to view OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
Among the top players, Laurel's Ellie Brotherton defeated Chagrin Falls' Ella Goyzman; Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer beat Mariemont's Ella Malafa; Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes defeated Oak Hills' Morgan Lint; Olentangy’s Sheryl Gerald beat Watterson's Sara Goodlive; Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard defeated Hilliard Darby's Carrline Webb; and Westerville Central's Sidney Choo beat Bexley's Mia Ehrsam. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Grove City. They are coached by Joshua Chandler. They are led by Gabriella Hougland and Julie Moore.
There are some very interesting match-ups today. They include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Upper Arlington; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Hathaway Brown; St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Highland; and Centerville (A) versus Beavercreek. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Updated State Team Draws
It is a rainy day and it is Monday so this.. Rain is expected in much of the state but at least Ohio is not cleaning up after a hurricane today.
The State Team Tournament draws were updated. Click to view the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws. Please submit a Feedback if there is a match result that is not reflected in the draws.
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North Canton Hoover - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is North Canton Hoover. They are coached by Ryan Shaffer. They are Team Members. They are led by Tess Bucher and Lilly Altman.
Today's matches include: Sycamore (A) versus Mariemont; Turpin (A) versus St. Ursula Academy; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (H) versus Indian Hill; and Watterson (H) versus Olentangy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Mag and HB Beats NDA | Hoover Defeats Sycamore and New Albany
It was a great day for dual matches yesterday. Many of the top teams competed with each other. These matches included: Magnificat and Hathaway Brown defeated Notre Dame Academy; North Canton Hoover beat Sycamore and New Albany; and New Albany defeated Sycamore. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
In tournament play, Highland won its tournament and Wooster was second.
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Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Magnificat's Audrey Smitek defeated Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer and New Albany's Kary Hollenbaugh; Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman defeated Summit Country Day's Ashley Ashley Grooms; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt beat Eaton's Macy Hitchcock and Olentangy Orange's Tyler Reed; Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu defeated Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher; Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer beat New Albany's Kary Hollenbaugh; and Worthington Christian’s Meghan Mayotte defeated Gahanna’s Frankie Nuss. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
OTZ was finally able to hit the courts and take photos again. With equal skill levels and great sun, there will be a few more photos for Photo Friday. The Saturday dual matches are fun because there are more parents in attendance and a few more people with whom to talk..
After an 8am tennis match, today becomes a catch-up day. Look for an email reply if you sent one to me this week.
SATURDAY,
Highland Beats Solon
It was a quiet night on the tennis courts as the kids attended football games. Matches reported included: Highland defeated Solon; Chaminade-Julienne beat Carroll; Oak Hills defeated Fairfield; and Dublin Coffman beat Delaware Hayes. To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Sylvania Northview - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Sylvania Northview. They are coached by Mark Fisher. They are led by Maddie Peisley and Brynn Chaffee.
There are a few dual matches and tournaments today. Dual matches include: North Canton Hoover versus Sycamore and New Albany. Olentangy Orange is hosting a tournament that includes Upper Arlington, St. Joseph Academy, and Eaton. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Magnificat Beats Hathaway Brown | Massillon Jackson Defeats Solon
Spotty thunderstorms led to last minute cancellations yesterday. The Northeast District was the least affected. They contributed nine matches to the state-wide total of 19. The other Districts totaled: Central - 7, Southwest - 1, and Northwest - 2. In the biggest matches of the evening, Magnificat defeated Hathaway Brown and Massillon Jackson beat Solon. The close, 3-2 matches included: Central Crossing defeated Newark; Reynoldsburg beat Lancaster; Wooster defeated St. Joseph Academy; DeSales beat Bloom-Carroll; Walsh Jesuit defeated Lexington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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HB's Katie Mills - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated Perrysburg's Mona Abdul-Aziz; Magnificat's Audrey Smitek beat Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz defeated Dublin Jerome's Lydia Foster; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton beat Shaker Heights' Isabella Glinzler; Solon's Niya Fried defeated Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming beat Beaumont's Carlson Jones; Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria defeated Bexley's Mia Ehrsam; Brunswick’s Calista Bobula beat Avon's Denver Johnson; and Magnificat's Natalie Smitek defeated Hathaway Brown's Katie Mills. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
This is a minor Photo Friday. Eight photos were added. There have not been many opportunities to take photos this fall. I first look for competitive matches among teams with OTZ Coach or Team Members. I also look for tournaments that are more "singles" rather than "doubles" focused. Hopefully next week will bring more opportunities. To view the photos, sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos.
Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Delaware Hayes; Highland (H) versus Solon; Seven Hills (A) versus Mariemont; and Solon (H) versus North Canton Hoover. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Mason Beats Indian Hill | Centerville Defeats Oakwood
What was expected to be a hot, dry week has become a hot week with thunderstorms and zillion percent humidity.. Not to be a Debbie downer but COVID-19 is also quickly gathering steam. Centerville just issued a new *outdoor* mask policy if within six feet of other spectators. [Click for Centerville Tweet.] It may be best not to delay State Team Tournament matches until the very last nanosecond.
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Franklin Heights - Click to team page |
Big matches that included the state's top teams were Mason defeated Indian Hill; Centerville beat Oakwood; and North Canton Hoover defeated Massillon Jackson. There were 11 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 2, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 1. Some coaches are also starting to catch-up on matches that were not entered earlier. The close, 3-2 matches included: Waynesville defeated Blanchester and Turpin beat Oak Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Indian Hill's Brooke Arington; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman; Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw defeated Oakwood's Sarah Hall; and Turpin’s Sarah Clark beat Oak Hills’ Morgan Lint. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Franklin Heights. They are coached by James Wassmuth. They are led by Kaye Anne Muetzel and Isabella Soliday.
Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus Massillon Jackson; Magnificat (H) versus Hathaway Brown; Upper Arlington (H) versus Olentangy Orange; and Columbus Academy (H) versus Bexley. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Magnificat Defeated Solon | Upper Arlington Beat Olentangy Liberty
Hot temperatures continued yesterday. Storms may cool things off today but the boost in humidity will increase the frizz factor.. Matches that included some of the top teams included: Magnificat defeated Solon and Upper Arlington beat Olentangy Liberty. There were 28 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 5. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Worthington Kilbourne; Copley beat Brunswick; and Hartley defeated Grandview. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Westerville Central - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Westerville Central. They are coached by Bradley Baker. They are led by Sidney Choo and Lauren Muniu.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Oakwood; St. Joseph Academy (H) versus Kenston; and Olentangy Berlin (A) versus Wellington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Sycamore Beat Ursuline Academy | Temps = Really Hot
The girls played through the hot temperatures yesterday with many areas of the state reaching 90+ degrees. Temperatures are expected to be even warmer over the next two days. There were 28 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 8, Southwest - 11, Northeast - 8, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Laurel defeated Solon; Seven Hills beat Turpin; Sycamore defeated Ursuline Academy; Blanchester beat Little Miami; Mariemont defeated Seton; Highland beat Boardman; and Sylvania Northview defeated Ottawa Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
The State Team Tournament is marching forward. Click to view the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws
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Highland - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Highland. They are coached by Lisa Reynolds. They are Team Members. They are led by Sarah Sgambati, Jo Oberhaus, and Madison Pawlak.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Solon; St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Westlake; Sylvania Northview (A) versus Anthony Wayne; and Centerville (A) versus Miamisburg. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Centerville Beats Notre Dame Academy
In the only match reported in the state, Centerville defeated Notre Dame Academy. Centerville’s secured the victory with wins at the singles’ positions. Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw defeated Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher; Clara Owen beat Emma Nofziger; and Arabelle MacPherson defeated Charlize DelSantos.
To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Dublin Coffman - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Dublin Coffman. They are coached by Brett Hundertpfund. They are Team Members. They are led by Dasha Chistyakova, Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri, and Lauren Burkett.
Coaches may catch-up with their scores on OTZ at any time. Please; however, do not enter scores that have already been input by your opposing coach. That can cause double entries.
Just to confirm my suspicions, the number of dual match scores for 2021 were compared with 2020. The number of scores is down 23%. Part of this is certainly due to the weather, part is that the major newspapers are not posting results (which had been an OTZ source for some scores), but part is perhaps more concerning. It appears that coaches are not quite as engaged as in the past, and they are not submitting scores. Despite fewer scores, OTZ website usage is really solid. Usage is up 15% versus 2020. Coaches, the girls like recognition, too.
OTZ does offer parents/players the ability to enter scores into the OTZ system. Enter a Feedback if interested.
Today's matches include: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (A) versus Gilmour Academy; Orange (A) versus Hawken; Solon (H) versus Laurel; Sycamore (A) versus Ursuline Academy; and Sylvania Northview (A) versus Ottawa Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Centerville Beats Toledo SUA | Kenston Defeates Avon
Yesterday was tournament day. Magnificat won the Canfield Dubs tournament. The champion of the Watkins Memorial dubs tournament was Big Walnut. Bellbrook was the Wilmington doubles tournament champion. Want to get your team recognized for winning a tournament? Just email the result to OTZ.
In dual match play, Centerville defeated Toledo St. Ursula Academy; Kenston beat Avon; and Sylvania Northview defeated Ashland. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Granville - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Granville. They are coached by Rick Corder. They are led by Marie Weis and Kamryn Kirkham.
A meeting took OTZ off of the tennis courts and away from the web site yesterday. Other than mowing a jungle yard and watching a bit of the W&S Open, most of the day will be spent on the web site. The plan is to post all of the team photos that have been emailed to OTZ and to create Player Profiles for all of the teams for which I have roster information.
Coaches, Want to recognize your players? You may still sign-up for OhioTennisZone and enter your scores. Catching up on past matches is quick and easy to do. I will also be around most of the day to answer any questions. The major newspapers are either no longer or intermittently providing high school results.
SATURDAY,
Solon Beats SJA | Westlake Defeats Avon
High school football has kicked into gear which will mean fewer tennis matches will be played on Friday nights. There were just seven recorded from yesterday. Among the top teams, Solon defeated St. Joseph Academy in a 3-2 match. The breakdown by District was: Central - 2, Southwest - 2, and Northeast - 3. In other 3-2 matches included: Westlake defeated Avon and Gahanna beat Reynoldsburg. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Angelique Kerber - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw defeated Loveland's Grace Haught; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt beat Solon's Niya Fried; Reynoldsburg's Kareen Meoko defeated Gahanna's Aubrey Thomas; Avon's Denver Johnson beat Westlake's Madison Shami; Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy defeated Perrysburg's Mona AbdulAziz; and Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson beat Wyoming's Myatt.Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
OTZ attended the Western & Southern Open yesterday. I normally get media credentials so that I can sit beside the courts but not this year due to COVID-19 tour restrictions. From what I could tell, there were roughly one quarter the regular number of photographers. W&S also took additional precautions to separate the players from the fans. We always buy tickets for the quarterfinals on Friday so that we can all sit together and watch. This image will be on our Christmas card. Today will be a catchup day.
There are several tournaments being held today. They include Watterson/New Albany, Canfield, Reynoldsburg, and Wilmington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Dublin Coffman Beat Olentangy Liberty | Orange Defeated Walsh Jesuit
Many teams were in action yesterday thanks to the great weather. In some of the bigger matches, Dublin Coffman defeated Olentangy Liberty and Orange beat Walsh Jesuit. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Berlin defeated Olentangy; Marysville beat Hilliard Darby; Lakota East defeated Oak Hills; and Jonathan Alder beat Bellefontaine. This was the biggest evening to date in terms of matches played. There were 24 matches recorded. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 4, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Columbus School For Girls - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Columbus School for Girls. They are coached by Sean Delaney. They are Team Members. They are led by Lanie Klatt and Lane Sharfin.
It will be difficult to contact me today as I head down to the Western & Southern Open.
Today's matches include: Avon (H) versus Westlake; Centerville (A) versus Loveland; Notre Dame Academy (A) versus Watterson; and Solon (H) versus St. Joseph Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
800 Wins!
A special OTZ congratulations goes out to Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin coach, Harvey Schrager. Coach Schrager secured his 800th high school win yesterday against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. The match itself was memorable, too. The 2-2 match was decided by a 3-setter on third singles.
The weather held for some of the day for most of Ohio. Noteworthy matches that included the state's top teams were Columbus Academy defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and Indian Hill, and St. Ursula Academy beat Sycamore. There were 17 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 6, Southwest - 5, and Northeast - 6. The other close, 3-2 matches included: Westerville Central defeated Olentangy Berlin; Marysville beat Worthington Christian; London defeated Ready; and Laurel beat Mentor.
To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin - Click to team page |
It is probably no surprise that today's featured team is Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. As stated before, they are coached by Harvey Schrager. Coach Schrager has been coaching high school tennis for 39 years. In addition to coaching at NDCL, he has coached at Laurel and North Olmsted. He now has the 10th most victories in the Ohio high school tennis history. His overall record is 800-419. He is an OTZ Coach Member. NDCL is led by Elena Fleming, Lucy Paulin, and Kate Harlan.
Today's matches include: Seven Hills (A) versus Miami Valley School; Sylvania Northview (A) versus Maumee Valley Country Day; Solon (A) versus Aurora; and Reynoldsburg (H) versus Groveport. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Centerville Beat St. Joseph Academy | NDA Defeated Perrysburg
Still more rain.. This video has been stored in the OTZ arsenal to fight wet weather but it has never been used before now. It is time.. There were just six matches recorded from state-wide play. Southwest had four and the Northeast and Northwest had just one each. There were none reported in the Central District. In the bigger matches of the evening, Centerville defeated St. Joseph Academy and Notre Dame Academy beat Perrysburg.
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Avon - Click to team page |
Copley started out with a nice 2-0 lead over Manchester on courts 1 and 2, but Manchester tied the match on courts 4 and 3 and then clinched the match on 2nd dubs with wins by Courtney Carpenter and Hunter Kay. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman defeated Badin's Caroline Boyle; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt beat Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw; Centerville's Clara Owen defeated St. Joseph Academy's Tyler Schuerlein; Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher beat Perrysburg's Mona Abdul-Aziz; and Copley's Jillian Endres defeated Manchester's Ella Burris. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Avon. They are coached by Eric Korey. They are led by Denver Johnson and Amelia Tomak.
Today's matches include: Sycamore (H) versus St. Ursula Academy; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (H) versus Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Columbus Academy (A) versus Indian Hill; and Highland (A) versus Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
New Albany Beats Hathaway Brown
The farmers are pleased with this rainy weather, but it is not helping high school tennis schedules. There were very few matches played (and at least one unreported). The marquee match was New Albany defeated Hathaway Brown. New Albany came from being down 1-2 before clinching the win on 3rd singles. In other matches, Delaware Hayes defeated Hartley; Lehman Catholic beat Greeneview; Westerville Central defeated Hilliard Darby; and Avon beat North Ridgeville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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DeSales - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is DeSales. They are coached by Tom Snyder. They are led by Molly Ballard and Maddie Hill.
Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (H) versus Hawken; Sycamore (H) versus Lakota West; Notre Dame Academy (H) versus Perrysburg; and DeSales (H) versus Bexley. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
#1 Mason Beats #2 Magnificat and #1 HB | Mag Defeats Sycamore
There were several great Sunday matches yesterday as the top OTZ Pre-Season teams faced off in Cincinnati to play tennis against each other and to watch tennis at the Western & Southern Open. OTZ #1 Mason defeated #2 Magnificat and #1 (D2) Hathaway Brown. Magnificat beat Sycamore.
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Order of Finish - Click to enlarge |
Mason came back from being two courts down to win the Magnificat match. Magnificat started out in the plus column with wins on courts 2 and 4 before Mason tied the match with wins on courts 5 and 1. Mason's Rashi Loni secured the win by beating Magnificat's freshman, Anna Mancino. This match is a perfect example of the benefits of the new Order of Finish field which enables fans to see how a match plays out. It also gives OTZ an opportunity to recognize more players. This is an optional field for coaches to enter. Note that Magnificat actually won more games than Mason.
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Mason's Rashi Loni (from 2020) - Click to enlarge |
To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu and Magnificat's Audrey Smitek; Magnificat's Audrey Smitek beat Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer; Magnificat's Caroline Moritz defeated Mason's Anna Tonkal; Mason's Harshita Uppuganti beat Hathaway Brown's Ally Mills; and Mason's Rashi Loni defeated Magnificat's Anna Mancino. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's matches include: Hathaway Brown versus Olentangy Orange (@11am at Elysium); Solon (A) versus Hudson; and North Canton Hoover (H) versus Massillon Jackson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Tournament Day: Champs Included: HB, Centerville, Gahanna
It was a tournament day with Hathaway Brown winning the Columbus Schools for Girls dubs tournament and Olentangy finishing second. Centerville won the Creek Doubles Tournament while Springboro was second. In the Reynoldsburg dubs tournament, Gahanna was the champion and Marysville was second.
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Berlin's Ella Franz - Click to enlarge |
By beating Wellington, North Canton Hoover swept (almost quality humor) the Central District teams, ate their food, and returned home victorous. Other dual matches included: Columbus Academy defeated Lexington and Canfield, and Anthony Wayne beat Oak Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated Oak Hills' Morgan Lint; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter; Lexington's Gracie Pfieffer defeated Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria; and North Canton Hoover's Lilly Altman beat Wellington's Katie Zerbi. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The sun was helpful for team photos yesterday. There were very few shadows and very little blinking. Click to view the photos for Hathaway Brown, Olentangy, Columbus Schools for Girls, Bexley, and Olentangy Berlin.
The individual photo is of Ella Franz of Olentangy Berlin. Franz is a senior this year.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Mason and Sycamore; Notre Dame Academy (H) versus Centerville; and Mason (H) versus Hathaway Brown. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SATURDAY,
Hoover Beats Columbus Academy | Highland Defeats Canfield
Contests among the top teams are now starting to take place. On the way down to Columbus, North Canton Hoover defeated Lexington and then beat Columbus Academy later in the afternoon. Hoover will play Wellington this morning. In another prominent match, Highland beat Canfield.
There were nine matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3, Southwest - 1, and Northeast - 5. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Reynoldsburg - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Reynoldsburg. They are coached by Les Somogyi. They are Team Members. They are led by Kareen Meoko and Olivia Cox.
There are quite a few tournaments today including at Canfield, Reynoldsburg, Notre Dame Academy, and Columbus School for Girls. OTZ will be leaving for CSG in a few minutes. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
More Bad Weather | Hoover Beats Brecksville | Photo Friday
The weather is not cooperating.. There were 13 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 7, Southwest - 1, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Berlin defeated Worthington Christian and Lancaster beat Hilliard Darby. In other prominent matches, Archbishop Alter defeated Chaminade-Julienne and North Canton Hoover beat Brecksville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart - Click to enlarge |
Many of Ohio's big hitters were competing yesterday. Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated Wapakoneta's Schroeder; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Brecksville's Lakshmy Arakoni; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz defeated Worthington Christian's Meghan Mayotte; Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman beat Chaminade-Julienne's Morgan Dean; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton defeated Mayfield's Jennifer Liu; Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri beat Marysville's Emma Pzedpelski; Highland's Sarah Sgambati defeated Brunswick's Calista Bobula; and Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy beat Shaker Heights' Ruth Wilson. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The OTZ basement is being remodeled, and for the last two days, I have been armed with a paint roller rather than a mouse. The entire mornings and early afternoons were spent painting and the rest of both days were to be spent on the web site. That was not the case.. When there is lightning present, the computer is shut down and unplugged. It is thundering again in the middle of this update..
This is the first OTZ Photo Friday of the season. Fourteen photos were posted from the Licking County and Delaware Hayes tournaments. Today's photo is of Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart. Sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos to view them.
Today's matches include: North Canton Hoover (A) versus Columbus Academy and Lexington; Highland (A) versus Canfield; and Delaware Hayes (H) versus DeSales. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Oak Hills Beats Kings | Behind the Scenes at OTZ
The weather is still getting in the way of Ohio girls tennis. There were only six matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 1 and Southwest - 5. The matches included Oak Hills defeated Kings; Archbishop Alter beat Kettering Fairmont; and Watkins Memorial defeated Groveport. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Behind the Scenes - Roster Update - Click to enlarge |
This is a behind-the-scene's view of OhioTennisZone.. There are almost as many highly customized programs that facilitate the update process as there are programs that fans see. When an OTZ Coach Member enters a score for a team that is not an OTZ member, the coach includes the names of players who are not currently on the roster. The next morning, OTZ then grabs this information and updates the opposing team's roster. This benefits the fans who want to see this information and it also makes the score entering process easier for the next OTZ coach who submits a score. The information is not always available for coaches to enter, but when it is, it is better when coaches enter the player's first name, last name, and then grade. For example, it is best to enter "Jane Smith 12". Questions? Please submit a Feedback.
Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus St. Joseph Academy; Sycamore (H) versus Turpin; Copley (H) versus Manchester (Akron); and Olentangy Berlin (H) versus Worthington Christian. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
OTZ List of Top Ohio Players | Mason and Hathaway Brown Get Wins
Ohio lost quite a few strong players to graduation last year, but the field of Ohio players remains solid. The OhioTennisZone Top Ohio Players list has been updated and it will continue to be tweaked throughout the season. The top players are ranked by OTZ, and the players on the Watch List are sorted alphabetically. The season is starting with 13 players on the top list and that will likely grow to about 25 players by the end of the season. The top three players are Mason's Shyla Aggarwal, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black, and Eaton's Macy Hitchcock. New players will slowly be introduced on the Watch List and some may eventually be moved up to the Top List. The OTZ goal is to have solid lists before the Sectional Draw which takes place on September 26. Click for the entire OTZ Top Player and Watch Lists. Sign-in to view the information about the players who do not have OTZ Player Profiles.
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OTZ Top Players - Click to report |
There were just eight matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 4, Southwest - 3, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Miami Valley School defeated Lebanon and Mason beat Oak Hills. Mason clinched the match at 3-1 by winning court 3 singles. In another prominent match, Hathaway Brown defeated Solon. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Solon's Niya Fried defeated Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu; Oak Hills' Brooke Lint beat Mason's Anna Tonkal; and Westerville Central's Sidney Choo defeated Big Walnut's Molly McLane.
Nicholas Godsick beat Brandon Carpico by the score of 6-1, 6-3 yesterday at Kalamazoo. This match was mentioned in yesterday's update.
Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (H) versus Revere; Avon (A) versus Elyria; and
Copley (H) versus North Royalton. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Wellington Beats Notre Dame Academy
The weather was iffy in some areas of the state but the week started in relatively good shape. There were eight dual matches recorded from state-wide play. Northeast and Southwest Ohio recorded three matches apiece while there were two played in the Central District. The most noteworthy match of the day was the Wellington victory over Notre Dame Academy. The close, 3-2 matches included: Lehman Catholic defeated Sidney; Blanchester beat Batavia; and Wadsworth beat Copley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Order of Finish - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter defeated Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher; Highland's Sarah Sgambati beat Westlake's Neige DeAngelis; Wadsworth’s Allie McCall defeated Copley’s Jillian Endres; Marysville's Emma Pzedpelski beat Watkins Memorial's Abby Grove; and Wellington's Katie Zerbi defeated Notre Dame Academy's Emma Nofziger. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
A new data field was added during the boys season, but it has since been refined. It is called the Order of Finish. It is commonly used in college tennis and it provides more insight into a match. As shown in the above example with Wellington versus Notre Dame Academy, Wellington clinched the match on Court 1 after winning Court 5 (second dubs) and Court 2 (second singles) had finished. The court wins that NDA earned were after the match was decided. This field will have special interest when a 2-2 match is decided on a specific court. (This court is commonly second dubs..) Coaches who are OTZ Members have the option of including the Order of Finish field.A really interesting match-up takes place at the 'Zoo today in the Boys 16's where two Ohio boys go head-to-head. The Boys D1 OHSAA champion, Gahanna's Brandon Carpico, plays against Chagrin Falls' Nicholas Godsick at 11am. Both are rising juniors. Godsick's mother is Mary Jo Fernandez, and his father also plays a very prominent role in professional tennis. His sister, Isabella [photo at States], played tennis for Hathaway Brown and she was a State Champion in doubles. Godsick is a 13 seed and Carpico is one of the 33 seeds. Godsick did not play Ohio high school tennis. Their match begins at 11am and it might be live-streamed. Click on ustaboys.com for more information.
Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (H) versus St. Joseph Academy; Solon (H) versus Hathaway Brown; Big Walnut (H) versus Westerville Central; and DeSales (H) versus Watkins Memorial. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches. Coaches, please enter your schedules on OhioTennisZone so that your matches can be promoted.
MONDAY,
Starting First Full Week
This will be a tough week weather-wise as players dodge the raindrops and deal with the heat.
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Watkins Memorial - Click to team page |
In the USTA National Championships, the G16 and B18 tournaments have progressed further than the other two tournaments. Ohio has no players left in the front draw of either. In the G16's, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black earned a big win over Mason's Shyla Aggarwal. Aggarwal is still competing in the back draw. In the B18's, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni, Springboro's Sainandan Dore, New Albany's Devin Boyer, and Chad Miller are still alive in the back draw.
Today's featured team is Watkins Memorial. They are coached by Shawn Walter, who is an OTZ Coach Member. They are led by Abby Grove and Abigail Richardson.
Today's matches include: Avon (H) versus Avon Lake; Marysville (H) versus Watkins Memorial; and Sylvania Northview (H) versus Toledo Central Catholic. There are still a bunch of schedules that coaches need to enter. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Marysville, Seven Hills, and Big Walnut Win Tournaments
Most seasons start with a flurry of tournaments because that is a good way to bond as a team and for the coaches to see quite a few of their kids play. That was the case yesterday. Marysville won the Delaware Hayes tournament and Worthington Kilbourne came in second. Seven Hills was the winner of the Chaminade-Julienne Invitational with Beavercreek coming in second. Big Walnut and DeSales finished first and second, respectively, in the Mount Vernon Invitational.
In the only dual match reported, Archbishop Alter defeated Ursuline Academy. To view the graph for this match, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Marysville - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman defeated Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes; Worthington Kilbourne's Libby Alderman beat Buckeye Valley's Anna Lenhart; Seven Hills' Sohana Thompson defeated Chaminade-Julienne's Morgan Dean; Archbishop Alter's Maggie Shope beat Ursuline Academy's Brooklyn Zappin; Seven Hills' Gabriella Kaskelis defeated Beavercreek's Contraras; and Marysville's Hannah Hogan beat Worthington Kilbourne's Lilly Hershey. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Marysville. They are coached by William Romine. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Emma Pzedpelski and Hannah Hogan.
SATURDAY,
Match Play Begins
The weather was perfect as the girls hit the courts yesterday. There were just two matches recorded. Sylvania Northview defeated Clay and Marysville beat Mount Vernon. In tournament play, Granville won the Licking County Tournament. To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Newark - Click to team page |
The top players have yet to be identified but matches among the #1 singles players included wins by Sylvania Northview's Brynn Chaffee over Clay's Allie LaPlante and Mount Vernon's Lucy Ogle over Marysville's Emma Pzedpelski.
Can a player submit her own scores when her coach is not an OhioTennisZone.com member? Absolutely. It certainly works better if the coach is an OTZ Member because scores can be submitted for the entire team this way, but scores can be submitted for an individual player. An example of this today is the Sylvania North match. Questions? Submit a Feedback message.
This is the ugly duckling stage for OhioTennisZone as the season begins and graduates are removed from the system. Things will start to make sense again after a few more days. If things go as planned, this is the first of approximately 75 daily updates in a row.
Today's featured team is Newark. They are coached by Rob Hays. Coach Hayes is an OTZ Coach Member. They are led by Kenna Hauser and Abby Armstrong. This is the very first team photo taken this year and it was at the Licking County Tournament.
OTZ is headed up to the Delaware Hayes tournament in a few minutes. Teams competing include: Buckeye Valley, Delaware Hayes, Marysville, Westerville North, and Worthington Kilbourne.
FRIDAY,
USTA National Championships
The most important and most prestigious junior tournaments in the United States are about to begin (or are already underway). Ohio is well represented for both the girls and the boys.
The players participating in the G16 and G18's at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls' 16 & 18 National Championships in San Diego, California include the following competitors. (Click on the links for their high school results.)
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Mason's Shyla Aggarwal - Click to enlarge |
G16: Mason's Shyla Aggarwal, Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black, St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt, Laurel's Ellie Brotherton, North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher, Marina Fuduric from Lima (did not play HS tennis), Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw, Eaton's Macy Hitchcock, and Centerville's Clara Owen.
G18: Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff and Eleana Yu from Cincinnati (did not play HS tennis). Katrina Scott also plays out of Columbus.
As for seeds, Aggarwal received a 33rd seed. Katrina Scott is a 2nd seed. Yu is one of several 17 seeds. (There are sixteen players who received the 17th seed designation and 32 players with the 33rd seed.)
Click USTA G16-18 to follow the action.
The boys competing at the 'Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan include:
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Gahanna's Brandon Carpico - Click to enlarge |
B16: Gahanna's Brandon Carpico, Nicholas Godsick of Chagrin Falls (did not play HS tennis), Orange's Ben Pomeranets, Lakota West's Anthony Shalakov, and Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu.
B18: New Albany's Devin Boyer, Springboro's Sainandan Dore, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni, Chad Miller of Cincinnati (did not play HS tennis this year), Preston Stearns of Cincinnati (did not play HS tennis this year) St. Xavier's Charlie Temming, and St. Charles' Reece Yakubov.
Godsick received the 13th seed. Carpico, Miller, and Gogineni received the 33rd seeds.
Click USTA B16-18 to follow the action at the 'Zoo.
One thing that is not unusual in Ohio is that quite a few of the state's best players (18 out of 23) play high school tennis. That is often not the case in other states. While they did not play last year, 20 out of the 23 players competed for their high school tennis teams as freshmen.
We normally like to go up to Kalamazoo for a couple of days to watch, take photos, and see tennis friends. When considering how locked-down Michigan was last year, we did not want to take any chances this time around as the Delta variant spreads. It would have been really irritating if we could not have gone to B.C. Pizza's..
Despite missing tryouts this week, hopefully the HS coaches do not hold these tournaments against these girls and they still give them an opportunity to try out for their high school teams..
High school matches start this morning. OTZ is off to Denison for an 8:30am tournament that includes Newark, Watkins Memorial, Reynoldsburg and Zanesville. And away we go..
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5
Hathaway Brown Starts Season as #1 in Division II (beta release)
Last Friday, the Top Teams in Division I were ranked by OTZ. Today, it is Division II's turn. The rankings include a combination of teams with great depth and other teams with a strong group of 1-2-3 singles. It is normally the teams with great depth that win the championships, but it will be interesting to see how things turn out this year.
The rankings and the rational behind the rankings are listed below. They are all subject to tweaking if players decide not to play (or to play) Ohio high school tennis this fall.
Note that the Division II rankings are more difficult to create because D2 teams do not travel as well as Division I teams. Why they do not travel is a complete mystery because the same school will allow teams of other sports to travel. Plus, tennis players and parents are accustomed to traveling frequently to participate in USTA tournaments so they expect to do some travel in high school. Please remember that Columbus remains a perfect location for teams throughout the state to meet for dual matches. Schedule a match for 10:00, book another match at 1:00pm, eat Cane's Chicken at 5:00pm, and grab an ice cream cone at Graeters at 5:450pm. Hopefully, the COVID-19 Delta Variant will not throw a wrench into teams' travel plans this season.
Last year's seniors will be removed when this year's new results are posted.
OhioTennisZone.com |
| Division II |
| 1. Hathaway Brown◄TEAM |
| 2. Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 3. Eaton |
| 4. Indian Hill |
| 5. Wellington◄TEAM |
| 6. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy |
| 7. Archbishop Alter◄TEAM |
| 8. Oakwood◄TEAM |
| 9. Revere◄TEAM |
| 10. Hawken◄TEAM |
| HM: Seven Hills◄TEAM |
| HM: Laurel◄TEAM |
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available |
The TennisRecruiting.net rankings for incoming freshman players are listed below. Click on player names for their OTZ Player Profiles.
Division II
#1 Hathaway Brown lost a solid group of players to graduation ( Olivia Gidlow, Brigette Fuentes, and Ella Lynch) but it still returning a good squad with great depth. Those returning include: Summer Mu, Ally Mills, Katie Mills, Alice Lin, and Alex Wolf.
#2 Columbus Academy is in a rebuilding year. They lost Sydni Ratliff, Carolyn Tsung, and Lauren Motta to graduation. They return depth with Arya Chabria, Grace Philip, Yasemin Bilgin, and Anna Chang.
#3 Eaton (sign-in to view) was new to the OTZ Top Ten last year and they retained two of their top players. Returning are Macy Hitchcock and Grace Murphy. They also pick up 4-star Mallory Hitchcock. They lost Tess and Sophia Murphy and Erika Wilkinson.
#4 Indian Hill returns Brooke Arington, Lexi Larsen, and Hannah Pollock. They lost a great deal of talent from last year's team, including Bella Kirby, Jessica Budde, and Jessica August. New for Aug 6: They also picked up Caroline Brown, a 2-star freshman.
#5 Wellington lost no players to graduation. Returning are State Dubs Finalists, Alexis Burkhalter and Katie Zerbi. Also back are Olivia Vegas, and not one, but two Thompsons - Kate Thompson and Lilly Thompson.
#6 Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy is yet another strong Southwest District team. Returning players include: Lynn Kader, Payton Puryear, and Finley Payne. They lost Kennedy Puryear and Hayley Blaxton to graduation. They pick up 2-Star Mika Morris.
#7 Archbishop Alter kept their top singles players but they lost a few key contributors including Emily Pojman and Soren Dinkins to graduation. Returning for Alter are: Grace Lampman, Annie Gayonski, Maggie Shope, and Elisebeth Collins.
#8 Oakwood got hit hard by graduations. They lost Lily McCloskey, Natalie Connelly, and Katie Ritschel. They return Sarah Hall (State Dubs Champs), Miranda Riggs, and Claudia Schnell.
#9 Revere returns Morgan Dobos, Maddie Kavenagh, and Katie Kinder. They lost Nina Lazbin and Jenny Fan to graduation.
#10 Hawken retains their top four singles players (Hayley Garber, Eliana Yang, Beatrice Hardacre, and Tina Tewari) and none of these four are seniors. They gain incoming freshman, Isabella Hsieh. They lost Molly Xiao and Ellie Faber to graduation.
HM: Seven Hills returns most of their top players. They include: Shriya Sekar, Sohana Thompson, Gabriella Khaskelis, and Anika Parameswaran. They lost Megan Tan to graduation.
HM: Laurel lost strong players graduation. Returning players include: Ellie Brotherton, Samyuktha Iyer, and Caroline Davies. They lost Julia Bowman to graduation.
Another team to watch will be Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. They pick up two strong freshmen - Elena Fleming (3-star) and Lucy Paulin (2-star). They return Caroline Stepnowski and Kate Harlen.
There is not as much information for Toledo Central Catholic. They lost Ellie Hire to graduation, but they still have two Spinazze's - Isabella and Lucia.
Most of the Division I Top Ten Teams are OTZ Team Members. It would be nice to have the same in Division II. Tennis fans and college coaches like the additional information about players. It is also a great way to engage your middle school players as they try and determine where they might fit in with your team in the future. Please consider adding a $99 OTZ Team Membership to your budget (or at least the $35.95 Coach Membership). Need help finding $35.95? Moose and Roco may be able to help.
Feel free to submit a Feedback if any obvious schools are missing from the rankings.
TUESDAY,
Day 1 Is in the Books | VOTE TODAY
Most would be happy if high school tennis could string together a few more days that matched yesterday's weather. Sure, the temperatures were just a tiny bit warm when standing in the sun and almost a little bit cool when standing in the shade, but it sure beats the boys tennis season weather. Here is a photo from last spring that was taken on April 21, 2021. This is a month and a half after the season began.. The weather and the various spring break schedule delays makes for a choppy start for the boys, but the girls will begin playing matches in earnest on Friday.
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Olentangy Orange's Tyler Reed - Click to enlarge |
Of course, many players have been taking advantage of USTA competition to tune up their games. OTZ attended the Wellington Open and the Elysium Compass Draw Tournament to take a few photos. Click to view Most Recently Added Photos. Normally these photos are behind the "pay-wall" and it would be necessary for readers to sign-in first, but they are open for all to see during the first week of the season. (Click to Sign-up for OhioTennisZone.)
As mentioned on July 23rd, a friend of ours, Bob Peterson, is running for the Ohio 15th District seat in the House of Representatives. This was the House seat that was vacated by Steve Stivers. Bob would do a great job for us. Most of this area of Ohio is rural, but it does include the following cities: Hilliard, Upper Arlington, Columbus (parts of), Wilmington, Lancaster, Grove City, London, Washington C.H., Circleville, and Athens. Click to view more OTZ information about Bob. Everyone who votes for Bob gets an incredible "I VOTED" souvenir sticker. (OK. Fine. Everyone gets one of these stickers.) There are not a large number of people who vote in these types of elections so please stop by the polls on your way to work to vote for Bob. Every vote really does matter in this House seat race.
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021
Mason Starts Season as #1 in Division I (beta release)
It is time for the OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Team Rankings. Today, the Division I teams are ranked. The Division II rankings will be posted soon.
The rankings and the rational behind the rankings are listed below. They are all subject to tweaking if players decide not to play Ohio high school tennis this fall. "OTZ thanks" go to several coaches who provided feedback for the list. Note; however, that this is not a coaches poll.
OhioTennisZone.com |
| Division I |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM |
| 2. Magnificat◄TEAM |
| 3. Upper Arlington◄TEAM |
| 4. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM |
| 5. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM |
| 6. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM |
| 7. St. Joseph Academy◄TEAM |
| 8. Olentangy Orange◄TEAM |
| 9. Centerville |
| 10. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM |
| HM: Dublin Jerome◄TEAM |
| HM: Solon◄TEAM |
| HM: Notre Dame Academy◄TEAM |
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available |
The TennisRecruiting.net star rankings are included for many of the top incoming freshmen. Click for the complete list of top incoming freshmen that was originially published on October 31, 2020 and updated frequently since that date.
Click on player names for their OhioTennisZone Player Profiles. (Also note that if your daughter does not have an OTZ Player Profile, it is easy to obtain one by becoming an OTZ member.)
Division I
#1 Mason is the defending Division I champion and they start the season at #1. (No one ever got fired at OTZ for giving Mason a pre-season #1 ranking and hopefully that will continue for this season..) Mason returns great depth but they lost key contributors to graduation, including Annie Kruse and Raina Chada. They return Shyla Aggarwal (State singles finalist), Anna Tonkal, Harshita Uppuganti, and Rashi Loni.
#2 Magnificat finished last season at #3 in the state. They return all of their top players from last year including: Audrey Smitek, Natalie Smitek, Alexis Ospelt, Caroline Moritz, and Kayra Koprulu. They pick up 3-star Anna Mancino. This could be Magnificat's year..
#3 Upper Arlington will face significant competition from other teams in the Central District but they start at #3. Their players include: Megan Basil (State dubs champ), Ava Richard, Isabella Roth, and Ellis Mizer. They lost Ella Hazelbaker, Noah Mizer, and Emma Wang to graduation.
#4 North Canton Hoover will be in the mix in Northeast Ohio. They return all of their top players, including Tess Bucher, Lilly Altman, Claire Wood, and Izzy Warburton.
#5 Dublin Coffman always has a solid team but this year they should challenge UA for the Central District crown. They return Dasha Chistyakova, Pritika Ghosh Choudhuri, and Emily Yoshino. They pick up Lauren Burkett, who is a 3-star. They lost Cassi Shough to graduation.
#6 St. Ursula Academy returns several key players including Emily Jennewein, Kathleen Davin, and Elle Schuermann. They pick up 3-star Maria Poon. They lost Elizabeth Pendergast (State Singles Champ) and Eugenia Campos to graduation.
#7 St. Joseph Academy returns Amara Brahmbhatt, Delia Guzic, and Tyler Schuerlein. Mary Kate Kahl graduated and Tia Clemens is not playing HS tennis this fall.
#8 Olentangy Orange lost Caroline Sproule to graduation but they return Tyler Reed, Karol Korotkin, and Ellie Logan.
#9 Centerville returns State dubs finalists - Caroline Hinshaw and Clara Owen. Also returning are Arabelle MacPherson and Carmen Aliaga.
#10 Massillon Jackson returns their three top singles players. They are Paige Reese, Madison Altman, and Rachael Williams. They lost Samantha Reese and Emma Henson to graduation.
Other schools considered include:
Dublin Jerome has Ella Oleson, Lydia Foster, Audrey Cook, and Adayla Coakley returning.
Highland returns Madison Pawlak, Sarah Sgambati, and Jo Oberhaus.
New Albany returns Paige Cornelius and Kary Hollenbaugh, They lost Madison Spiess to graduation.
Notre Dame Academy returns Ellie Assenmacher, Charlize DelSantos, and Erin Sturgeon. They lost Olivia Assenmacher to graduation.
Solon returns Niya Fried, Phoebe Shi, and Sasha Gorbacheva. They lost Eliana Chelnick to graduation.
Sycamore returns Gabrielle Frischer, Mya Reardon, and Keira Millerchip.
Just a gentle reminder that these rankings are correct. It would be rude for your team to beat a team that is ranked higher than your team. Don't be rude. Instead, focus your energies on the teams ranked below you..
Feel free to submit a Feedback if you believe that a team was overlooked or if your team is ranked too high. Please provide specific reasons why.
FRIDAY,
Bob Peterson - OTZ Friend Running for Congress
A special election for the 15th District in the House of Representatives takes place on Tuesday, August 3. A personal friend of ours, Bob Peterson, is running for the seat. Just as I once did, Bob currently lives on a farm in Fayette County and he attended Miami Trace High School.
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Bob and Lisa Peterson - Click to enlarge |
In addition to farming, he has served in the Ohio House as a Senator and Representative. He was also a Fayette County commissioner and president of the Ohio Farm Bureau.
We have played Euchre with Bob and his wife, Lisa, on New Year's Eve for a couple of decades. I win sometimes. I lose sometimes. I always gain weight..
Their children also attended Miami Trace and they even played tennis for Trace.
The Congressional maps can be a bit weird and this District is no exception. It includes a part of Columbus, Hilliard, and Upper Arlington. It also includes a substantial number of rural Ohio counties. Some of the other cities in the District include Lancaster, Wilmington, London, Mount Sterling, Washington C.H., and Athens. Click to view the map.
He would do a great job in Congress. Please consider voting for him. And especially in this election, every vote does matter.
THURSDAY,
OTZ Girls State Team Draws Now Available
The OhioTennisZone.com Enhanced State Team Draws are now online.
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State Team Tournament Draws - Click to go to draws |
The draws are available at the top of this page and they will remain there throughout the season. As with everything else on OTZ, the goal is to enable high school tennis fans to quickly obtain the information they need rather than to maximize OTZ clicks and page views. As indicated in the four features that are circled: 1) the most recent update date is included; 2) the navigation links allow users to quickly jump throughout the draw; 3) the Team designation means that a Team Membership was purchased and that all of the individual player information is available via their OTZ Player Profiles; and 4) the team links are "click-able" to enable fans to do more research. For the best experience, sign-in to OTZ first. The goal is to keep the draws promptly updated throughout the season. Please click on Feedback if you are aware of a result that is not yet posted.
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State Team Tournament Participation- Click to enlarge |
The number of girls teams that enter the tournament varies from year to year. There are 116 teams participating this year and this is the lowest number of teams since OTZ started tracking this information seven years ago. The number of girls teams by year is: 2015 - 134; 2016 - 133; 2017 - 132; 2018 - 133; 2019 - 124; 2020 - 118, and 2021 - 116. As shown in the graph, Northeast has the most participants and Central has the least. Out of the 398 OHSAA girls tennis teams, 29% of the teams are competing in this tournament. Please click on the graph to enlarge it for easier viewing.
WEDNESDAY,
11..
The OHSAA Girls Season begins in just eleven more days. How did OTZ staffers find out? The OhioTennisZone calendar is listed below..
OhioTennisZone.com
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| Aug. 1 (Su): First Day of Coaching |
| Aug. 6 (F): High School Match Play Begins |
| Aug. 4 (Th)-16: USTA National Championships - B16/18 - G16/18 |
| Aug. 15 (Su): |
| Aug. 28 (Sa): SAT Date |
| Sep. 6 (M)-8: Rosh Hashanah |
| Sep. 7 (Tu): Non-Interscholastic Date |
| Sep. 11 (Sa): ACT Test Date |
| Sep. 15 (W)-16: Yom Kippur |
| Sep. 19 (Su): Waiver Extension Ends |
| Sep. 26 (Su): Sectional Draw |
| Oct. 4 (M)-Oct. 9: Sectional Tournament |
| Oct. 2 (Sa): SAT Date |
| Oct. 11 (M)-16: District Tournament |
| Oct. 22 (F)-23: State Tournament |
| Oct. 24 (Su): State Team Tournament |
| Oct. 23 (Sa): ACT Date |
| Oct. 30 (Sa): HS Season Ends |
The key dates for the season are included in the table. It also includes key testing dates, holidays, and, of course, the key OHSAA dates. This calendar will remain in the right-side navigation bar during the entire season.
The Western & Southern Open High School day was crossed out because of Tour-related restrictions. It was still listed because it is worthwhile to keep this in mind for future years.
Speaking of the W&S Open, they are shy of volunteers in a few areas such as Access Scanning, Marshals, Transportation Drivers and Ushers. People can contact W&S at volunteers@cincytennis.com or call them at 513-651-0303 and ask for the Volunteer Office.
In previous years, more high level USTA tournaments were listed, but now only the highest level Russian spies and hackers trained in China, North Korea, and Bloomingburg have the technical expertise to to delve into the USTA web site to figure out when and where these tournaments are being held. (They are not talking...) For those who are not tennis regulars, the USTA made substantial changes to their web site and these changes were not well-received..
If you are currently an OTZ Member, there is no need to go through the sign-up process again for OhioTennisZone. Please just mail or PayPal your payment to OhioTennisZone.com. Click the link for the OTZ PayPal info.
OTZ will soon post its Pre-Season Top 10 Team lists after it is clear where players are going to attend school and which girls are playing high school tennis.
It is highly encouraged that the OTZ Top 10 teams become OTZ Team Members. OhioTennisZone provides the teams in the Top 10 with a great deal of recognition and coverage. This recognition is very helpful because many middle school kids follow OTZ and they want to be a part of a program which has a winning tradition. It is a complete no-brainer for private schools to be team members because attracting strong tennis players also means more tuition dollars for the school, but it also makes sense for public schools, too. Consider an OTZ Team Membership as the cheapest and most effective advertisement that you can buy, plus it is focused on the absolute perfect audience for your program. Click on Join OTZ for more information about being a team, coach, or individual OTZ member.
Note that graduates are still included on rosters. Many fans like to see which players have graduated. Note to coaches - OTZ will remove the graduates as match play begins. It is unnecessary for coaches to remove them.
MONDAY,
Photos Updated -- Top Photos of Boys Season
The last few days have been devoted to processing photos from the boys high school season. Approximately 5,000 photos were taken during the season. Of those, over 150 were posted as action photos and several dozen were posted as team photos. A large number of photos were recently added under the cleverly named drop-down, Most Recently Added Photos. (Please sign-in to view.) The Top 10 (ish) Boys Photos for 2021 were also updated.
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Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati - Click to enlarge |
Obviously, picking the top photos is a subjective thing. The top photos normally have the following in common: good player and ball spacing, high quality sun, high quality competition, great eye-on-ball, good body coiling, no hats that block the sun from player eyes, good athleticism, and a subdued or pleasing background. Nothing ruins a photo more than a distracting background of cars, signs, or port-a-johns.
As it has been in the past, there tends to be a great sun day that produces numerous good photos. That was the case this season when Dublin Scioto played Dublin Jerome at Dublin Scioto. There were three in the top ten photos from this match. (Dublin Scioto is one of my new favorite places to take photos.)
Speaking of a distracting background of signs and cars, the old Upper Arlington courts were removed in the spring and construction of the ten new courts is well underway. The new courts are expected to be awesome. Upper Arlington should be the new, go-to location for future combo-dual matches where teams from the Southwest, Northeast, and Northwest District travel for great competition. Five of the ten courts have lights. Click to view an OTZ Tweet of the UA facility under construction.
The worst eleven words that a tennis photographer will hear are, "My son is playing doubles. Can you please take his photo?" The second worse is, "McNasty's Food truck will not be at the Southwest District Tournament." While it is possible to get a really good action photo of a doubles player, it probably takes about 5x more time than a singles match to get one. There are multiple reasons. Players do not make as many balls. Many first serves are faults. (Boys think that the benefit of hitting one ace outweighs four doubles faults..) Partners block the sought-after player from the camera's view. It is far more difficult to get a photo of the player in the Ad court than the deuce court. There was just one doubles photos in this year's top ten.
The 150+ photos were the tip of the iceberg in terms of photos taken. If you are absolutely positively going to purchase a photo of your son (or daughter), OTZ will provide you with a PDF of additional photos to review before you make your purchase. You do have to purchase at least one photo (and hopefully, you will purchase several more).
The launch of PickleballZone.com on June 6 went well and eight clubs are participating in the adult summer pickleball league. Launching any new web site and service is super-time consuming though. Now more time can be devoted to tennis. Look for more tennis content in the coming days.
FRIDAY,
Final OTZ Team Rankings: Mason #1 in D1 | Orange #1 in D2
Well, that was an interesting season.. After taking an unfortunate year off, the Ohio Boys high school season came back strong and successfully finished the year. Many thanks to everyone who put in the extra hours to insure that the boys would have a tennis season this spring.
OhioTennisZone.com |
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| Division I | Division II |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM 2 State Spots | Orange◄TEAM 3 |
| 2. New Albany 2 | Indian Hill◄TEAM 2 |
| 3. University◄TEAM 3 | Columbus Academy◄TEAM 1 |
| 4. St. Xavier◄TEAM 2 | Seven Hills◄TEAM 1 |
| 5. Sycamore◄TEAM 2 | Wellington◄TEAM 3 |
| 6. Springboro◄TEAM 1 | Cinc. Country Day◄TEAM 2 |
| 7. Dublin Jerome◄TEAM 2 | Chagrin Falls 2 |
| 8. Walsh Jesuit 1 | Lexington◄TEAM 2 |
| 9. St. Ignatius 2 | Bexley◄TEAM 0 |
| 10. Findlay◄TEAM 1 | Oakwood◄TEAM 1 |
| HM: Solon◄TEAM 1 | Ursuline◄TEAM 0 |
| HM: Olentangy◄TEAM 0 | Ottawa Hills 1 |
| HM: Mass. Jackson◄TEAM 2 | Hawken◄TEAM 1 |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. State Spots in Gray |
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There are unlikely any surprises in the final OTZ rankings. Mason led the way during the entire season. Orange was a close #2 all season and they eked out a close win against Indian Hill in the finals. There were a few changes from the pre-season rankings due to injuries and positive surprises. Click for the OTZ Pre-Season Rankings that were published on February 26.
In addition to the rankings, the State Spots that each team earned is also shown. (One doubles team is one spot.) Also included are the OTZ Team designations to indicate which schools have detailed information available for each player.
Congratulations to the teams listed.
There have been 71 daily OhioTennisZone updates made in a row (since March 26). While I am a morning person, the 5:30am (or earlier) alarms get a little tiresome. While there will still be updates, the continuous run ends today.
Again, there will be updates next week, but not this weekend. The Columbus-area Adult Summer Coed Pickleball League begins this Sunday and there is still a considerable amount of work to do. Hope to see a few of you playing. Click for PickleballZone.com for more information. Click to view the participating clubs. In an effort to find a sport (any sport) in which I can be successful, I will be playing. I can; however, totally and completely annihilate friends and family playing Rack-o though.
THURSDAY,
OhioTennisZone.com's All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team
Congratulations to the boys selected for the OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team for 2021.
OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio |
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Division I - Singles |
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Division II - Singles |
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Division I - Doubles |
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 Devin Boyer New Albany |
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Division II - Doubles |
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The OTZ list is a bit different than the OHSAA All-Ohio team. While a player's performance at States is the best way to get on the team, OTZ also looks at a player's entire season and includes players who may not have even qualified for States because of unfortunate District draws. OTZ also believes that the OHSAA team is too mechanical in its approach by granting honors only based on the rounds in which players reach at States. If a player reaches the semi-finals, he is on the first team and quarter finalists are on the second team. If a player gets an unfavorable draw in the first round of States, then he might not receive any recognition. Again, their list is great, but a more subjective approach allows other deserving players to be recognized.
The number of players included on this list will vary from year to year. This year's group has a few more players than in previous years because this year's group has more D1 recruits.
More players are becoming OTZ members - either by enrolling individually or via a Team Membership. OTZ members are provided with a Player Profile as indicated by the yellow-PP. Click on the player name to view his OTZ Player Profile. Click Join OTZ to obtain a Player Profile and to be recognized later on the College List.
The OTZ Top Players Lists will eventually be updated. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. To see all of the players on one page, click on All Districts.OTZ will soon list next year's top upcoming freshman players. The purpose of this list is to not only recognize the players but to also help coaches understand which teams should be included in their schedules next spring.
As for photos.. Things are still waaay backed up with other non-tennis projects that need to be addressed.
Again, congratulations to these players.
WEDNESDAY,
Who Uses What on OhioTennisZone?
What is accessed on OhioTennisZone and who accesses it? It is time for the seasonal usage edition. Read on to learn what areas of the nation access OTZ the most. Which players get the most views on their OTZ Player Profiles; and what team pages generate the most views. The usage covered is for the time period of March 8 to May 31.
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Gahanna's Brandon Carpico - Click to enlarge |
Some numbers that have not been shared in the past include the total number of users and the total number of pageviews. Per Google Analytics, there are now 30,825 users who accessed OTZ during the above time period. For the 2019 season, the total was 23,383. That's a 32% increase. The number of pageviews in 2019 was 372,004 and that increased to 453,600. That's a 22% increase. Note that the number of users counts the number of devices that people use to access OTZ. For that reason, the actual number of users is probably about half of the above.
The Mason team page drew the most interest during the season. The other teams in the top ten (in order) were: Columbus Academy, Dublin Jerome, University School, St. Xavier, Indian Hill, New Albany, Orange, Olentangy, and Wellington.While it is unknown who specifically accesses each OTZ page, note that middle school players and parents are certainly big users. Teams need to think of these OTZ Team pages as advertisements for potential future customers (and/or team players / students).
The top pages accessed on OhioTennisZone (outside of this main page) are listed below and sorted in pageview order. The OTZ Personlized Report is what users see when they first login and it is new this season. The biggest usage day of the season was on the second day of States.
- Central Ohio Team Lookup
- Boys State Draws-2021
- OTZ Personalized Report (page presented at sign-in)
- Boys State Team Draws
- Southwest Ohio Team Lookup
- Northeast Ohio Team Lookup
There were changes in which Metro Areas use OTZ. The Cleveland-Akron Metro (with 18%) area is now higher than Cincinnati Metro (17%) in terms of users as more teams join OTZ from that area of the state. The Columbus Metro remains the highest at 31%. Other top areas are: Dayton (4%), Toledo (3.5%), and Detroit (3%). Other areas above 1% are Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. This is the first time that the Toledo area has done better than the Detroit-metro area, which is great.
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Liberty's Bodavula- Click to enlarge |
Mason's Gogineni |
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NA's Mudre |
St. X's Temming - Click to enlarge |
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Pick. North's Uppu - Click to enlarge |
SC's Yakubov |
The six players who had the most views of their OTZ Player Profiles during the girls season are (in alphabetical order): Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni, New Albany's Ryan Mudre, St. Xavier's Charlie Temming, Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu, and St. Charles's Reece Yakubov. Click on the player names above to view their OTZ Player Profiles. The parent associated with the Player Profile may view the total number of views since the Player Profile was created. The photos of the players to the right may be clicked to enlarge them.
Yes, Twitter is largely a waste of time. OTZ has cut down on its usage substantially this season because of Twitter's policy on freedom of speech (or lack thereof). It does; however, draw people from Twitter onto the OhioTennisZone web site. It also extends the OhioTennisZone brand. The top six OTZ tweets for the season are as follows:
1. Gahanna’s Brandon Carpico wins the D1 Singles Championship [Tweet]
2. Orange wins the D2 State Team Championship, 3-2, over Indian Hill. [Tweet]
3. This will be a big week for matches as schools return from spring break. Today's featured team is @ColumbusAcademy. They are OTZ Team members and they are coached by Marc Wurtzman. Click for more at ohiotenniszone.com/#2021-04-05_art. [Tweet]
4. Congratulations to all of the players and especially the State Champions. On to the State Team Tournament.. Click for more at https://ohiotenniszone.com/#2021-05-30_art . [Tweet]
5. New Albany beats University School. It is Mason versus NA in the D1 Finals. [Tweet]
6. Click for the OHSAA Boys State Tennis Draws.. https://ohiotenniszone.com/tennis_state_draw [Tweet]
There was one coach who mentioned how OTZ really seems to be catching on with the kids, and the numbers above may be an indication of that. It also feels as if "tennis" is undergoing a transition as kids' interests are pulled in so many different directions. It is also unfortunate to see the reduction in television coverage that the sport receives and the continued decrease in the number of college tennis programs (which are comprised primarily of foreign players). The USTA also continues to take missteps (the latest being the software changes) which made it that much harder for families. "Tennis" needs to "right the ship" and understand that it is in competition with other sports (i.e. lacrosse) and with other activities. Coaches who are not OhioTennisZone members need to understand how OTZ can help them and their teams.
OTZ appreciates its sponsors and advertisers and it can always use more. Please contact OTZ for more information. Online activity continues to grow. For more information about advertising, please submit a Feedback.
In tomorrow's update, OhioTennisZone.com presents its All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team.
TUESDAY,
OHSAA Tournament Championship Points
Videos of three of the championship points were captured this season. The Division 2 doubles championship point was missed by just a couple of minutes. It appeared that the Division 2 singles would finish before the D2 doubles but that did not turn out to be the case. The order of finish was D1 Doubles, D1 Singles, D2 Doubles, and then, D2 Singles.
If parents or fans were able to take video of the last point or two of the D2 dubs match, OTZ would welcome it. Please submit a Feedback to exchange email addresses.
New camera gear provided a much better video image, but the width of the video was less than in 2019. It was difficult to get both teams or players into the frame unless they played on a stadium court.
New software was used this year and photos of the players were included at the end of the videos.
For best results, use full screen mode and increase the resolution to HD.
There is not much control over the image that is selected for the video. When time permits, this image may be tweaked.
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Division I Singles: Gahanna's Brandon Carpicodefeated Mason's Vignesh Gogineni. |
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Division I Doubles: New Albany's Ryan Mudre - Devin Boyer beat Mason's Sam King - Akshay Joshi. |
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Division II Singles: Chagrin Falls's Andrew Zimcosky defeated Orange's Ben Pomeranets |
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Division II Doubles: Orange's Josh Nwaozuzu - Chika Nwaozuzu beat Columbus Academy's Jack Madison - Arie Tuckerman. |
There are always some scoring snafus found by coaches as they begin to print off their end-of-season reports. If results are incorrect, please provide:
- the *incorrect* match information. The error first needs to be located in the database and their are a zillion scores. Please include the date, the name(s) of all of the player(s) and their schools, and the score.
- then provide the correct match information which includes all of the above, but with the correct information
If the commentary is incorrect, please provide *when* the commentary was in error, the erroneous comments, and what it should be. Screen shots are always helpful.
Please keep in mind there are quite a few moving parts. The players could have reported the wrong score, the coach could have recorded it incorrectly, the newspaper may have posted it incorrectly, or maybe, just possibly, OTZ could have made an error.
Tomorrow is the OTZ usage issue which includes the most viewed teams and players.
MONDAY,
Mason D1 | Orange D2 State Team Champions
That was an exciting way to end the season. Mason defeated New Albany and Orange beat Indian Hill. Both were 3-2 thrillers. Mason clinched their championship on court 3 singles (Eric Tang) and Orange won theirs on 2nd dubs (Gabi Kalir - Jake Goldstein). Both of those matches were 3-setters. (Of course.)
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Mason D1 Team Champs - Click to enlarge |
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Orange D2 Team Champs - Click to enlarge |
In the third place matches, University School defeated Findlay and Columbus Academy beat Lexington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
This was Mason's third championship in a row [photos - 2018, 2019]. Will we see any of these eight teams again? Maybe on Sunday, May 29, 2022? Probably. Mason loses just three seniors in their core group. As for the others, Orange loses one; Indian Hill - two; Lex - one; and Findlay - one. New Albany, University School, and Columbus Academy get hit hard with graduations.
Among the top players, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni defeated Findlay's Max Hosey and New Albany's Devin Boyer; Orange's Ben Pomeranets beat Columbus Academy's Jack Madison and Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati; New Albany's Ryan Mudre defeated University School's Nathan Mu and Mason's Akshay Joshi; New Albany's Devin Boyer beat University School's Dean Kirchick; and Columbus Academy's Jack Madison defeated Lexington's Ryan Mercurio. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Click for articles about the State Team Tournament from the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Columbus Dispatch.
There will be more OTZ content released this week and then I'll wrap up the season.
SUNDAY,
Congratulations to the State Champions | State Team Tournament Ready to Roll
Congratulations to all of the players yesterday and especially to the State Champions. The year started out somewhat uncertain with COVID-19 and ended on a high note. While it would have been great to play the entire tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, it was nice to play the semi's and finals there. Yes, it was chilly but there was still cramping - even with the cool temperatures.
In the battle of the Districts, the Central had three semi-finalists and two champions; the Northeast had five semi-finalists and two champions; the Northwest had two semi-finalists; and the Southwest had six semi-finalists. The Southeast / East District combo had no players reach the semi-finals.
The tournament finished at 3:30pm on Court 8 with the Division II Singles match. Click for the final results at draws.
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Gahanna's Carpico - Click to enlarge |
NA's Boyer-Mudre |
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Chagrin Falls' Zimcosky |
Oranges' Nwaozuzu's |
The State champions and the finalists are:
Division I Singles: Gahanna's Brandon Carpico defeated St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day and Mason's Vignesh Gogineni in the finals.
Division I Doubles: New Albany's Devin Boyer - Ryan Mudre beat Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller - Ben Cors and Mason's Sam King - Akshay Joshi in the finals
Division II Singles: Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky defeated Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan and Orange's Ben Pomeranets in the finals.
Division II Doubles: Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu - Josh Nwaozuzu beat Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati - RJ Poffenberger and Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman - Jack Madison in the finals.
OTZ usage spiked again yesterday. There will be an "usage edition" this week that highlights the most popular teams, players, and tweets.
There were not as many OTZ photos taken at this States because of the inclement weather. If you know that I was at your son's court taking photos and you want a photo(s), please contact me. The expectation is that you will purchase at least one photo.
See you soon at New Albany (D1) and Reynoldsburg (D2). The first round matches are: Mason versus Findlay and University School versus New Albany. Division II starts with Indian Hill versus Lexington and Orange versus Columbus Academy. The OTZ plans are to start at Division I.
SATURDAY,
On to Day 2 of States..
Yesterday worked out as well as it could have been expected given the weather situation. There had not been a rain-out since moving the tournament from Ohio State and things went smoothly. Division I competition was held at Five Seasons Family Sports Center while Division II was at Camargo Racquet Club. The day took longer than normal, but that was to be expected since the Lindner Family Tennis Center has 16 courts available for use.
Today's matches will take place at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
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State Draws - Click for draws |
It was nice to see so many familiar faces yesterday rather than people who we potentially might have known but we could not tell because of the masks.. Hopefully bank robbers will be the only ones wearing masks soon.
This will be a quick update today since I need to dash down to the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
It was no surprise that the OTZ draws were popular yesterday. OTZ had a new usage record yesterday as tennis fans accessed the draws from throughout the state and throughout the day. The indoor environment made it relatively easy for me to obtain scores because I could ask many of the players for the results as they left the court.
Remember to save the following URL on your mobile device to stay abreast of results.
The results of the players still in the singles draws include the following. Division I: St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day defeated Walnut Hills' Phillip Kogan and St. Charles' Reece Yakubov; Gahanna's Brandon Carpico beat Mayfield's Yukun Wang and St. Xavier's Charlie Temming; Mason's Vignesh Gogineni defeated Warren Harding's An.Payiavlas and Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula; and St. Johns Jesuit's Aiden Williams beat Anderson's Payson Scott and Highland's Elijah Hadler.
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St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day - Click to enlarge |
Division II: Indian Hill's Jack Pollock defeated Lakeview's Ryan Carnahan and Wellington's Sanjan Shanker; Orange's Ben Pomeranets beat Mariemont's Will Stephens and Bryan's Jay Fortner; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Waverly's Penn Morrison and Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee; and Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky beat Summit Country Day's Elizabeth Fahrmeier and Wellington's Griffin Biernat.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The OTZ Player Profile player with the most number of accesses was St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day who is pictured above.
Good luck to everyone today!
Ok. Fine. It's 50 degrees. Wear your black shirts..
FRIDAY,
Mother Nature Versus Ohio Tennis | OTZ Interview with Ben Martin
While we need the rain, we do not need the rain today. Play will be indoors today. Division I will be at:
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State Draws - Click for draws |
Five Seasons Family Sports Center
11790 Snider Road
Cincinnati, OH 45249
Division II is at:
Carmargo Racquet Club
8215 Camargo Road
Cincinnati, OH 45243
There is overflow parking available for D2 in the unoccupied building north of Carmargo.
Remember to save the following URL on your mobile device to stay abreast of the results.
The third and final interview for this season is with Ben Martin. Martin is a senior at University School, which is located in the Northeast District.
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University School's Ben Martin - Click to enlarge |
Martin has been involved with tennis for most of his life. "I started playing when I was seven or eight when my dad would take me to our local courts and hit with me. The more I kept playing, the more I enjoyed it. Soon enough I was going to lessons and playing in leagues and tournaments. I started regularly playing USTA Midwest tournaments around the age of 11. My dad (Scott) has played tennis mostly his whole life but my mom (Sue) only started playing after I took up the sport."
For his tennis goals, "At this point, my goal is to win States. I have qualified for States in singles and my whole team just qualified for the State Team Final Four. I know it might seem like a stretch to win States but I always reach for the stars." It actually is not a big reach. Martin is a TennisRecruiting.net 4-Star [link] and he is ranked 165 in the nation in his age group. His ranking has steadily improved over the years - from 243 in 2018, 200 in 2019, and 170 in 2020. His Universal Tennis Rating is 10.79.
While his opponents may not share the same level of enthusiasm about Martin's tennis strokes, Martin says that, "My favorite shot is my inside-out forehand, and I'd say it is also my weapon. Slapping a high inside-out forehand for a winner gives me so much satisfaction."
While he has enjoyed tennis, he has really liked high school tennis. "I love the team atmosphere. In USTA tournaments and most other matches, tennis is an individual sport. Now in high school tennis, you have a whole team cheering for you and sometimes even more people in the crowd. An audience can really make a difference in close matches and help push you over the hump when you need it the most. In addition, I made so many new friends for life from playing high school tennis."
Martin will continue to play in college. "I committed to attending and playing tennis for Case Western Reserve University. When looking for colleges, I looked for one that had a strong engineering program and a Division 3 tennis team where I would fit in well. I think CWRU is a good fit because it has both of those. On top of that, it is not too far or too close from home, so I will be able to still see my family often. I was also considering RPI."
Martin stays busy with classwork. He is also a math / science guy, and he has taken six AP's. They were: Calculus BC, Chemistry, US History, English Literature, Physics C, and Statistics. He enjoyed calculus the most. "In college I plan on majoring in Chemical Engineering. Ever since I was little I always loved math and was better at it than other subjects. I enjoyed it more because there always was a clear and concise answer to each problem. I would compete in math competitions such as MathCounts as well as join math club at school. I think part of the reason for this is because my father was an engineering professor and would always help me out on my homework to make sure I understood it."
His father is a retired Youngstown professor and his mother was a financial advisor. Both of his parents were engineering grads in college.
Martin started school in the Canfield school system, but moved to University School after his freshman year for academic and athletic reasons. University School soldiered on during COVID-19 and they had in-person school the entire year.
Coaches who are not analytical may benefit from having Martin on their payroll. When asked about his usage of OTZ, he shared. "I read the articles on OhioTennisZone every morning during tennis season. I like to keep up with tennis in the state and see the results of people I know every day. I also use it to look at teams we may face in the future and figure out what lineups would work best against them. Because I like math, I enjoy considering different lineups and looking at the odds in order to give our team the best chance to win."
For social media, he uses Instagram and Snapchat. His Instagram username is ben_martin_tennis.
For his community service work, he has continued to be involved with tennis. "I used to be involved in inner-city tennis in Cleveland, where I helped introduce and coach kids about tennis during a summer camp. I had to do 15 hours for school but I decided to do more because I enjoyed it so much."
Coach Adam Atwell offered this about Martin. "It is rare for a player as talented as Ben to be as humble as he is. Ben is the best kind of captain. He cheers for his teammates. He listens to coaching and he never asked for special privileges.
Martin begins his run at States in the first round against Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula.
THURSDAY,
OhioTennisZone Video of Its Top Picks for the State Championships
It is time for something new (at least for the boys season). Last season, OhioTennisZone released its first video that identified the girls who are favored to win the State Championships. Now it is time to do the same with the boys.
Click for OTZ Top Picks for States - Click for video |
The video uses a combination of OTZ action photos and videos that were taken over the last three years. Hope you find it to be interesting and informative.
Time frames are always super tight in creating these videos. This video was hammered out yesterday afternoon, evening, and this morning. I am also still getting accustomed to Adobe Premiere Pro. (Remember, how I said that I was "still getting accustomed to the software"? Well, apparently not enough. This is the second version of the video. It contains all of the content..)
The names are always challenging for me to pronounce. Rather than say that the OTZ pronunciations are incorrect, families affected are kindly requested to use the awkward, contorted pronunciations used in this video from this point forward..
There are a few items that I knew but misspoke on the video. It is Arie Tuckerman, not Eric. Arie and Jack Madison play for Columbus Academy. Sorry.. Unfortunately, this list will likely grow as the day progresses.
There were not as many action photos and videos as had been hoped. OTZ was restricted from being on the courts at the Northeast D2 Districts and that tournament was always a great source of photos and videos. This was the only restriction encountered for the boys high school season and the restriction was for both indoor and outdoor matches. The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Classic Tournament, held at the beginning of May, is another good source but the number of teams was restricted by location, and Flight A was limited to just four teams.
WEDNESDAY,
OhioTennisZone Interview of St. Xavier's Charlie Temming | Lexington and Findlay Finally Take the Final Final Four Spots
The second OTZ boys interview of the season is with Charlie Temming. Temming is a senior at St. Xavier in the Southwest District.
Temming has one state championship under his belt and he is looking for another one in singles. He teamed up with Preston Stearns [photo] to win the OHSAA Division I Doubles Championship in 2019 [pdf]. "My goal for senior year is to win States of course, I am the two seed coming out of my district, but I still believe I have a very good chance at making a deep run into the state draw."
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St. Xavier's Charlie Temming - Click to team page |
How is he going to get there? "My favorite shot is clearly my forehand, which is also my weapon. My forehand is my best shot by far because I am able to hit it in anywhere in the court with extreme power and control - making it deadly when on."
He sports an impressive 4-Star ranking [link] on TennisRecruiting.net and a Universal Tennis Ranking of 11.65. His national ranking is 80 for his age group. The last time he checked his serve speed, it clocked in at 109mph.
Temming started playing tennis at a relatively early age but he also played other sports until 7th grade. "I started playing tennis when I was 8 years old mainly because my mom and her whole family played tennis in college, so she had me try it out to see if I enjoyed it." At one point, his mother, Heidi, held the all-time record in singles wins at Xavier. His aunt, Kim Pacella, is the coach at Toledo's Notre Dame Academy. Temming started devoting more time to tennis because he also excelled in it.
Temming's father is Andy, and he is a financial advisor at Renaissance Investment Management. Heidi works at a Loveland Middle School, helping kids with disabilities. His sister, Libby, is a sophomore at Ursuline Academy. She does not play tennis. She golfs.
In addition to the tennis skills, Temming also benefits from his mother's Italian heritage with Wolverine-like sideburn growing skills. [Exaggeration alert.] He can grow full sideburns in half an hour (or about twenty minutes if he concentrates)..
Temming is a math / science guy and he plans to major in finance in college. He took two AP's in high school - Macro Economics and US History. He enjoyed the economics course the most.
Temming will be playing college tennis this fall. "I chose Xavier because both my parents attended Xavier, so I have known a lot about the school since I was a little kid. Plus I liked the close to home feel. I was considering Notre Dame and Boston College, but chose Xavier because it was less expensive and I would be able to play freshman year. (....) I'm super excited. It seems like a great fit for me and I am very happy with the choice that I made."
As for the obligatory OTZ usage question which players are forced to answer, "I enjoy reading the player rankings weekly because it allows for me to see where I stand against other kids in Ohio competing for the same goals I am. Plus it gives me some motivation to play better so I can try and move up in the rankings because who doesn't love to be number one?"
Temming has played high school tennis for the last four years. "The best thing about high school tennis for me is the team atmosphere. Tennis is an individual sport, and the tournaments I play throughout the year are all by myself, so high school tennis gives me a different feel with the team and makes it much more fun to play knowing I am surrounded by people who all have similar goals for me and want me to succeed."
For his service project, "I do community service at Matthew 25 Ministries through St X because I am very fortunate with the life I was given, so I believe the least I can do is volunteer my time to help others who are struggling."
As for his social media vices, "I mainly use Snapchat and Instagram just so I can keep in touch with my friends outside of school. I have a Twitter account @TemmingCharlie but I rarely go on it."
He hopes to play at the USTA Boys National Championships in Kalamazoo [2019 photo] this summer and that will likely end his USTA tournament play. He is also looking forward to hitting with the professional women players at the Western & Southern Open this August. This opportunity is given to D1 players with high UTR ratings. Mason grad, Niraj Komatineni [photo], did this in 2019.
St. Xavier Coach Joe Jackson provided this quote about Temming, "Charlie’s tennis acumen and competitiveness are benchmarks for St. X tennis. He was a key member of a series of deep and talented St. X teams. Charlie is one of those rare players whose tennis IQ and abilities match his drive to win. It’s quite remarkable to have that kind of talent in our program."
The quote that Temming provided was "focus on what you can control, do not worry about the other side of the net, only your side". We'll see how far that philosophy takes him at States. His first round opponent is Solon's Niko Romanov.
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In dual match play, the last two Final Four spots were secured yesterday. Findlay defeated St. John's Jesuit and Lexington beat Ottawa Hills. Among the top players, Findlay's Max Hosey defeated St. Johns Jesuit's Aiden Williams and Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee beat Lexington's Tommy Secrist. To view the graphs from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
TUESDAY,
State Draws Available | University School Secures Spot in Final Four
The OhioTennisZone-enhanced State Tournament Draws are now available and University School defeated Walsh Jesuit to earn the Northeast Ohio D1 spot in the Final Four. To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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State Draws - Click to draws |
The OTZ-Enhanced State draws were online by about 12:30 even though they were released by the OHSAA around noon. Don't think for a second that it takes just a half hour to make these OTZ draws available. There is a monster amount of prep work necessary to get the OTZ draws online. There are now photos for all but four three one of the 96 players. Hopefully the other photos will be obtained before States begins. A link to the draws will remain positioned at the top of this page.
The weather looks dubious for Friday, but you already knew that.
Ottawa Hills (A) plays Lexington and it is Findlay (A) versus St John's Jesuit for the Final Four spots in Northwest Ohio for D2 and D1, respectively.
MONDAY,
It's States Week!
This week will go by in a flash. There are three more Final Four spots to determine - two in Northwest Ohio and one in Northeast. The OTZ online draws for States should be released today. There will be a a top State contenders video just as there was for the girls season. There may even be another player interview.
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Southwest District D2 Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
Yes, there is rain in the forecast for the end of the week, but it is too early in the week to stress about that now. The cooler temperatures that are forecasted will be a welcome change.
The State Draws will include player photos. These photos are being actively gathered now. All photos for the Central, Southeast / East, and Southwest Districts have been obtained.
Thanks to Mason's Mike Reid for taking the Southwest District Qualifier photos.
There is also work to be done on the PickleballZone.com site as we prepare for the inaugural Columbus-area Adult Summer Pickleball League that begins on Sunday, June 6. Interested in playing? Please contact your racquet professional if you belong to Brookside Golf & Country Club, The Country Club at Muirfield Village, Kinsale Golf & Fitness, The Lakes Golf & Country Club, New Albany Country Club, Scarborough East, Wedgewood Golf & Country Club, and Worthington Hills Country Club. The scheduling of courts was challenging for this year but hopefully community clubs will be in the mix for next year. Contact OTZ now via Feedback if you know that your club or community center would be interested in participating in 2022. The current league is coed and is for Advanced Beginners and Intermediate / Intermediate Plus skill-level players. It will likely be expanded next year.
SUNDAY,
District Seeding Rounds Completed - Ready for States
If Ohio tennis can just get three more nice weather days.. Watch for the State Draws to be posted on OhioTennisZone tomorrow. As in the past, player photos and links to OTZ Player Profiles will be included.
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Central District D1 Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
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Central District D2 Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
In the matches played by the various districts' first seeds, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni defeated Springboro's Sainandan Dore and St. Xavier's Charlie Temming; Orange's Ben Pomeranets beat Lakeview's Ryan Carnahan and Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky; Gahanna's Brandon Carpico defeated Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu and Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula; Wellington's Griffin Biernat beat Wellington's Sanjan Shanker; Indian Hill's Jack Pollock defeated Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan and Summit Country Day's Elizabeth Fahrmeier; St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day beat University School's Ben Martin and Highland's Elijah Hadler; and St. John's Jesuit's Aiden Williams defeated Findlay's Nick Simmermeyer and Perrysburg's Mason Deal. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The seeding order of the State Qualifiers have been included below under the May 21st entry. Links to all of the players who have OTZ Player Profiles are included.
In NCAA D1 Women's College Tennis Championship, Texas beat Pepperdine, 4-3. Texas' (and Cincinnati's) Peyton Stearns won on 3rd dubs and at 1st singles. Pepperdine has historically had the best tennis photos of any collegiate tennis program (but, of course, neither Pepperdine nor the NCAA Tournament has as good of photos as those for Ohio high school tennis..)
Photos for the OTZ State Draws are being collected now. If it is uncertain that OTZ has a photo for your player, please email one today. Provide your email address via Feedback and the OTZ email address will be emailed to you.
Unlike for the girls season, there are no spectator limits for the OHSAA State Tournament. Hope to see many of you at States.
SATURDAY,
Northeast D1 Qualifiers | College Tennis Championships
It was another great day for tennis. High school tennis just needs a few more nice weather days to wrap things up. The Northeast D2 District Tournament was held yesterday. These results are included below and in yesterday's entry. After today's seeding round, players will be placed in seeding order.
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Texas' (and Cincinnati's) Peyton Stearns - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Orange's Ben Pomeranets defeated West Branch's Jerald Brain and Hawken's Finn Rourke; Lakeview's Ryan Carnahan beat Geneva's Tyler Perkins and Orange's Krish Mehra; Chagrin Falls' Jackson Quinn defeated Ursuline's Chris Simon and St. Vincent-St. Mary's Ben McKnight; and Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky beat Ursuline's Ashwin Balakrishnan and Poland Seminary's Carmen DAlesio. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Northeast Division IISingles: Orange's Ben Pomeranets, Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky, Lakeview's Ryan Carnahan, and Chagrin Falls' Jackson Quinn.
Doubles: Orange's Josh Nwaozuzu - Chika Nwaozuzu, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Alex Stout - Luke Thelander, Hawken's Berend Diderich - Jared Crider, and Orange's Jake Goldstein - Gabi Kalir.
Photos of the State Qualifiers from each District will be shared on OhioTennisZone if they are high resolution images and if they include players from all teams. It is fine to have D1 and D2 in separate photos. Please have the players from the same team stand together. Please also provide the names of the players. OTZ will add these names to the photo. For a quick photo tutorial, please click Team Photo How-to. Click for the photo of the 2019 Central Boys D1 qualifiers.
Player photos are needed for the OhioTennisZone online draw. If I have no photo of you, please email one to me. Need my email address? Please submit a Feedback message. Click for the Girls State 2020 Draw.
There will be great college tennis action taking place on the Tennis Channel today at 5:30pm. The women from Texas will be playing against Pepperdine. Playing for Texas is Cincinnati's Peyton Stearns and for Pepperdine is Ohio State transfer, Shiori Fukuda. Stearns' photo is from the G16 OVTA Qualifier held at Upper Arlington HS in 2016.
FRIDAY,
Districts Underway | Congrats to State Qualifiers
There was more perfect (but warm) weather yesterday. OTZ traveled to the Southwest District to take photos and talk with fans. Photos are forthcoming. There were a few spectators with masks at the beginning of the day but most came off as the day progressed (and temperatures increased). Coaches continued wearing their masks on-court.
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Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati - Click to enlarge |
Normally I would be blitzing to Northeast Ohio for their D2 Sectionals. That is is not the case this season because court restrictions prevented me from being on the court. There were also restrictions for the girls season but COVID-19 conditions have changed dramatically since then. As a reminder, masks are no longer required indoors or outdoors for those who are vaccinated.
It is great that players were exposed to hot temperatures before States to better acclimate them. That is normally not the case. Still though, boys like to wear dark (or black) clothes for the State Tournament. This is not a bad idea - this is a horribly awful idea. Mothers, Put those dark shirts at the bottom of the dirty clothes bag and leave them there until after States. It may save your boys a trip to the hospital. Please, however, eventually remove them from the clothes bag before they spontaneously combust.
The State Qualifiers (so far) are listed below for each District that has reported them. After the seeding rounds on Saturday, the lists will be in seeded order. All of the results for these matches are online. Click the player links to view the OTZ Player Profiles. Congratulations to these players.
Central Division I
Singles: Gahanna's Brandon Carpico, Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula, St. Charles' Reece Yakubov, and Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu.
Doubles: New Albany's Ryan Mudre - Devin Boyer, New Albany's Ben Bilenko - Declan Freedhoff, Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas - Tanish Pairu, and Dublin Jerome's Kevin Liu - Eli Wiblin.
Central Division II
Singles: Wellington's Griffin Biernat and Sanjan Shanker.
Doubles: Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman - Jack Madison and Wellington's Evan Manley - Brayden Chawla.
Northeast Division I
Singles: St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day, Highland's Elijah Hadler, University School's Ben Martin, Solon's Niko Romanov, Warren G Harding's Anthony Payiavlas, and Mayfield's Yukon Wang.
Doubles: University School's Nathan Mu - Spencer Krantz, Massillon Jackson's Alvin Altman - Ryan Kelley, Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller - Ben Cors, St. Ignatius' Kenny Li - Kai Vesikallio, University School's Dean and Cole Kirchick, and Massillon Jackson's Lucas Immel - Arjun Krishnamurthi.
Singles: Orange's Ben Pomeranets, Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky, Chagrin Falls' Jackson Quinn, and Lakeview's Ryan Carnahan.
Doubles: Orange's Josh Nwaozuzu - Chika Nwaozuzu, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Alex Stout - Luke Thelander, Hawken's Berend Diderich - Jared Crider, and Orange's Jake Goldstein - Gabi Kalir.
Northwest Division I
Singles: St. John's Jesuit's Aiden Williams.
Doubles: Findlay's Max Hosey - Carson Dale.
Northwest Division II
Singles: Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee, Bryan's Jay Fortner, Shawnee's Gabe Burke, and Shawnee's Mason Stahl.
Doubles: Lexington's Ryan Mercurio - Ross Drlik, Lexington's Karl Etzel - Ethan Remy, Ottawa Glandorf's Colin Welsh - Carter Welsh, and Lima Central Catholic's Enrico Pittalis - Aaron Simmons.
Southwest Division I
Singles: Mason's Vignesh Gogineni, St. Xavier's Charlie Temming, Springboro's Sainandan Dore, Walnut Hills' Phillip Kogan, and Anderson's Payson Scott.
Doubles: Mason's Akshay Joshi - Sam King, St. Xavier's Tucker Berry - Drew Evans, Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Kevin Dong, Beavercreek's Alan Xie - Deven Wells, and Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers - Mark Karev.
Southwest Division II
Singles: Indian Hill's Jack Pollock, Summit Country Day's Elizabeth Fahrmeier, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, and Mariemont's Will Stephens.
Doubles: Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati - RJ Poffenberger; Cincinnati Country Day's Max Berghausen - Sai Nalagatla, Oakwood's Noah Boyce - Sophie Russell, and Cincinnati Country Day's Kasey Chopra - Matthew Castrucci.
Good luck today to the Northeast D2 District Qualifiers. Wish I was allowed to recognize your players. They deserved it.
THURSDAY,
OhioTennisZone Interview of St. Charles' Reece Yakubov | Districts!
The first OTZ boys interview of the season is with Reece Yakubov. Yakubov is a senior at St. Charles which is in Columbus.
Yakubov comes from a tennis / golf family (while his two brothers may refer to it as a golf / tennis family).. Yakubov started playing tennis with his brothers when he was 5 or 6. Connor [photo] is his oldest brother and he graduated from St. Charles in 2015. After playing golf for Emory, he now works for Diamond Hill Capital Management in Columbus. Evan [photo], a 2017 St. Charles graduate, just finished his undergrad in finance from the University of Indiana where he plays golf. Evan will return for a fifth year of golf while pursuing his MBA. Yakubov's father, Steven, is a cardiologist at Riverside while his mother, Tracey, keeps everyone in line. Tracey had worked as a nurse before having children.
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St. Charles' Reece Yakubov - Click to team page |
Since St. Charles had in-person school the entire school year, Yakubov felt good about his academics this year. Last year was more difficult because of the shut downs. "Losing the back half of my junior year, I could definitely tell that we didn't get to quite as much, and that it was way tougher to learn online on the computer versus face to face."
Academically, Yakubov enjoys the material in a math and science curriculum. He has taken eight AP's: Biology, Latin, English Comp, Calc AB, Calc BC, Physics 1, Physics 2, and Statistics. He liked AP Biology the most. He plans to major in finance or pre-med in college.
Yakubov is a 5-star player on TennisRecruiting.net [link] and he is ranked #1 on OhioTennisZone. It is very difficult to do this but he has continued to improve throughout his high school years. He was 100th in the country in his age group in 2018, 111th in 2019, 78th in 2020, and he is ranked 48th now. His Universal Tennis Rating has risen significantly in the past year, going from 10.8 in June to 11.85 in the most recent posting. And in one of the best turning lemons into lemonade stories, what gets the credit? "Back in March when schools got shutdown, I went and played all day. (....) It's weird to say but COVID may have been the best thing to happen to my tennis game because I was able to spend way more time on the court. Also in March, I started working with David Kass in the KTA (Kass Tennis Academy) group with Balazs Novak and Patrick Thompson and they have helped me tremendously as well." Yakubov also works with OSU's Justin Kronauge, but was limited in doing so because of Ohio State's COVID-19 restrictions.
Where is he going to play college tennis? "I selected Ohio State. I like being close to home and I think that it provides me a great opportunity to balance academics and some high level tennis. I also think my relationship with the coaching staff / players helped make that decision a little easier. I also considered Purdue University of University of Pennsylvania."
His favorite shot is "definitely my inside-out forehand. My biggest weapon is probably my forehand but I like being aggressive from both groundstrokes."
As for his OhioTennisZone usage, “I like to check in on scores from around the state. OTZ makes it easy to see how some of my friends from Cleveland or Cincinnati are doing."
One of his goals this year was to win the Central Catholic League and the team accomplished that last Monday when they beat Bishop Watterson. For his individual goals, "I want to make a run at the state title. There are a lot of good players in the state, I am just looking forward to competing against them for a title."
What does he like about high school tennis? "The team atmosphere. The season is truly way different than summer USTA tournaments because there are fans and teammates cheering you on. In high school, the match isn’t always about me."
He needs to get through Districts first, but States is not foreign territory for Yakubov. He reached the finals in D1 dubs with Jack Dabek as a freshman in 2018. They lost in a marathon three setter [pdf] to New Albany's Devin Boyer and Nathan Jose. That match included two court changes due to rain. The last thing a cramping player wants to do is to stop moving and Dabek was forced to do that as they moved indoors. In 2019, Yakubov lost to Springboro's Sai Dore in singles [pdf].
Service projects were also hampered by COVID-19, but Yakubov shared, "I am involved with some service projects through St. Charles, specifically the Brian Muha Run the Race Foundation. I enjoy the time I get to spend with the kids, although it has been very limited with COVID.
In addition to tennis, Yakubov also excels in golf. He led the St. Charles team and until his junior year, he was strongly considering playing golf in college.
St. Charles Coach Max Quinton added this about Yakubov, "Reece's performance both on the court and off has been exceptional. His demeanor on the court is cool and determined and drills shots off both sides with amazing ease. He is also a scratch golfer and a scholar athlete. He is one of the nicest young men I have worked with!"
His social media vice is Twitter and his handle is @ReeceYakubov.
Best of luck to Reece (and everyone else) at Districts.
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There was just one dual match played yesterday as teams prepared for Districts. Centerville defeated Olentangy Liberty. In that match, Centerville's Will Owen beat Olentangy Liberty's Jay Ramakkagari.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone down at the Southwest Districts in a couple of hours.
![[photo]](images/western_southern/zoey_kathy_topseed_0202_20210703.jpg){kind=link}
![[photo at States]](images/girls_pictures/qiang_godsick_champ_20171021.jpg){kind=link}
