Sectional Draws |
Central D1 - D2 |
Ohio High School Tennis
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; Â 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;Â 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;Â 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;Â 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
|
| 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 |
|
| 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; Â 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.
WEDNESDAY,
Final Four Bound: Columbus Academy, Mason, New Albany, Orange
Four more teams now "have plans" for May 30 in Central Ohio. In last night's contests, Columbus Academy defeated Wellington; Mason beat St. Xavier; New Albany defeated Dublin Jerome; and Orange beat Chagrin Falls. There are still three more "spots" to be determined in Northwest (2) and Northeast Ohio. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Click for the most up-to-date State Team Tournament Draws. The D1 tournament will be played on New Albany's home court. The D2 tournament will be played in Reynoldsburg. Per the coaches' web site, the Central District plays the Northeast District and the Northwest District plays the Southwest District in the first round
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Mason - Click to team page |
Many of the Final Four matches end as soon as the match is "clinched" but there were a few interesting results. They included: Orange's Ben Pomeranets defeated Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky; Wellington's Griffin Biernat beat Columbus Academy's Jack Madison; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu defeated Chagrin Falls' Jackson Quinn; and Mason's Akshay Joshi beat St. Xavier's Drew Evans. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Mason. They are coached by Mike Reid. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Vignesh Gogineni, Akshay Joshi, Anish Gangavaram, and Sam King.
The COVID-19 restrictions are providing some great examples of how difficult it is for some to relinquish control after health concerns are eliminated. It is no longer necessary for those vaccinated to wear a mask outdoors yet these restrictions continue. Rules (as well as laws) that get into the books are difficult to remove, especially when “abundance of caution” is included as a reason. Hopefully, some of this is being discussed in schools’ social studies and psychology classes. There are also certainly a few examples of how some are using “Can’t do that because of COVID-19” as a reason, when they simply just don’t want to do it. Fascinating times..
Out of the abundance of caution, I am way behind on responding to emails. I hope to remedy that today..
TUESDAY,
Indian Hill in Final 4 | Walsh Jesuit and Findlay Advance
There are still a combination of regular dual matches and State Team Tournament matches being played. In the State Team, Walsh Jesuit defeated Solon and Findlay beat Perrysburg. In other matches, Hilliard Davidson defeated Worthington Kilbourne; Reynoldsburg beat Delaware Hayes; and Watkins Memorial defeated Big Walnut. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Indian Hill is the first team to reach the Final Four. Click to view the State Team Tournament Draws.
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Lexington - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Lexington. They are coached by Ron Schaub. They are Team Members. They are led by Tommy Secrist, Ryan Mercurio, and Ethan Remy.
Both the Ohio State Women’s and Men’s team were beaten in the NCAAs in Orlando. The NCAA teamed up with TennisONE app for coverage and unfortunately that required fans to hold cell phones up to their faces to watch the matches. The coverage at Wake Forest for the men and Ohio State for the women enabled fans to watch matches via their computers. I normally place a tennis match on a side monitor and work on other things during a match. That was not possible, so I eventually just listened to the commentary. There were also numerous technical problems reported with the app.
The NCAA just continues to struggle with their tennis coverage. In previous years, they have held the men and women’s singles finals *at the same time* and they have bounced back and forth between the matches with their coverage. Hopefully they will at least improve on that this year. Many tennis fans enjoy watching both the men's and the women's championships uninterrupted.
MONDAY,
District Draws Are Posted
That did not take long.. The Districts posted their draws last night (see green box above) which led to a data feeding frenzy on OhioTennisZone. There were 46 simultaneous real time users on OTZ as tennis fans jumped online. The number of real time users is not recorded but that was the highest ever seen.
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OTZ Daily Usage - Click to enlarge |
While the number of real time users is not recorded, the number of daily users is, and this season has been the most active of any year. It was unknown if fans would come back online in the same numbers, but they have in force. The boys seasons always generate more activity than the girls, except of course, for last year. More analysis will be presented at the end of the season but the five most viewed team reports are (in order): Columbus Academy, Mason, Dublin Jerome, St. Xavier, and University School.
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Marysville - Click to team page |
Unfortunately there are deserving singles players and doubles teams that do not reach States and that will be the case again this year. The biggest problem is in the Southwest District. The Southwest District has two super strong Districts (Mason and Cincinnati), one that is very solid (Centerville), and one that is extremely weak (Troy). A player's dream is to see the Troy #1 seed in his (or her) bracket. The nightmare bracket is where the #1 and #2 Mason / Cincinnati seeds reside.
Click OTZ Player Profiles to see how players did in the Sectionals. The Northwest District still has not posted all of their results. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's featured team is Marysville. They are coached by Brian Ash. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Sean Richardson, Kyrell Stauffer, and Carson Kane.
SUNDAY,
Sectionals Completed
Weather could not have been any better for Sectionals. The Sectional seeding rounds were completed throughout the state. Now can we get more good weather for Districts? For States?
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Alder's Riley Woods- Click to enlarge |
Thinking that we would likely get rained out anyway, I agreed to play tennis at 8:00 this morning. Oops. More Sectional data will be entered when I return.
Among the top players, St. Charles' Reece Yakubov defeated Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu and Gahanna's Brandon Carpico. Carpico beat Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula and Bodavula defeated Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
As for the mask situation at Columbus Academy yesterday, those within the fenced-in area wore masks. Spectators outside of the fenced-in area largely did not. Those of us "on-court" (coaches, trainers, officials, and myself) wore masks except for the players. Now that outdoor restrictions have been completely lifted for those who are vaccinated, watch for further relaxing of the restrictions this week. Hopefully by States, only bank robbers will be wearing masks outdoors again..
The photo today is of Jonathan Alder's Riley Woods from Sectional play yesterday.
SATURDAY,
Sectional Seeding Day
Congratulations to all of the players who reached the semi-finals of Sectionals (and reached Districts). Today is the day in which seeding is determined for the District tournament. It takes skill (and some luck) to get to States and players who do well today improve their odds in getting to the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
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Jonathan Alder - Click to team page |
Entering the Sectional data is just really time consuming. To work correctly in the OTZ system, names have to be spelled correctly and initials need to be included for brothers (or sisters). There are systems in place to help with dual match scores entered on OTZ, but there is no slick way to do this for Sectional scores unless they are input by the newspapers. The intent is to enter all scores for all paying members. If a score is missing, please contact OTZ via Feedback and provide the player names, schools, score, and date. If there are duplicates, please also contact OTZ. There are some scores entered for the Central, Northeast, and Southwest Districts but none for the Northwest. Please wait until at least Monday before contacting OTZ about scores.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Jonathan Alder. They are coached by Ryan Swinehart. They have their first ever District qualifiers this year with Riley Woods in singles and Jacob Zang and Grant Welsh in dubs. Click for an article written by their school newspaper about this year's team. OTZ will be leaving for Columbus Academy for the D2 seeding round in a few minutes to watch.
FRIDAY,
OTZ Photo Friday | Entering Sectional Data
Weather conditions were perfect for Sectionals yesterday. We need one more good day on Saturday to finish them. Data entering continues. Those Sectionals that have completed and posted their quarterfinals are online. The Central District results from Thursday are not yet posted.
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Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas - Click to enlarge |
It was disappointing to see that a NEO doubles team was not seeded, and unfortunately they then bumped out the #2 seeds before they could qualify for Districts. There is adequate information on OhioTennisZone and via other sources to properly seed players. It is in everyone's best interest to seed players and teams correctly.
One of the biggest head-scratchers of the season was that I was not going to be permitted to be on the courts (indoors or outdoors) to take photos during the Northeast District D2 tournament as I had been permitted to do in pre-COVID-19 times. This was the case despite me being fully vaccinated. While it should not have been a problem before, the new CDC rules should now absolutely positively completely permit me to see everyone next Friday at the NEO D2 District.. It looks like many of us can now also be maskless!
There are 15 new photos added to OhioTennisZone. Photos from the Hilliard Davidson Doubles Tournament, St. Charles versus Watterson, and Dublin Jerome versus Upper Arlington dual matches are now online. Sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos to view them.
THURSDAY,
Massive Sectional Day
With so many Sectional matches to be played today, Ohio high school tennis is fortunate to have a clear day forecasted for the entire state. As expected, last night was quiet with just four matches recorded. Marysville defeated Big Walnut; Ottawa Hills beat Maumee; Pickerington North defeated Worthington Kilbourne; and Delaware Hayes beat Mount Vernon. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Findlay - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Findlay. They are coached by Sean Swisher. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Max Hosey, Carson Dale, and Kosuke Asada.
In the past, it was easy to stop by Upper Arlington to watch a few matches, but this year all of the Sectionals are outside of I-270. Rather than watch matches, more Sectional data will be added throughout the day. Sectional results were added for Columbus Academy Site 1 and Cincinnati Site for Division II this morning.
WEDNESDAY,
Jerome Beats Upper Arlington | Indian Hill Defeats CCD
Yesterday ended up being a great day for dual and Sectional matches. In the State Team Tournament, Dublin Jerome defeated Upper Arlington and Indian Hill beat Cincinnati Country Day. There were nine matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 6, Southwest - 2, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy defeated Olentangy Orange; Columbus Academy beat Pickerington North; and Lakota West defeated Kings. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Dublin Jerome - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu defeated Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman; Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati beat Cincinnati Country Day's Max Berghausen; Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas defeated Upper Arlington's Ethan Samora; Findlay's Max Hosey beat Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee; Lakota West's Anthony Shalakov defeated Kings' Bayse; Pickerington North's Cole Alcala beat Columbus Academy's Jack Madison; and Columbus Academy's Ryan Panley defeated Pickerington North's Eskander. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Dublin Jerome. They are coached by Ken Berlin. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Max Fickas, Eli Wiblin, and Kevin Liu. Confused on how to say Jerome's mascot correctly? Click on this.
There is a bunch of data entry necessary for Sectionals. The Columbus Dispatch did a terrific job with the Reynoldsburg Sectional yesterday and all of that information is now online on OTZ. Hopefully the Dispatch will be able to continue doing this for the rest of the Central District Sectionals. As for the other Sectionals, the plan is to wait until they are finished and the results are posted before beginning the OTZ data entry process. The plan is to enter data from matches in which there are OTZ Members. That could include Team, Coach, or Individual memberships. All data must be converted (by me or by someone) to the following format before the results can be entered:
Smith-Jones (Bloomingburg) def. Federer-Nadal (Jeffersonville) 6-4, 6-3
The formatting process that I hate more than this song is when team names are used rather than player names. This becomes even more aggravating when the same school has more than one doubles team reach the later stages of the tournament. (My apologies for the ear worm.)
It is still disappointing that some tournament directors do not include the graduation years of the players on their Sectional draws. College coaches really appreciate this information for recruiting purposes. The Central District has always done a great job with this. The Southwest does a good job, too. The Northwest does a so-so job. As for the Northeast - maybe next year?
Sectionals begin in earnest today. To view all of the dual matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Wellington, 7Hills, New Albany, Ottawa Hills Win in State Team Tournament
It is never a good thing to wake up hearing rain on a Sectional Tournament morning. Hopefully, today's rain will move out of the state quickly. In State Team Tournament play, Wellington defeated Bexley; Seven Hills beat Oakwood; New Albany defeated Olentangy; and Ottawa Hills beat Shawnee. There were 17 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 3, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Buckeye Valley defeated Hilliard Darby; Olentangy Berlin beat Worthington Kilbourne; and Lancaster defeated Hilliard Davidson. The Lancaster vs. Hilliard Davidson match included four 3-setters. Ouch. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the State Team Tournament Draws.
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Seven Hills - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Seven Hills. They are coached by Tim Drew. They are OTZ Team Members. The are led by Avi Mahajan and Ethan Blatt.
It was nice to see that the Columbus Dispatch is already starting State's coverage. Click to read the article, "Central Ohio boys tennis players to keep an eye on in the playoffs", by Bailey Johnson. Johnson also did a nice job of crediting OTZ for the stats.
Today's matches include Findlay (H) versus Ottawa Hills. In the State Team Tournament, Dublin Jerome plays Upper Arlington at Wellington (because UA's courts are not available because of school construction efforts). Also in the state tournament, it is Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus Indian Hill. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Ready for Sectionals
Hopefully the rain will subside for a few days to allow teams to get the all-important first day of Sectionals played. The number of players involved is huge because all teams can field three singles and two doubles teams. However, since this is a one and done tournament, half of all the players are eliminated in the first round. After the first day, the numbers are manageable enough to allow teams to go indoors if they are forced to do so.
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Thomas Worthington - Click to team page |
The State Team Tournament is moving along smoothly and hopefully the Final Four teams in each division will be determined before Districts take place next week. Click for the OTZ State Team Tournament Draws. [Now with the correct link..]
There were more player photos added for the top players. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. It may be necessary to sign-in to view the photos of the non-OTZ members.
Today's featured team is Thomas Worthington. They are coached by Lisa Miller. They are OTZ Team Members which means that all of their friends, parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents can follow their progress from anywhere in the world (or for that matter, even the universe if there is a good wi-fi connection). They are led by Wil Newberry, Sabastian Johnson, and Zack Yablok.
Today's matches include: Watterson (A) versus St. Charles; St. Xavier (H) versus Springboro; and Bexley (A) versus Wellington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
St. X Louisville Beats St. X Cincinnati | St. Charles Wins Hilliard Dubs
Happy Mother's Day! And now uh, what you are going to make my dog and me for breakfast?
At least yesterday was a dry day and once everyone was numb, the cold temperatures were not too bothersome.. In dual match play, St. Xavier-Louisville defeated St. Xavier. In tournament play, St. Charles won the Hilliard Davidson Doubles Tournament and Seven Hills finished second. To view results recorded from yesterday and other previous days, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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St. Frances DeSales - Click to team page |
This has been a challenging boys season because there were two incoming classes (freshmen and sophomores) to handle while also preparing to launch PickleballZone.com.
For those interested in playing in a skill-based, adult summer pickleball league in Central Ohio, the time is now to jump on board for the inaugural season. Clubs that have teams include: New Albany Country Club, Worthington Hills Country Club, Brookside Golf and Country Club, Scarborough East Tennis Club, Wedgewood Golf & Country Club, Lakes Golf and Country Club, Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club, and The Country Club at Muirfield Village. There may also be some community centers who jump on board, too. Click on Feedback with any questions. Mrs. OTZ will play for the Advanced Beginners team at WHCC, while I will be on the Intermediate/Intermediate+ league. (Not that I am good enough to play on an Intermediate/+ team, but hopefully I will get up-to-speed before the end of the season.) (The alternative is that I will just travel around and take photos.) Contact your club and get signed up now.
Today's featured team is DeSales. They are coached by Tom Snyder. They are led by Michael James and Kevin Heil.
It was great seeing everyone at the Hilliard Davidson Doubles Tournament. New team photos are posted for St. Charles, Worthington Kilbourne, and Seven Hills.
SATURDAY,
St. Xavier Beats Sycamore in State Team Tournament
More rainy weather canceled some matches and led to others not being able to finish all of their courts. In the biggest match of the night, St. Xavier defeated Sycamore in a State Team Tournament match. Other significant matches included: Findlay defeated Walsh Jesuit; Walsh Jesuit beat Ottawa Hills; Solon defeated Brecksville; and Grove City beat West. There were eight matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3, Southwest - 2, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 2. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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OSU's Maddie Atway - Click to enlarge |
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Ball State's Emma Peeler - Click to enlarge |
The OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws have been updated. Click on the above link.
Among the top players, St. Xavier's Charlie Temming defeated Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers; Mason's Akshay Joshi beat Beavercreek's Aaron Staiger; Findlay's Max Hosey defeated  Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller; Solon's Niko Romanov beat Brecksville's Youssef; Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller defeated Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee; and St. Xavier's Drew Evans beat Sycamore's Arjun Rajagopala. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Two previous Ohio high school players competing for college teams yesterday in the NCAA Team Tournament included Olentangy Liberty's and Ohio State's Maddie Atway and Westlake's and Ball State's Emma Peeler. Click to see their (Atway - Peeler) high school photos. Both photos were taken in 2017.
Hilliard Davidson is having their annual doubles tournament today and I will be leaving soon for that. In dual matches, St. Xavier (A) will travel to St. Xavier-Louisville. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
OTZ Photo Friday | New Albany Beats Wellington | University Defeats St. Ignatius
With Sectionals next week, it is going to be difficult for teams to get all of their matches played. Hopefully the weather clears up for Saturday. In the heavy-weight matches, New Albany defeated Wellington and University School beat St. Ignatius.
The close, 3-2 matches included: Hilliard Bradley defeated Lancaster; Gahanna beat Bexley; Highland defeated Anderson; Grandview beat Jonathan Alder; Big Walnut defeated Hilliard Darby; Thomas Worthington beat Upper Arlington-B; and Dublin Coffman defeated Olentangy Berlin. There were 24 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 7, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Mason's Vignesh Gogineni - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, New Albany's Ryan Mudre defeated Wellington's Griffin Biernat; New Albany's Devin Boyer beat Wellington's Sanjan Shanker; Gahanna’s Brandon Carpico defeated Bexley's Austin Flamm; Centerville's Will Owen beat Miamisburg's Tella; Oakwood's Noah Boyce defeated Miami Valley School's Rithik Manchala; and Worthington Kilbourne's Owen Alderman beat Dublin Scioto's Sohum Patel. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's Photo Friday includes the Thomas Worthington versus Hilliard Darby match, the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association (GCTCA) Flight A matches, and the Grove City versus Big Walnut dual match. There were 18 new photos added. As mentioned earlier, the sun was brutal at the GCTCA tournament. Almost anything that the light touched was overexposed and anything that it did not, was underexposed. Sign-in first and then click to view the Most Recently Added Photos.
This is a huge day for college tennis. The Ohio State Women's team is playing at OSU today in the team tournament.
Today's matches include: Sycamore (H) versus St. Xavier; Findlay (H) versus Walsh Jesuit; and Ottawa Hills (H) versus Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
7 Hills Beats Mason | Solon Defeats Walsh Jesuit
The temperatures were cooler, but it was great to finally see tennis played in earnest yesterday. Among the strongest teams, Seven Hills defeated Mason and Solon beat Walsh Jesuit. (Mason did not use its strongest line-up.) The close, 3-2 matches included: Grove City defeated Big Walnut; Middletown beat Colerain; Dublin Scioto defeated Watterson; DeSales beat Worthington Kilbourne; Bellefontaine defeated Sidney; Covington Catholic beat Centerville; Mariemont defeated Oak Hills; Badin beat Hamilton; and St. Xavier defeated Cincinnati Country Day. There were 23 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 11, and Northeast - 1. 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 |
Today's featured team is Grove City. They are coached by Joshua Chandler. They are led by Abraham Hougland and Jesse Stevens.
The Sectional Draws are now online for all of the locations for the Central, Northeast, and Southwest Districts. The Southwest District won the esteemed "First District to Get Their Sectional Draws Online" award. The Central District has always held this title but they had some problems as they went "virtual". Since it has been deemed that the Southwest's win this year is more of a fluke, the traveling trophy for this award will remain in the Central District's trophy case..
Tomorrow will be another OTZ Photo Friday. It will include photos from the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association Classic.
Today's matches include: Lexington (A) versus North Canton Hoover; Centerville (A) versus Miamisburg; and University School (A) versus St. Ignatius. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
St. Xavier Beats Indian Hill
Ok. Well. We have had enough rain. But as of right now in the Central District, It's Raining Again. Several parts of the state were successful in playing matches yesterday. In the marquee match, St. Xavier defeated Indian Hill. There were nine matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 7 and Northwest - 2. The only close, 3-2 match was Moeller defeated Kings. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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St. Xavier - Click to team page |
There were quite a few matches added to the OTZ-Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws. Click the link for the latest updates.
Among the top players, St. Xavier's Drew Evans defeated Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger; Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee beat Maumee Valley Country Day's Caillaux; Lexington's Tommy Secrist defeated West Holmes' Curtis Wagner; and King’s Josh Lee beat Moeller’s Hatfield. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is St. Xavier. They are coached by Joseph Jackson. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Charlie Temming and Drew Evans.
There are several great matches scheduled for tonight. They include: Bexley (A) versus Dublin Jerome; Lexington (A) versus Findlay; Seven Hills (A) versus Mason; and Solon (H) versus Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Mason Beats Springboro
The rain was spasmatic yesterday. The Central District looked good to play until it wasn't and then the evening was perfect. In the State Team Tournament, Mason defeated Springboro. Other matches included: Walsh Jesuit beat Shaker Heights; Moeller defeated Fenwick; and Anderson beat Lakota East. There was just one close, 3-2 match - Chaminade-Julienne defeated Kenton Ridge. There were seven matches recorded from state-wide play but several teams were in "catch-up mode". The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 6 and the Northeast - 1.To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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University School - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Mason's Akshay Joshi defeated Springboro's Shreyas Kode and Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller beat Shaker Heights' Ben Jamal. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Southwest District is the only district with all of its Sectional draws posted.
Today's featured team is University School. They are coached by Adam Atwell. They are Team Members. They are led by Ben Martin, Dean Kirchick, and Nathan Mu.
Today's matches include: Indian Hill (A) versus St. Xavier; Seven Hills (H) versus Summit Country Day; and Copley (H) versus University School. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Sectional Draws
The Sectional Draws are in the process of being released now. All of the Sectionals do this differently but the Central and Southwest District are normally the most prompt. [The Central D2 Districts are now available.]
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Upper Arlington's "Courts" - Click to enlarge |
This will be the first year that the Upper Arlington courts are not available for the Central District as the new school is built. In their current state, there is no denying that the "courts" would have had some bad bounces.. The plans for their new facility sound great, and UA will be interested in offering tournaments at the site. This would also be a great place for dual matches as the top teams from the Southwest, Northeast, and Northwest Districts gather to compete. (Plus, Raising Canes is just 2 1/2 miles away and Graeters is 1.1 miles away..) (The photo is facing southeast.)
There are no major surprises in the draws thus far. New Albany's Ryan Mudre and Devin Boyer are teaming up in doubles and they will be among the favorites to win States. Boyer was the doubles champion in 2017 when he teamed up with Nathan Jose. Summit Country Day's Elizabeth Fahrmeier earned a first seed. To my knowledge, she is the first female to get a top seed. She will be playing for Dartmouth next fall.
Central District Division I is working through some issues associated with the Reynoldsburg 1 site and that draw will be tweaked. Granville and Westerville South have players in the same quarter which is not permitted. The Central District used virtual draws for many (or perhaps all) of its sports. It will be interesting to see if this is done in the future. I have always viewed the draw meeting as more of a family reunion atmosphere and I think there is value in bringing the coaches together in person. It would have likely also enabled the mistakes to be identified and fixed at the meeting.
Matches that are expected to be canceled today include: Bexley (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; Watterson (A) versus St. Charles; St. Xavier (H) versus Seven Hills; and Oakwood (A) versus Cincinnati Country Day. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
With today's rainy conditions, this would be a great day for coaches to enter scores that have not yet been posted on OhioTennisZone.
Everyone needs a quick pick-me-up on a dismal rainy Monday. Here you go. You're welcome.
SUNDAY,
St. Xavier Wins Flight A of the GCTCAC
Yesterday was a perfect weather day for tournaments. St. Xavier won the Flight A group of the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association Classic while Mason was second. There was just one dual match recorded. Hilliard Davidson defeated Marysville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday and the past few days, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Sycamore's Mark Karev - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, St. Xavier's Charlie Temming defeated Springboro's Sainandan Dore and Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers. Springboro's Sainandan Dore beat Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers and Mason's Vignesh Gogineni. Mason's Akshay Joshi defeated Springboro's Shreyas Kode; St. Xavier's Drew Evans; and Sycamore's Mark Karev. Sycamore's Nicholas Choo beat St. Xavier's Tucker Berry; Springboro's Josh Satter; and Mason's Eric Xu. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Taking great action photos requires highly skilled players, great competition, ideal lighting conditions, and a non-distracting background. The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association Classic provided three of the four at St. Xavier High School yesterday. Unfortunately the sun is the most important factor and it did not cooperate. The sun was waaay too harsh. A harsh sun and "players wearing hats" mean no great pictures. The sun is "good" when there is a slight shadow while holding a hand above the pavement. Yesterday, the shadow on the pavement was almost black..
The all-important Sectional Draw is today. The draw will be "in-person" in the Southwest, Northwest Ohio, and Northeast Districts. The Central District is holding their draws virtually. Good luck!
SATURDAY,
Wellington Defeats Bexley | Jerome Beats Pickerington North
There were quite a few matches played yesterday. With rain expected next week, some coaches may have hurried to get matches into the books. Among the top teams, Wellington defeated Bexley and Dublin Jerome beat Pickerington North. Overall, there were 21 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 7, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Lehman Catholic defeated Urbana; Hilliard Davidson beat Grove City; Waynesville defeated Carlisle; Monroe beat Finneytown; Watkins Memorial defeated Pickerington Central; Big Walnut beat DeSales; and Westerville North defeated Delaware Hayes. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Perrysburg - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Perrysburg. They are coached by Paul Vrzal. They are Team Members. They are led by Mason Deal, Matthew Wiley, and Sydney Deal.
There are numerous tournaments taking place today. OTZ travels to the Flight A group of the Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association Classic at St. Xavier. Bring a dog treat (for Zoey). To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Orange and University School Get Wins | OTZ Photo Friday
Yesterday was almost a complete rain-out. Just two scores were reported -- Orange defeated Beachwood and University School beat North Canton Hoover. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Some coaches and parents used yesterday to catch-up with entering older scores. Perrysburg was an example of this.
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Beechcroft's Amani Lyles - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Orange's Ben Pomeranets defeated Beachwood's Ilan Amkraut and University School's Dean Kirchick beat North Canton Hoover's Colin Fitzgerald. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today is another photo Friday. There were 18 new photos added. With one Division I basketball offer already on the table, Beechcroft's Amani Lyles (click for MaxPreps) also plays court one for their tennis team. To view the new photos, please sign-in and then click Most Recently Added Photos.
Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Wellington; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Kenston; and Hilliard Davidson (H) versus Grove City. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
St. John's Jesuit Defeats Findlay | Dublin Jerome Beats Wellington
The weather did not impact matches as much as expected yesterday. Today will be damper. Some of the more notable matches included: St. John's Jesuit defeated Findlay and Dublin Jerome beat Wellington. There were 24 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 8, Northeast -1, and Northwest - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Sidney defeated Lehman Catholic; Mason-B beat Lakota West; Olentangy Liberty defeated Olentangy; Perrysburg beat Ottawa Hills; Grove City defeated Hilliard Darby; and Olentangy Berlin beat Watkins Memorial. 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 |
Among the top players, New Albany's Ryan Mudre defeated Olentangy Orange's Parth Patel; Wellington's Griffin Biernat beat Dublin Jerome's Eli Wiblin; Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati defeated Covington Catholic's Jackson Poulos; Findlay's Max Hosey beat St. Johns Jesuit's Aiden Williams; and Perrysburg's Mason Deal defeated Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There are three new additions to the Watch List. They are Avon's Logan DeHaven, Bryan's Jay Fortner, and Highland's Elijah Hadler. There were several players moved from the Watch List to the Top Player List.
Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long. They are led by Will Owen and Kunal Panwar.
Yesterday's update mess was caused by a bad cell in Excel. OTZ uses really large spreadsheets to run the numbers associated with the web site. I evidently inadvertently overwrote a formula with a text field in a spreadsheet that contains over 850K active cells. Whoops. It could have happened recently or years ago. My error prevented me from recognizing Bryan's Jay Fortner win over Ottawa Hills' Matthew McGee yesterday.
OTZ goes on the road today to the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Classic Tournament's Flight A group at St. Xavier. Obviously the weather does not look good now, but last Saturday's weather was also expected to be a rainout and it was not. Today's dual matches include: Avon (H) versus Mayfield; Centerville (H) versus Miami Valley School; Bexley (H) versus Wellington; Massillon Jackson (H) versus University School; and Olentangy (A) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
University School Defeated Orange
In the biggest match last night, #4 University School defeated #2 (D2) Orange. Overall, there were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play, but there were a ton of catch-up matches. The breakdown by District was: Central - 17, Southwest - 10, Northeast - 3, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Ottawa Hills defeated Bryan; Lehman Catholic beat Trotwood-Madison; Olentangy Orange defeated Olentangy Liberty; Gahanna beat Pickerington North; Chagrin Falls defeated Hawken; and Greenville beat Sidney. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Ready - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Bishop Ready. They are coached by Dan Skuce. They are led by Adam Bennett and Phillip Ryan.
Everything that could go wrong in today's update -- did. These scores from individuals are getting waaay too time consuming to process. Time to talk with your AD's about getting your coach onboard on OhioTennisZone, especially for next year. You are paying taxes and/or additional fees, and that makes you the customer.. So.. Be the customer.. (And yes, there is still clean-up work that needs to be done, but the update had to be pushed forward..)
Today's matches include: Findlay (H) versus St John's Jesuit; Lexington (A) versus Walsh Jesuit; Ottawa Hills (H) versus Perrysburg; and Dublin Coffman (A) versus Pickerington North. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
OTZ Team Rankings Updated | Indian Hill Defeats Seven Hills | St. X Beats Anderson
There were good regular season and State Team Tournament matches recorded from yesterday's play. In the battle between the hill people, #1 Indian Hill defeated #3 Seven Hills. In the State Team Tournament, #10 Walsh Jesuit defeated Kenston and #3 St. Xavier beat Anderson. There were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 14, Central - 13, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Copley defeated Aurora; Mason-B beat Cincinnati Country Day; Pickerington North defeated Lancaster; Archbishop Alter beat Butler; and Columbus Academy defeated Upper Arlington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
OhioTennisZone.com |
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| Division I | Division II |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 2. Sycamore◄TEAM | Orange◄TEAM |
| 3. St. Xavier◄TEAM | Seven Hills◄TEAM |
| 4. University◄TEAM | Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 5. New Albany | Wellington◄TEAM |
| 6. Springboro◄TEAM | Cincinnati Country Day◄TEAM |
| 7. Dublin Jerome◄TEAM | Chagrin Falls |
| 8. Solon◄TEAM | Bexley◄TEAM |
| 9. Findlay◄TEAM | Lexington◄TEAM |
| 10. Walsh Jesuit | Oakwood◄TEAM |
| HM: Olentangy◄TEAM | Ursuline◄TEAM |
| HM: St. Ignatius | Ottawa Hills |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. |
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Among the top players, St. Xavier's Charlie Temming defeated Anderson's Payson Scott; Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati beat Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan; Dublin Jerome's Eli Wiblin defeated Dublin Scioto's Luis Ramirez-Marquez; Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller beat Kenston's Max McNeal; Copley's Akisa Kayashima defeated Aurora's Vincent Cannata; and Watterson's Nick Geelan beat Delaware Hayes' Gabe Fogle. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There are new OTZ State Team Rankings this morning. Mason and Indian Hill held onto the top spots in Division I and Division II, respectively. Outside of the top positions, there were significant changes since the pre-season rankings were released at the end February. In Division I, Sycamore was the biggest "up" mover after getting wins over Indian Hill and St. Xavier. Bexley was the biggest mover in Division II after they earned wins over Columbus Academy and Lexington. Note that this is not a poll. It was largely created using the OTZ Matrix Report with consideration given to players who may have been missing from line-ups. With the Sectional Draws this week, it was important to refresh these rankings.Today's matches include: University School (H) versus Orange; Sycamore (A) versus Oak Hills; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Walsh Jesuit; and Indian Hill (A) versus Wyoming. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Sectional Draw Week
Every week is a sprint during the boys season, but this week is a faster sprint. This is the week of the all-important Sectional Draw. To best represent their players, coaches need to make sure that all of their results are online. This is important from a team perspective as well as for individual player seeding.
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Season-to-Date Report - Click to enlarge |
This is also the week of the best tournament in the state, the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches' Association Classic Tournament. What makes this tournament great is that the coaches meet to place similar skilled teams into flights. This helps insure that matches will be competitive. It is also huge. This year's tournament includes 44 teams. Because of the difficulty in securing sites for the tournament, they are having 11 different flights of four teams each this year. OTZ plans to attend the Flight A group competition which will be held at St. Xavier. Those teams include: Mason, Springboro, St. Xavier, and Sycamore.
More players were added to the OTZ Watch List. They include (alpha sort): St. Ignatius' Nathaniel Day, St. Xavier's Drew Evans, Findlay's Max Hosey, University School's Dean Kirchick, Columbus Academy's Jack Madison, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers, Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller, and Solon's Niko Romanov. More players will be added this week. There were also players added to Top Players List. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The OTZ Pre-Season Team Rankings will be updated in tomorrow's update.
One of the most valuable OTZ reports is the Season-to-Date report. This report is commonly used to gather the stats for players prior to the end-of-year awards party/gathering, but it is also perfect for the Sectional Draw. It provides all of the player information for the coach to more easily make his/her case for seeding players.
Today's matches include: Solon (A) versus St. Ignatius; Columbus Academy (H) versus Upper Arlington; Dublin Scioto (H) versus Dublin Jerome; St. Xavier (A) versus Anderson; and Indian Hill (A) versus Seven Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
University Beats U and N A | Coffman Wins the Lex Invite
Yesterday's rain was not as bad as expected with numerous dual matches and the Lexington Invite played to completion. Among the top teams, University School defeated New Albany and Upper Arlington; Columbus Academy beat St. John's Jesuit; and Indian Hill defeated Oakwood.
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Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller - Click to enlarge |
Dublin Coffman won the Lex Invite and Walsh Jesuit finished second. Centerville's Will Owen won first singles and Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller and Ben Cors won first dubs. Other teams participating included: Centerville, Findlay, Kenston, Lexington, and Massillon Jackson. This tournament is an OTZ favorite thanks to its friendly atmosphere, the wide mix of teams from throughout the state, and its mix of singles and doubles play. (The 2021 team photos of each of these teams will be posted today.) Not to claim absolutely all of the credit for Coffman's win, but they were the OTZ featured yesterday..
To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, New Albany's Ryan Mudre defeated University School's Nathan Mu; St. John's Jesuit's Aiden Williams beat Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman; New Albany’s Devin Boyer defeated University School's Cole Kirchick; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger beat Oakwood's Noah Boyce; and University School's Dean Kirchick defeated Upper Arlington's Ethan Samora. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Watch for new OTZ player rankings tomorrow.
SATURDAY,
University School Beats Solon | Dublin Jerome Defeats Walsh Jesuit
Many of the top teams are gathering today to compete. Matches among the top teams yesterday included: University School defeated Solon; Dublin Jerome beat Walsh Jesuit; and Lexington defeated Centerville. There were 16 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 5, Southwest - 8, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Columbus Academy defeated Walsh Jesuit; Whetstone beat DeSales; Cincinnati Country Day defeated Lakota East; Ottawa Hills beat Sylvania Southview; and Wellington defeated Olentangy Liberty. To view all of the 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 OTZ Team Members. They are led by William Sun, Anton Bakunin, and Fedor Bakunin.
OTZ goes north to the Lexington Invite today. The goal is to leave by 7am and it is going to be close to that.. In dual matches, it is Columbus Academy (H) versus St John's Jesuit. Sycamore, University School, Upper Arlington, and New Albany are competing in dual matches. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
OTZ Photo Friday | Mason Beats Sycamore | University Defeats Jackson
The weather was iffy yesterday, but a few important matches still took place. Among the top teams, Mason defeated Sycamore; University School beat Massillon Jackson; Dublin Jerome defeated Olentangy; and Seven Hills beat Cincinnati Country Day. While there were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play yesterday, there were 48 matches entered as coaches who recently joined OTZ caught up with older matches. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 13, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Dayton Christian defeated Miami Valley School; Chaminade-Julienne beat Carroll; and Highland defeated Copley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Davidson's Hayes Houseworth - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni defeated Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers; University School's Ben Martin beat Massillon Jackson's Denil Joseph; Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas defeated Olentangy's Sam Routzahn; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan beat Cincinnati Country Day's Sai Nalagatla; Gahanna's Brandon Carpico defeated Grove City's Abraham Hougland; Bryan's Jay Fortner beat Shawnee's Gabe Burke; and Upper Arlington's Ethan Samora defeated Dublin Coffman's William Sun.Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There were quite a few Ohio State match photos included in today's OTZ Photo Friday. Because I am in a good mood, these OSU photos are "open" so that they can be viewed by non-members as well. There were 24 photos added today. Click to view at Most Recently Added Photos.Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Lexington; Columbus Academy (H) versus Walsh Jesuit; Loveland (A) versus Indian Hill; and University School (H) versus Solon. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Bexley Beats Dublin Coffman | Columbus Academy Defeats Olentangy Orange
The snow and cold temperatures forced cancellations throughout the state but there were still a few hardy schools that played (but it is not known how many played indoors). The matches reported included: Bexley defeated Dublin Coffman; Columbus Academy beat Olentangy Orange; Lancaster defeated Chillicothe; and Sycamore beat Lebanon (State Team Tournament match). To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Orange - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Orange. They are coached by Rich Bole. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Ben Pomeranets, Chika Nwaozuzu, and Krish Mehra.
The new OTZ keyboard allows me to type extremely fast, but very inacccurratetly. Couple that with the Microsoft's Sticky Notes list app that had become the go-to place (and brain extension) for recording everything that needed to be done and that had already been done at OTZ. While it is unclear exactly what happened, everything is gone on the Sticky Notes to-do list. It is suspected that a cntrl-A (select all) and then random characters were typed. Rather than coolly enter an "un-do", I clicked the upper-right-hand "X" which closed Sticky Notes so that it could be restarted. This was a super bad move. Sticky Notes treats the "X" as a "file save" and an "exit" with one simple mouse click. It did not support the "un-do" function after its re-opening. Despite using a wide assortment of words directed at the computer/software, this exhaustive list was gone forever. Sticky Notes are also not stored in a typical file so an older version is not on a backup. As always, if there is something that you think should have been done, but is not, please Feedback OTZ. I may also start wearing boxing gloves when I type to see if that helps improve my accuracy..
Also note that it very helpful for readers to include their phone numbers with the Feedback. If I think I can address the issue faster with a phone call, I will call.
Today's matches include: Sycamore (H) versus Mason;Centerville (H) versus Springboro; Watterson (A) versus St. Charles; and Loveland (A) versus Anderson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Weather Smacks Ohio HS Tennis | University School Beats St. Ignatius | New Albany Defeats Columbus Academy
Is there a snow setting on court rollers? There should be on the Ohio models.. Columbus received about two inches of snow. The photo was taken at the Whetstone Park of Roses this morning.
In matches involving the top schools, University School defeated St. Ignatius and New Albany beat Columbus Academy. Overall, there were 36 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 18, Central - 15, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Orange defeated Upper Arlington; Westerville North beat Big Walnut; Reynoldsburg beat Lancaster; Bloom-Carroll defeated Teays Valley; and Bellefontaine beat Urbana. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Whetstone Park of Roses This AM - Click to enlarge |
Today's highly questionable matches include: St. Xavier (A) versus Mason; Columbus Academy (A) versus Olentangy Orange; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Centerville; and Findlay (H) versus St John's Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Springboro Beats Oakwood | St. Xavier Defeats Oak Hills
It was nice day yesterday and high school tennis gets another nice day today before the snowblowers get to have some fun again. Noteworthy matches included: Springboro defeated Oakwood and St. Xavier beat Oak Hills in the State Team Tournament.
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Hilliard Davidson - Click to team page |
Dublin Jerome won the Uh-Oh SpaghettiO Bowl against Dublin Coffman yesterday. This event is so named for Dublin's prolific use of traffic circles to get to their other traffic circles. Now that Dublin has decreased the number accidents from an astronomical level to a really large level, they are working on exciting new concepts.
There were 41 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 16, Southwest - 20, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Mifflin defeated Beechcroft; Urbana beat Kenton Ridge; Kettering Fairmont defeated Archbishop Alter; Mariemont beat Elder; Anderson defeated Moeller; Delaware Hayes beat Marysville; Olentangy defeated Wellington; and Pickerington North beat Dublin Scioto. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, St. Charles' Reece Yakubov defeated Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman; Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky beat Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller; Springboro's Sainandan Dore defeated Oakwood's Noah Boyce; Wellington's Griffin Biernat beat Olentangy's Sam Routzahn; Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas defeated Dublin Coffman's William Sun; Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers beat Lakota East's Vass; Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati defeated Beavercreek's Xie; Bexley's Stefan Schiff beat Reynoldsburg's Jaden Coley; and Olentangy Orange's Parth Patel defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Owen Alderman. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Hilliard Davidson. They are coached by Shannon Murlin. They are Team Members. They are led by Hayes Houseworth, Matthew Crawford, and Dylan Murlin.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus New Albany; Orange (A) versus Walsh Jesuit; and University School (H) versus St. Ignatius. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Ohio State Men Win Share of Big Ten East Title
Well. That was an exciting Ohio State tennis match. OSU eked out a 4-3 win over the team up north in yesterday's three and a half hour match. It seemed like OSU was always about to lose until they won. TUN had won the previous contest between the two schools.
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OSU's J.J. Tracy - Click to enlarge |
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Let the Celebration Begin. Carefully. - Click to enlarge |
OSU's JJ Tracy clinched the win in the third set on court 5. He was fighting off cramps for roughly the last four games. It appeared that he was close to going into "full body cramp mode" before the end as he struggled to keep his arms, hands, and legs loose. The celebration photo shows how he was guarded as the other players came to celebrate.
Congratulations to Ohio State on this huge win.
While no high school matches were played yesterday, there were still older matches recorded. To view results from previous days, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Note that it is possible to select other dates at the top of the report.
Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws. There have been no major surprises so far.
Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (A) versus Dublin Jerome; Columbus Academy (A) versus St. Charles; Orange (A) versus Hawken; Oakwood (A) versus Springboro; and Olentangy (H) versus Wellington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
Dublin Coffman is having their annual tournament again for the girls and for younger, non-high school boys. It was canceled last year due to COVID-19. Click for more information.
SUNDAY,
St. X, Mason, Bexley, and Olentangy Liberty Win Big Matches
Yesterday was a nice day for dual matches. St. Xavier came into Columbus and defeated Upper Arlington and New Albany. Mason also made the trip north and defeated Dublin Jerome and New Albany. Other noteworthy matches of the state's top teams included: Olentangy Liberty defeated Massillon Jackson and Bexley beat Lexington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
In tournament play, Olentangy Berlin won the Reynoldsburg Doubles Tournament and Watkins Memorial finished second.
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Big Ten Champions - Click to enlarge |
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OSU's Lisa Hofbauer - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Mason's Vignesh Gogineni defeated Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas; St. Xavier's Charlie Temming beat Upper Arlington's Ethan Samora; Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula defeated Massillon Jackson's Alvin Altman; Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller beat Mayfield's Yukun Wang; and Bexley's Stefan Schiff defeated Lexington's Tommy Secrist. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Sports scores are the lifeblood of any high school sport. Without scores, there is no media coverage and without media coverage, interest in that sport declines. There are obviously a large number of benefits to sports, but player recognition is an extremely big part. The kids, and especially the parents, want to see this recognition. Every sports score that is posted is an advertisement for that sport and an advertisement for that school. Coaches who do not like to report scores are going to discover that interest will wane for their programs. Quickly.
Most of the scores on OhioTennisZone are sourced via the OTZ score reporting tool. If a coach is not an OTZ member, the opposing coach normally is. The OTZ reporting tool is the easiest and most accurate way for scores to be acquired for the OTZ web site.
Unfortunately the Columbus Dispatch has gone from the best in high school sports coverage to almost being irrelevant. Since the Dispatch is printed in Indianapolis, they have a ridiculously early cutoff time (~4pm) so scores are reported a day late. They also no longer report box scores (which are the individual player results). Sadly, the spiral decline is underway for them => less scores reported by coaches => less scores shown in the newspaper => even less scores reported by coaches.
The Cincinnati Enquirer still does a solid job with its scores and so does a Miami Valley coaches web site.
It is always possible to "catch-up" with scores for OTZ Coach Members. Just enter older scores online. Individual "Parent / Player" members may also provide scores as long as they provide the results in the correct, OTZ format.
While yesterday would have normally been spent on high school courts, attention was briefly diverted to the Ohio State Women's team. OSU wrapped up the season with a share of the Big Ten Championship. There were no photos of the OSU women last year due to COVID-19. The OSU men play UM today for a share of the Big Ten title. Fan attendance is still restricted.
Two central Ohio players included in the team photo are Olentangy's Kathleen Jones (upper left) and Olentangy Liberty's Maddie Atway (lower right).
SATURDAY,
St. Xavier Beat Columbus Academy | Solon Defeated Massillon Jackson
The weather suddenly brightened at the end of the day and it turned out great for matches. Among the state's top teams, St. Xavier defeated Columbus Academy; Solon beat Massillon Jackson; and St. Charles defeated Olentangy Liberty. There were 26 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 16, Central - 7, 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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MSU's Williams |
OSU's McNally |
Among the top players, St. Charles' Reece Yakubov defeated Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula; St. Xavier's Charlie Temming beat Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman; Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller defeated Westlake's Rahul Jain; Solon's Niko Romanov beat Massillon Jackson's Alvin Altman; Bryan's Jay Fortner defeated Toledo Central Catholic's Bishop; and St. Xavier's Drew Evans beat Columbus Academy's Jack Madison. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Conditions were great for action photos yesterday at Ohio State. Two Ohio players are featured today. Seven Hills' Nick Williams plays for Michigan State University. Williams won D2 States singles in 2017 on a miserably hot day. John McNally is from the Cincinnati suburb of Madeira, and he did not compete in high school tennis. They played against each other on court 1 with McNally winning, 6-3, 6-3. McNally's sister, Caty, also hits the tennis ball pretty well.. She is currently ranked 110 in the world. Click on the photos above to enlarge them.
Today's matches include: St. Xavier (A) versus New Albany; Bexley (A) versus Lexington; and Massillon Jackson (A) versus Upper Arlington and Olentangy Liberty. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Indian Hill Defeated CCD | St. Charles Beat Pickerington North | Photo Friday
Chilly and windy weather did not slow down the number of matches played yesterday, but it was uncomfortable for fans and photographers. There were 39 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 20, Central - 18, and Northwest - 1. Among the state's best teams, Indian Hill defeated Cincinnati Country Day and St. Charles beat Pickerington North. The close, 3-2 matches included: Ottawa-Glandorf defeated Bryan; Monroe beat Brookville; Big Walnut defeated Worthington Kilbourne; Olentangy Orange beat Dublin Coffman; Whitehall defeated Beechcroft; Ready beat West Jefferson; Anderson defeated Kings; and Hilliard Bradley beat Hilliard Davidson. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Wellington's Griffin Biernat - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, St. Charles' Reece Yakubov defeated Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu; Mason's Vignesh Gogineni beat Lakota East's Andrew Vass; Indian Hill's Tejas Pisati defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Max Berghausen; Kings’ Josh Lee beat Anderson’s Payson Scott; Oakwood's Noah Boyce defeated Chaminade-Julienne's Sam Zelinski; and Olentangy's Trevor Gerald beat Thomas Worthington's Will Newberry. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
It is another OTZ Photo Friday. There were 15 photos added. Click to view the Most Recently Added Photos. Dense clouds kept the OTZ camera in its bag for a couple of days this week. I am looking forward to getting back into the Ohio State facility today for photos. OSU plays Michigan State.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus St. Xavier; Indian Hill (H) versus Mason; Olentangy Liberty (A) versus St. Charles; and Solon (H) versus Massillon Jackson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
CA > Wellington | ITA Obliterates Common Sense | Solon > Shaker Heights | Findlay > Perrysburg
The plan was to start with, "it was another big night for high school tennis", but that has already been done too many times.. There were 29 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 12, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. In some of the more noteworthy contests, Columbus Academy defeated Wellington; Solon beat Shaker Heights; Findlay defeated Perrysburg. (The Findlay match was clinched on second singles with a three set match.) The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Orange defeated St. Charles; Worthington Kilbourne beat Grove City; Harrison defeated Colerain; Walnut Hills beat Lakota East; Big Walnut defeated Newark; Bexley beat Watterson; and Beavercreek defeated Miami Valley School. 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 Niko Romanov, Eric Liao, and Scott Zhao.
Computers are our friends - until they aren't. A great example of this is happening right now with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. One of the best players in the country is Ohio State's Cannon Kingsley. He started the season ranked #5 in college tennis and he is 23-0 this year. He is now listed as #117. (See.) A computer hasn't gone this bad since HAL and Skynet. Algorithms can be very helpful but sometimes you have to step back from them and see if they really make sense. This is why humans are still handy to have around. (Yay us!) The big question is "Why didn't the ITA intervene and fix the algorithm or not publish the rankings?" There is a second question to consider here as well..
Today's matches include: Avon (H) versus St. Ignatius; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Upper Arlington; Solon (H) versus Kenston; and Cincinnati Country Day (A) versus Indian Hill. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Bexley Beats Columbus Academy | Solon Defeated Chagrin Falls
Last night was the biggest tennis night of the season. There were also big matches with Bexley defeating Columbus Academy and Solon beating Chagrin Falls. There were 41 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 22, Central - 14, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hilliard Darby defeated Marysville (included three, 3-setters and clinched on court 1); Fairborn beat Stebbins; Solon defeated Chagrin Falls; Eaton beat Monroe; Chaminade-Julienne defeated Dayton Christian; Mariemont beat Wyoming; and Carroll defeated Fenwick. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Olentangy. They are coached by Jeff Luxenburger. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Sam Routzahn, Roshan Sriram, and Trevor Gerald.
The OTZ fingers have been glued to the keyboard this spring to get the OTZ Player Profiles setup for all Team and Individual (Parent/Player) members as quickly as possible. Coaches who have not updated their rosters need to do that first (and now). Also needed are high-resolution (> 1MB) team photos. The individual photos will be retrieved from that image.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Wellington; Chagrin Falls (H) versus University School; Cincinnati Country Day (A) versus Sycamore; Oakwood (A) versus Seven Hills; and Orange (A) versus St. Ignatius. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Sycamore Beats St. Xavier | Wellington Defeats Upper Arlington
In the "You just messed up my rankings" match of the day, OTZ #4 Sycamore defeated OTZ #2 St. Xavier. In other big matches, Wellington defeated Upper Arlington and Olentangy beat Columbus Academy. There were 30 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 18, Central - 11, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Bryan defeated Maumee; Franklin Heights beat Whitehall; Oak Hills defeated Lakota West; Hamilton beat Middletown; Beechcroft defeated Northland; Lehman Catholic beat Sidney; Summit Country Day defeated Wyoming; and Reynoldsburg beat Hilliard Davidson. 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 OTZ Team Members. They are led by Nicholas Meyers, Mark Karev, and Nicholas Choo.
Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Columbus Academy; Solon (H) versus Chagrin Falls; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Dublin Coffman; and Centerville (A) versus Beavercreek. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
The Launch of PickleballZone.com | Players Added to Watch List
"Resistance is futile." The Borg.
Everyone is here for tennis at this web site but not everyone can play tennis anymore. In fact, some may not have even have the racquet skills to have fun with tennis. Pickleball is here to help. It is also the universe's fastest growing sport because it is a great way to have fun while staying fit.
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Mrs. OTZ is about to whack a pickleball upside my head - Click to enlarge |
Central Ohio has a great tradition for skill-based, adult summer tennis leagues (GCTA.net) and a growing tradition for platform tennis in the winter. Thanks to its expertise in both tennis with OhioTennisZone and with PlatformTennisZone, Gerber Analytics, LLC is launching a new service, called PickleballZone.com, that is devoted to skill-based, pickeball leagues.
Yes, OhioTennisZone will continue to be the biggest supporter of high school tennis in Ohio (and likely the biggest advocate of high school tennis in the nation). OTZ will also likely remain at the top of any Google search when a user types in "Ohio Tennis". But, it is time to try something new.
The league will be rolling out this summer in Central Ohio, and if you play pickleball, you can play. The rollout will be measured, and most of the early efforts are being focused on country clubs since they have control over their courts.
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The new logo - Click to PickleballZone.com |
The neat thing about pickleball is that new players can have fun very quickly, but there are still skills that need to be learned and honed to become a great player. Tennis players should pick it up more quickly than non-players, but they have to understand the nuances. (Look for the pickleball videos on PBZ.) Initially, there will be two skill levels in the league: Advanced Beginners and Intermediate / Intermediate +.
A major reason for offering this web site is that it is tough to say goodbye to all of the friendly tennis parents when their players graduate from high school. Now that does not have to happen. These parents can get involved with this league.
The good news for OTZ, PTZ, and now PBZ (PickleballZone.com) is all of these sites benefit as new code is developed. That is because code created for one site can often be shared with the others. PickleballZone is most similar to PlatformTennisZone, but the captain capabilities will resemble the coach capabilities on OhioTennisZone.
How much to participate? The price is a super low, $25 per season per player. No, not $25 per match - $25 for an entire season. It gets even better. For those who sign up as a couple, the price becomes $20 per player. Note that country clubs and other sites will likely charge additional fees for their overhead costs and other services. (Also note that this is not a mixed league and your spouse may be playing on a different team.)
The league begins on June 6 and it will run until August 1. Playoffs for the top teams will take place on August 8. Matches will take place on Sunday afternoons - primarily beginning at 1pm.
Interested in playing or creating a team? Those associated with a country club should contact their general manager. (The general manager will be thrilled with the potential to make more money for the club with clinics, lessons, and food sales.). Please also contact OhioTennisZone via email or Feedback to follow-up with these club managers. Those not with clubs should contact OTZ directly.
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In Ohio high school tennis news... There were five players added to the OTZ Watchlist. (This is where all of the new players begin.) Several of these players would have been added to this list last year if there had been a season. Many teams have not played matches so that held other players back. The new players are Gahanna's Brandon Carpico, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, Centerville's Will Owen, Orange's Ben Pomeranets, Lakota West's Anthony Shalakov, and Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu. Click on their links for more information. Also a reminder.. This is not a sprint (while wearing two COVID-19 masks), but more of a mask-free 5K. The goal is to be on one of these lists prior to the Sectional draws (on May 2). Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: St. Xavier (H) versus Sycamore; Columbus Academy (H) versus Olentangy; and Watterson (A) versus Worthington Christian. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
US, Big Walnut, CA, and Sycamore Earn Wins
The threatening weather held off for much of Ohio yesterday to allow some matches and tournaments to take place. At the Solon Quad Match, University School finished first followed by: Orange, Dublin Jerome, and Solon. At the Watkins Memorial Doubles Tournament, Big Walnut was the champion followed by Watkins Memorial, Reynoldsburg, and Newark
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Reynoldsburg's Jaden Coley - Click to enlarge |
There were five matches recorded from state-wide play that included matches from each district. Columbus Academy recorded two wins, defeating both Massillon Jackson and Lexington. Sycamore also defeated St. John's Jesuit. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, University School's Ben Martin defeated Dublin Jerome's Max Fickas and Orange's Ben Pomeranets; St. John’s Jesuit's Aiden Williams beat Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers; Massillon Jackson’s Alvin Altman defeated Columbus Academy's Arie Tuckerman; and Columbus Academy's Jack Madison beat Lexington's Tommy Secrist. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's photo is of Reynoldsburg's Jaden Coley at the Watkins Memorial Doubles Tournament that was held at Reynoldsburg.
SATURDAY,
7Hills Beat Anderson | University School Defeated Shaker Heights
Rain impacted some matches but there were still several good contests last night. University School played their first match of the season and they defeated Shaker Heights. Seven Hillsdefeated previously unbeaten Anderson. There were 14 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 7, Central - 5, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Westerville South defeated Big Walnut; Wyoming beat Valley View; Greenville defeated Chaminade-Julienne; and Monroe beat Blanchester. 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 Gary Hibinger. They are led by Ryder Kardas and Gabe Fogle.
Last night, Hawken captain, Jarod Crider, and I met via Zoom to review the OTZ score reporting system. Widespread use of Zoom has been a big bonus of these COVID-19 times. Being able to share what is happening on my computer screen on a real-time basis has been a terrific learning tool. I am happy to offer these sessions to get coaches (or other score reporting people) up to speed quickly. Just contact me via email or Feedback.
Several teams are traveling today for good matches. They include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Lexington and Massillon Jackson; Indian Hill (H) versus St. Xavier-Louisville; Sycamore (H) versus St John's Jesuit; and University School (A) versus Dublin Jerome. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
OTZ Photo Friday
It is a Photo Friday and a rain diminished day for tennis results. There were just three results reported. Anderson defeated Summit Country Day; Valley View beat Monroe; and Mason defeated Oak Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
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Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Mason's Atharva Rao defeated Oak Hills' Max Doerger. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. These lists will be updated this weekend.
There were 20 new photos added to the Most Recently Added Photos page. (Please sign-in first.) All of these photos (plus others) are available for purchase. These photos are only for viewing on OhioTennisZone. Only photos that are purchased can be used elsewhere (on Twitter, Instagram, school web sites, etc.). It takes a huge amount of time to travel to sites, take photos, and process them. For more information about buying an OTZ photo, click on Buy a Tennis Photo.
While there are not yet ten photos included, the OTZ Top Ten Photos area was updated to include six photos. This page is available for all to view.
Today's matches include: Indian Hill (A) versus Mason; Seven Hills (A) versus Anderson; Solon (A) versus Gilmour Academy; University School (A) versus Shaker Heights; and Bexley (A) versus St. Charles. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
New Albany Beats Bexley | UA Defeats CA
Ok. It is time for some rain so I can catch-up.. There were 34 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 17, Central - 15, and Northeast - 2. There were several good matches that included the state's better teams. In those matches, New Albany defeated Bexley; Upper Arlington beat Columbus Academy; and Olentangy Liberty defeated Pickerington North.
The close, 3-2 matches included: Copley defeated Wooster; Westerville South beat Marysville; Delaware Hayes defeated Buckeye Valley; Talawanda beat Harrison; and Lehman Catholic defeated Elida. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Bloom-Carroll - Click to team page |
Among the top players, St. Charles' Reece Yakubov defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Owen Alderman; Mason's Vignesh Gogineni beat Centerville's Will Owen; Olentangy Liberty's Vishnu Bodavula defeated Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu; New Albany's Devin Boyer beat Bexley's Stefan Schiff; Olentangy's Sam Routzahn defeated Dublin Coffman's William Sun; New Albany's Ryan Mudre beat Bexley's Will Meyer; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Loveland's Ethan Libby; and Upper Arlington’s Ethan Samora beat Columbus Academy's Jack Madison. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
With the Columbus Dispatch no longer providing boxscore summaries, Central District coaches need to submit their results via OhioTennisZone.com if they wish to recognize their players. If the "home" coach (or whoever is responsible for submitting scores) is not an OTZ member, the visiting coach can still submit the result to OTZ. Tennis players like to be recognized just as much as other school athletes so please get these scores into OTZ.
Today's featured team is Bloom-Carroll. They are coached by Rick Rowland. They are led by Lawson Miller and Aiden Kovacs. There have been quite a few Central District teams that have been featured. That is partly because it is much easier for OTZ to get to these matches to take photos. Any coach can provide their team photo so that his/her team can be recognized. Please email a *high-resolution* image to OTZ. Please refer to the instructions below on how to email a *high-resolution* photo. The key words here are *high resolution*, not the default thumbnail image. Click for Team Photos.
Today's matches include: Findlay (H) versus St John's Jesuit; Columbus Academy (A) versus Dublin Jerome; Solon (A) versus Westlake; and Sycamore (H) versus Lakota East. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Oakwood Beat Centerville | East > West | North > South
More perfect weather led to more matches. There were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 18, Central - 11, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. There were two community-related match-ups yesterday with Lakota East beating Lakota West and Pickerington North defeating Pickerington Central. In another big match, Oakwood defeated Centerville. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Delaware Hayes; Grove City beat Marysville; Hartley defeated Ready; and Wilmington beat New Richmond. 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 Evan Fisher, Grant Mudre, and Andrew Grubb.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Upper Arlington; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Pickerington North; Seven Hills (H) versus Loveland; and Avon (H) versus Berea. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Sycamore Beats Indian Hill | Seven Hills Defeats CCD
It was a big night for tennis with several OTZ Top 10 teams competing. They included Sycamore defeated Indian Hill and Seven Hills beat Cincinnati Country Day. Overall, there were 25 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 15, Central - 9, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Loveland defeated Centerville; Wellington beat St. Charles; Little Miami defeated Wilmington; and Anderson beat Walnut Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Bexley - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Bexley. They are coached by Will Gingery. They are Team Members. They are led by Stefan Schiff and Will Meyer. Bexley is a Division II team located in the Central District.
Today's matches include: Solon (A) versus Orange; Centerville (H) versus Oakwood; and Findlay (A) versus Lima Senior. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Ready for a Full Week of Matches
Most teams have yet to play a match but this will change this week. All of the top teams have matches. Ohio also catches a break with the weather with warm temperatures and hopefully three or four dry days this week.
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Columbus Academy - Click to team page |
Many coaches have yet to enter their schedules online, but click on List of Upcoming Matches to see the list for many.
For those who have not yet checked out results this season, click on Previous Day's Match Results and select the dates near the top of the page.
There have been no changes among the OTZ Top Players list, but a few will likely be added to the Watch List this week. (The Watch List is the starting point for the top players.) Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
OTZ is rapidly setting up Player Profiles for those with Team Memberships and for those with individual memberships. Many coaches have yet to enter their rosters so that is slowing down this process.
Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Marc Wurtzman. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Arie Tuckerman, Jack Madison, and Ryan Panley.
SUNDAY,
Lancaster Beats Marysville in State Team Tournament
Happy Easter. There were just two matches recorded from state-wide play yesterday. Matches will begin in earnest this coming week. Yesterday's matches include: Lancaster defeated Marysville and Bryan beat Van Wert. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Avon - Click to team page |
The Lancaster match was also at State Team Tournament match. Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draw.
On court one yesterday for their respective matches, Lancaster's Jonah Hoffman-Weitsman defeated Marysville's Sean Richardson and Bryan's Jay Fortner beat Van Wert's Jace Fast. 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. Coach Korey is an OTZ Coach Member. They are led by Logan DeHaven and Luke LeMaster.
To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SATURDAY,
Seven Hills Defeated Milton-Union in State Team Tournament
In observance of Good Friday, there were just five matches recorded from yesterday's play. All of the matches were held in the Southwest District. Seven Hills defeated Milton-Union in the State Team Tournament. The close, 3-2 matches included: Urbana defeated Piqua and Valley View-B beat Stebbins. 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. The draws have been updated to reflect the 7Hills match.
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Grandview's Kieren Bode - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Seven Hill's Avi Mahajan defeated Milton-Union's Joel Benkert. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The photo is of Grandview's Kieren Bode in his match on Wednesday against Bloom-Carroll's Aiden Kovacs.
There is just one match on the schedule for today. Marysville (A) plays Lancaster.
FRIDAY,
Cold Weather Hampers Play | Lakota East Beats Oak Hills
It was chilly day yesterday and numerous matches were canceled or postponed. Just two matches were recorded - Lakota East defeated Oak Hills and Anderson beat Lebanon. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy Berlin - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Olentangy Berlin. They are coached by Richard Hunt. They are Team Members. They are led by Joshua McKnight and Akhil Damarla.
Today and tomorrow would be great days for coaches to get their rosters and schedules entered online on OTZ. For those coaches who want an overview of OhioTennisZone, please submit a Feedback. I will be around most of the day today and tomorrow to offer Zoom sessions.
To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Are Masks Leading to a New Form of Deception?
It was just a matter of time.. "People wear masks to rob banks and we are apparently going to see the same thing happen in high school tennis," exclaimed a Westerville East fan yesterday during their match against Bloomingburg. A player who was perhaps much older than a high school player competed for Bloomingburg "by turning it on when he needed to" to allow them to win their 3-2 match. The player did not arrive with the other players in the bus but that is not unusual with social distancing in effect. The East assistant coach suspected something was amiss and was overheard saying, "How many kids wear dark glasses on cloudy days and wear a mask while they play?"
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Masked Player - Click to enlarge |
It was reportedly not an act of graciousness when the Westerville East coach offered the masked player a snack and drink after the match, "we wanted to see what he looked like, but the guy grabbed a crazy straw out of his tennis bag and manipulated it so that he would not have to remove his mask." Will we see this player at States? "You can't ask anyone to take their mask off so this so-called freshman may graduate before we know who he is," lamented another player.
Bloomingburg plays Wapacannota next..
There were 15 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 9 and Central - 6. The close, 3-2 matches included: Delaware Hayes defeated River Valley; Lehman Catholic beat Kenton Ridge; Archbishop Alter defeated Valley View; Grandview beat Bloom-Carroll; Upper Arlington defeated Bexley; and Watterson beat Worthington Kilbourne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Worthington Kilbourne's Owen Alderman defeated Watterson's Nick Geelan and Upper Arlington's Ethan Samora beat Bexley's Stefan Schiff. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's matches include: Loveland (A) versus Beavercreek and Seven Hills (A) versus Milton-Union. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Seven Hills Beats CHCA | Wellington Defeats Watterson
It was a tough day for anti-wind players and for players who like to hit big serves. This is probably an exageration [that happens a lot here] but there were likely more double faults than successful first serves at the Coilumbus Academy/Olentangy dubs tournament yesterday. Still though, it was great to watch boys tennis again.
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Olentangy's Sam Routzahn - Click to enlarge |
There were 25 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 15, Central - 9, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Urbana defeated Kenton Ridge; Chaminade-Julienne beat Archbishop Alter; Moeller defeated Elder; and Lancaster beat Zanesville. In other big matches, Seven Hills defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and Wellington beat Watterson. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Walsh Jesuit's Caleb Miller defeated North Canton Hoover's Colin Fitzgerald and Watterson's Nick Geelan beat Wellington's Sanjan Shanker. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.The weather is going to be iffy today, but today's matches include: Avon (H) versus St Edward; Bexley (H) versus Upper Arlington; and Findlay (H) versus Bowling Green. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Sycamore Beats Lakota West
Ohio gets a complete smorgasbord of weather this week. Some teams moved their matches to today to avoid the poor weather expected on Thursday. There were 14 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 9 and Central - 5. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hamilton defeated Monroe and Carroll beat Valley View. 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, Lakota West’s Anthony Shalakov defeated Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers; Watterson's Nick Geelan beat Centennial's Max Wissman; and Sycamore's Mark Karev defeated Lakota West's Nicholas Athans. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
More teams are starting to use the new Order-of-Finish field as they report their scores. This stat provides more insight into the match. The score-reporting system is available to OTZ Coach Members. (I'm not crazy about the OOF abbreviation. I need to work on that..)
Today's matches include: St. Xavier (H) versus LaSalle; Watterson (A) versus Wellington; Copley (H) versus St Edward; and Kenton Ridge (H) versus Urbana. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
First Full Week of Tennis Underway
The boys season is getting off to a slow start due to spring breaks. The number of matches per day will not be up to par until the week of April 12. To view all of the dual match results recorded from Friday and Saturday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Watterson - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Watterson. They are coached by Ryan Schwieterman. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by seniors Nick Geelan, Johnny DiOrio, Adam Pavliga, and Cole Petrilla.
Coaches are starting to get their schedules online. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
St. Xavier > St. Xavier-Louisville > Mason
Not wasting anytime before jumping into competitive matches, St. Xavier and Mason both played St. Xavier-Louisville. St. Xavier (Cincinnati) recorded their first win and Mason was defeated in a tight 3-2 match. The Mason match was the first to utilize the new Order of Finish field revealing that court 4 (or first dubs) was the court that clinched the win for St. Xavier-Louisville. In other matches, Walsh Jesuit defeated St. John's Jesuit and Oak Hills beat Elder. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Average By Court Performance - Click to enlarge |
A new graph was created for last year's boys season but.. The new graph shows the Average By Court Performance throughout the season. Since St. Xavier has played just one match, the two are now the same. It is too early to tell after just one match but St. X's court 3 might be stronger on a relative basis versus the other courts. This new graph is a premium feature for paying members and it is prominently displayed on the new OhioTennisZone Personalized Report.
The update process is still askew. It will get better.. The target time for the data portion of each daily update is 7am and the verbal portion (what you see on this page) is 8am.
SATURDAY,
First Day of Results
And just like that, the season is underway. There were seven matches recorded from state-wide play and the Southwest District contributed six of those matches. The close, 3-2 matches included: Carlisle defeated Chaminade-Julienne and Lakota West beat Bellbrook. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu - Click to enlarge |
The Lakota West versus Bellbrook match was a State Team Tournament match, and this has already been reflected on the OTZ-enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
None of the state's top players were in action. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The most reliable way to insure that your team's score gets online on OhioTennisZone is to use the OTZ score reporting system. Any coaches who would like a Zoom session to get an overview of OTZ can contact OTZ via a Feedback message or via email. I will be around today and hunkered down to clean up the update processes. Taking a year off from the boys season did not contribute to a crisp and effective update this morning..
FRIDAY,
It's Time..
After the boys season was canceled last year, Fred eloquently summarizes the feelings of many today in this brief video. With many already sporting a needle mark, let's hope that the improving conditions continue in that direction.
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Copley - Click to team page |
Most coaches are off to a slower than normal start after the long break from the 2019 boys tennis season. One coach who is not is Copley's Mark Ullman. Coach Ullman promptly provided all of the information neeeded and his team is the first OTZ featured team of the season. Copley is in the Northeast District and they are OTZ Team Members. The upper classmen on the team include Caleb Scott and Josh Hertz.
Just as many teams are expected to do, Copley provided a high resolution cell phone image for their team photo. For advice on taking a good cell phone image, please review this short How-to document first.
The season starts out really slow but it will pick up steam quickly as teams return from spring break. It is uncertain how many results will be posted in tomorrow's update.
TUESDAY,
So Far So Good..
Last year, the first day of practice that I attended was the last day of practice that I attended. This year should be better. The weather certainly could not have been any better yesterday. Conditions were absolutely ideal.
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Watterson's Nick Geelan - Click to enlarge |
Just as he did last year, Watterson's Nick Geelan starts things out in the OTZ photo department. Bishop Watterson returns four of their starters from last season. They are: Nick Geelan, Johnny DiOrio, Adam Pavliga, and Cole Petrilla.
The closest courts to the OTZ headquarters are the Whetstone Park of Roses courts and the Upper Arlington courts. These are (were) the go-to courts when a quick picture is needed. Both Bishop Watterson and Whetstone practice at the Park of Roses.
The Upper Arlington courts are out of commission this spring as UA builds their new high school. UA will spend most of their season on the road except for an occasional match at a neighborhood park. They will have to fight off the pickleballers to use those courts so their odds do not look good..
Remember - those renewing their OTZ memberships do not need to register again. The only thing that you need to do is to pay. Questions? Please click Feedback.
WEDNESDAY,
OTZ Boys State Team Draws Now Available
The OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws are now online. There were no matches played in the State Team Tournament last year. Hopefully this year will be different.
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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 boys teams that enter the tournament varies from year to year. This year, there is a decrease. In fact, this is the lowest number of teams in the last seven years. Hopefully it bounces back after this COVID-19 year. There are 110 teams participating. The number of boys teams by year is: 2015 - 148; 2016 - 128; 2017 - 126; 2018 - 125; 2019 - 119; 2020 - 128, and 2021 - 110. As shown in the graph, Southwest and Northeast have the most participants and Central has the least. Out of the 386 OHSAA boys tennis teams, 28% of the teams are competing in this tournament. Please click on the graph to enlarge it for easier viewing.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY
OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Teams (beta release)
It was far more challenging to identify the OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Teams this year because two new classes will be beginning high school tennis this year -- this year's freshmen and sophomores. As is often the case, there are several top level teams that are clearly in contention for State Team Champion. 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 spring. "Thank you" to all of the coaches who provided feedback on these rankings.
OhioTennisZone.com |
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| Division I | Division II |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 2. St. Xavier◄TEAM | Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 3. New Albany | Orange◄TEAM |
| 4. Sycamore◄TEAM | Wellington◄TEAM |
| 5. University◄TEAM | Seven Hills◄TEAM |
| 6. Springboro◄TEAM | Cincinnati Country Day◄TEAM |
| 7. Dublin Jerome◄TEAM | Chagrin Falls |
| 8. Pickerington North | Lexington◄TEAM |
| 9. Solon◄TEAM | Ursuline◄TEAM |
| 10. Findlay◄TEAM | Ottawa Hills |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. |
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In D1, Mason, St. Xavier, New Albany, and Sycamore will be the teams to beat.
Division I
#1 The defending 2019 State Team champion, Mason, returns with a strong team that includes: Vignesh Gogineni (Yale - 2022 recruit), Anish Gangavaram, Akshay Joshi, and Sam King.
#2 St. Xavier would have been the favorite to win the State Team Tournament last year and they are a strong contender for this year. They return Charlie Temming (State Doubles Champion and Xavier recruit), Vincent Knott (Northern Kentucky recruit), Alex Brandt, Tucker Berry, and Jimmy Gott. They picked up sophomore, 4-star Drew Evans and 2-star Chase Homan. They lost Ronit Hiryur (Dayton) to graduation and Preston Stearns.
#3 New Albany returns Devin Boyer (2018 State Dubs Champion and Cleveland State recruit) and Ryan Mudre. They picked up 2-star Benjamin Bilenko. They lost Alek Jacoby to graduation.
#4 Sycamore returns to the top ten thanks to several strong incoming freshmen. They return Mark Karev and Kevin Dong. They pick up 4-star Nicholas Meyers and Nicholas Choo, both freshmen. They also picked up the last of the Wittenbaum's, Andrew, who is also a freshman.
#5 University School returns Ben Martin, Spencer Krantz, and Nathan Mu. They also pick up two Kirchick's -- Dean (3-star) and Cole (2-star). They lost Chas Norman and Charlie Joranko to graduation.
#6 Springboro's Sai Dore and Temur Nazarov return to the team. They also get Shreyas Kode (2-star), Joshua Satter (2-star), and Jack Siehl (1-star).
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Mason's 2019 Team - Click to enlarge |
#7 Dublin Jerome returns a solid team, including: Max Fickas, Tanish Pairu, and Kevin Liu. Maxwell Stratford is 1-star sophomore. They lost Anish Patel and Christopher Knight to graduation.
#8 Pickerington North returns Cole Alcala and Ben Starrett. They gain 4-star sophomore, Pavan Uppu.
#9 Solon returns Scott Zhao and Eric Liao. They pick up sophomore Nick Romanoff.
#10 Findlay returns Max Hosey and Carson Dale. They lost Drew Swisher to graduation.
Other teams that are on the radar include: St. Ignatius, Olentangy, Upper Arlington, Massillon Jackson and Centerville.
D2 is always tough to determine because many of the teams do not travel outside of their district. Please consider scheduling more out-of-town matches. Columbus remains the perfect place to meet to hold dual matches among Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest District teams. Many of the top players are accustomed to going out-of-state for matches once or twice a month so traveling is not an issue for them. If your soccer, lacrosse, and baseball teams are traveling outside of your outer belt, then tennis can, too.
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Indian Hill's 2018 Team - Click to enlarge |
#1 Indian Hill returns Tejas Pisati, Coleman Warstler, and Jasper Bennett. They lost Anay Gautham to graduation. They pick up several good freshmen including RJ Poffenberger and Jack Pollock (both 3-stars), and Eshaan Gandhi (2-star).
#2 Columbus Academy returns the 2019 State Doubles Finalists, Arie Tuckerman and Jack Madison (Colorado College recruit). They also return Lucas Huang and Ryan Panley. They lost Rhian Seneviratne and Ryan Wahl to graduation.
#3 Orange returns Jake Goldstein, Rohit Kashyap, and Noah Lurie. They gain sophomore Benjamin Pomeranets (5-star), freshman Chika Nwaozuzu (4-star), junior Josh Nwaozuzu (2-star), and freshman Ace Bloom (2-star). They lost Robert Miron to graduation. If these new players come on strong, no one should be surprised to see Orange win it all.
#4 Columbus' Wellington School was the favorite to win in 2020 but they lost key players to graduation including Trevor Ball (Northern Kentucky) and Milan Gonela (Denison). They return Griffin Biernat, Evan Manley, and Brayden Chawla. They also pick up 2-star freshman, Sanjan Shanker.
#5 Seven Hills lost many of their players to graduation including Ajay Gupta, Kevin Wang, and Naail Sajjad, but they always reload. They pick up 3-star Avi Mahajan, 2-star Ethan Blatt, John Corbett, and Colin Yeager.
#6 Cincinnati Country Day returns Sai Nalagatla, Kasey Chopra, Aziz Mahmud and Abhijit Jagtap. They pick up Max Berghausen and Matt Castrucci who are both sophomores. They lost Neil Badlani and Annapantula Ashutosh to graduation.
#7 Chagrin Falls returns 2019 State Singles Champion, Andrew Zimcosky, as well as Jackson Quinn and Ellis Clark.
#8 Lexington returns Tommy Secrist, Ryan Mercurio, Ross Drlik. They lost Benton Drake, Blake Webster, and Brent Webster to graduation.
#9 Ursuline returns Josh Khavari, Gavin Blacksher, and Glenn Christopher. They lost State Finalist Greg Morgione to graduation.
#10 Ottawa Hills returns Matthew McGee, Henry Harders, and Jack Burke. They lost Henry McQueen to graduation.
Other teams on the the radar include Oakwood and Hawken.
Note that there is additional detail for players with high-lighted links. Teams with the green "team" designation will include information (or they soon will have) about all of their players.
Those with additional insights on why a team should be ranked differently or included on one of these lists are welcome to submit a Feedback. Please include specific reasons and player names.
Remember. If your team beats a better team, that's your fault - not mine..
WEDNESDAY,
OHSAA Boys Season Calendar / Other Important Dates
The OHSAA Boys Season Calendar is listed below. Last year's OTZ calendar was posted on February 10, and in the "what a big difference a few days can make" department, there was no mention of COVID-19.. The boys season calendar is normally chaotic because of the weather and due to the timing of spring breaks but it may actually be less chaotic this year since many families will likely stay in Ohio over spring break.
OhioTennisZone.com
|
| Feb. 26: Registration Deadline for the State Team Tournament |
| Feb. 26 - Mar. 5-6: Virtual OTCA Coach Clinic |
| Mar. 8: 1st Day of Coaching |
| Mar. 13: SAT Test Date |
| Mar. 26: HS Season Begins |
| Apr. 1: OhioTennisZone Payment Due |
| Apr. 12: Non-Interscholastic Date |
| Apr. 17: ACT Test Date |
| Apr. 25: Waiver Extension Ends |
| May 2: Sectional Tournament Draw |
| May 8: SAT Test Date |
| May 10-15: Sectional Tournament |
| May 17-22: District Tournament |
| May 28-29: State Tournament |
| May 30: State Team Tournament |
| June 5: Season Ends |
The OTZ calendar includes a few additional dates that are important to tennis players, such as the ACT / SAT test dates. While these dates are believed to be correct, always check with other sources before planning the rest of your future. The tennis dates should mimic the OHSAA Tennis Sports Calendar.
There are normally ample opportunities to participate in high level USTA tournaments prior to the season, but that is not the case this year due to COVID-19. When you combine that with the difficulty in finding tournaments on the new USTA web site, it makes it that much tougher. For example, Elysium hosts numerous compass draw tournaments but it is hard to find them because the USTA sorts tournaments based on proximity to the searcher. While that should help Elysium by placing these tournaments at the top of the list for those living in Columbus, it does not because the USTA thinks Elysium is 5,852 miles from our home in Columbus even though it is actually 14 miles away. Maybe the USTA thinks that everyone will take the "long way" to get there?
This will be the third season that the boys can use waivers to play non-HS tennis during the season. The waivers should enable most boys to start the season on time (rather than waiting to play in a key tournament). For more information, click OHSAA Waivers. Always (always, always) work with your coach, athletic director, and the OHSAA to insure that this waiver is completed way in advance and is done absolutely correctly.
Since there was no season last year, OhioTennisZone did not remove the previous year's seniors. That will happen very soon. Coaches, please do not remove graduated players from your roster. This will be done by OTZ.
TUESDAY,
College Tennis Commitments
Ohio high school players are now commiting to colleges to continue with their tennis careers. It has been a very tough year for these players since COVID-19 has made college visits very difficult if not impossible to do. The list below includes the players, their high schools, and their college choices.
OhioTennisZone.com |
|
| Player - Girls | High School / College |
| Olivia Gidlow | Hathaway Brown / Bates |
| Lilly McCloskey | Oakwood / Case Western |
| Elizabeth Pendergast | St. Ursula Academy / University of Cincinnati |
| Sydni Ratliff | Columbus Academy / Ohio State University |
| Dani Schoenly | Olentangy Liberty / Ohio State University |
| Cassady Shough | Dublin Coffman / Otterbein University |
| Caroline Sproule | Olentangy Orange / Wittenberg University |
| Carolyn Tsung | Columbus Academy / Washington University St. Louis |
| Player - Boys | High School / College |
| Vishnu Bodavula | Olentangy Liberty / Army |
| Devin Boyer | New Albany / Cleveland State |
| Jack Madison | Columbus Academy / Colorado College |
| Ryan Mudre | New Albany / Tennessee Chattangooga |
| Luke Ritchie | Dublin Coffman / LaFayette |
| Sam Routzahn | Olentangy / Warner |
| Connor Ruble | Loveland / Wittenberg University |
| Charlie Temming | St. Xavier / Xavier University |
| Reece Yakubov | St. Charles / Ohio State University |
This year's group of 28 players will continue to grow and the date at the top of the list will be updated to reflect these changes. Last year's total was 37 college players and the previous year was 35.
The players with OTZ Player Profiles are included in the table on the right. Click on the player names to view their OTZ Player Profiles.
Other players with college commitments who do not have player profiles include: Bella Kirby, Elizabeth Stewart, Semmie Moore, Lillia Walter, and others.
To see the complete list of Ohio players who are currently competing in college (or have committed to playing at a college next fall), click on College Players from Ohio or by using the drop-down above.
Please send a Feedback or email if you are aware of changes to this list.
This information was sourced by TennisRecruiting.net and OhioTennisZone.
THURSDAY,
Top OTZ Photos for 2020
Obviously, it has been a difficult year for almost everyone - and for tennis photos. There were no boys high school photos, no Western & Southern Open photos, and no Kalamazoo photos. The Ohio State Women's team was shutdown on the same weekend in which I had planned to take their photos.
With many events shut down, it was time to improvise.. Top Seed Tennis in Nicholasville, KY offered two pro-level women's events so it was still possible to get photos of Caty McNally, CiCi Bellis, and others. Cracked Racquets offered two tournaments - one in Indianapolis and another at St. Xavier High School which enabled photos to be taken of the stronger junior players and of some adults.
Despite all of this, there was still a Top Photo Video / Slideshow for 2020 created, and my dog thinks that some of these images are pretty good.. This year's video is loosely separated into two sections: the photos of professionals, college players, and adults, and of course, of high school players. Player photos are largely sorted in alphabetical order by last name. Obviously it is a subjective list, but these are the OTZ favorites.
Click for OTZ Top Photos Video - Click for video |
This video also provides an opportunity to thank several OTZ sponsors. Having sponsors is crucial for OTZ. Special OTZ thank-you's go out to The Players Club, the Greater Columbus Tennis Association (GCTA), and Midwest Sports for their sponsorships of OhioTennisZone.
The Players Club is a tennis club in Hilliard, which is a suburb in northwest Columbus. They offer all of the services in which junior and adult players need to be successful with and to have fun with tennis. Contact Players to inquire about indoor practice time for your team and for pre-season clinics.
The Greater Columbus Tennis Association (GCTA) provides an adult summer tennis league and it promotes tennis throughout the year. The GCTA leagues are very popular and teams from private clubs and public courts participate. Players compete on both hard and clay courts. The GCTA was one of the rare organizations that offered a summer tennis program for 2020 and it went extremely well. In a non-COVID times, there are 11 women's leagues consisting of 178 teams and nine men's leagues with 75 teams. The GCTA won the national USTA Community Tennis Association of the Year Award in 2014. OhioTennisZone also provides the web site for the GCTA. Contact the GCTA now to inquire about playing during the 20U21 season.
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David and Scott Gerber at the Fair - Click to enlarge |
Midwest Sports is the premier tennis web store in the Midwest and it is located in Cincinnati. This is a very popular place to go for juniors competing in Cincinnati-area tournaments. Midwest Sports provides great discounts to OhioTennisZone users, and OTZ benefits financially from each order you place online via the OTZ links (Code: Gerber).
The video is dedicated to my dad, David B. Gerber. He got me involved with photography many years ago. He passed away on December 15. He was very involved with agriculture and we lived on a small farm outside of Washington CH (the Bloomingburg exit off of I-71). Note my awesome t-shirt in the photo. Click for his obituary.
The high school photos in this video are available for purchase by the parents and/or by the schools. Some schools use OTZ photos in their year books to recognize their tennis teams.
Yes, I know that I still need to process a few photo orders from the girls season.. Most of November and December were pretty chaotic, but I am getting back into the groove now..
Contact OhioTennisZone via Feedback with any questions.
FRIDAY,
Final Team Rankings: Mason and Hathaway Brown Finish #1
Mason completes the season at the #1 spot in the OhioTennisZone Team Rankings for Division I and Hathaway Brown did the same for Division II. Congratulations to both teams and to the other teams on the list.
OhioTennisZone.com State Top Ten Girls Tennis Teams Final 2020 Rankings November 6, 2020 |
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| Division I | Division II |
| 1. Mason◄TEAM State Spots 2 Final 4 | Hathaway Brown◄TEAM 4 Final 4 |
| 2. Upper Arlington◄TEAM 2 Final 4 | Columbus Academy◄TEAM 1 Final 4 |
| 3. Magnificat◄TEAM 3 Final 4 | Indian Hill 3 Final 4 |
| 4. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM 1 | Eaton 1 |
| 5. St. Joseph Academy◄TEAM 2 | Oakwood◄TEAM 2 |
| 6. Notre Dame Acad. ◄TEAM 2 Final 4 | Archbishop Alter◄TEAM 1 |
| 7. Centerville 1 | Wellington◄TEAM 1 |
| 8. Ursuline Academy 1 | Seven Hills◄TEAM 0 |
| 9. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM 1 | Hawken◄TEAM 1 |
| 10. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM 2 | Cincinnati Hills Christ. Acad. 1 |
| HM: Olentangy Liberty◄TEAM 1 | Ottawa Hills 1 Final 4 |
| HM: Sycamore◄TEAM 0 | Revere◄TEAM 0 |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. | |
The pre-season rankings were released at the end of July for Division I and Division II, and the final rankings compared favorably. Several of the state's top players decided not to play and some players were injured. It was also unknown how many of the touted freshmen would contribute at the level in which they did.
The rankings would have normally been posted last week but things were more complicated this year and more research was necessary. It is also worth noting that Columbus Academy and Hathaway Brown tied in the coaches poll for the #1 spot.
After 91 straight, seven-day-a-week updates, OhioTennisZone goes into "intermittent mode" until March when the Ohio High School Boys Season (hopefully) begins. There will still be updates but on a far less frequent basis.
There are still a few teams and parents who have not yet paid so more effort will now be spent to chase down those payments. OTZ is working off half of the cash flow versus what was received last year so your payments would be greatly appreciated. While many teams never paid for the Boys 2020 season, payments that were received for the boys season were transferred to the Girls 2020 season or to next year's Boys 2021 season. Plus, ya know that records are maintained on who logs in, correct? If you used OTZ, got a tennis lesson, ate a restaurant, got a haircut, and you did not pay, you really should. If you cannot afford to pay this year, please reach out via Feedback.
Coaches are still sending match scores into OhioTennisZone and that is completely fine to do. Parents may do the same as long as the score formatting is close to correct. Please remember that the 2020 results are shown for 2021 so it is best to report these 2020 scores.
After the payment situations mentioned above are resolved, OTZ goes into picture processing mode.
THURSDAY,
Midwest Closed Competition This Weekend
The premier junior tournament held each summer, the Midwest Closed, was delayed until this weekend. The good news is that this important tournament is taking place. The bad news is that it had to be condensed from a 128 player draw to a 64 player draw. In this case, the good outweighs the bad.
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Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black- Click to enlarge |
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St. Charles' Reece Yakubov- Click to enlarge |
This tournament gives us one more look at States-quality competition (actually better) for the girls and a preview of the upcoming boys season.
Links to the tournaments are:
G14 - Cincinnati
G16 - Cincinnati
G18 - Streetsboro, OH
B14 - Indianapolis
B16 - Fort Wayne, IN
B18 - Indianapolis
The higher level seeds that include Ohio high school tennis players are:
G16: Mason's Shyla Aggarwal (4)
G18: Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black (10)
B14: Olentangy Liberty's Dean Atway (6)
B16: Pickerington North's Pavan Uppu (4)
B18: St. Charles' Reece Yakubov (2)
Click the tournament links above for additional information on who else is seeded and to follow the action during the tournaments.
I would have loved to stop by and watch if one of these events were to take place in Columbus. Despite its size and the number of junior players it has, Columbus does not have any of these high level tournaments. Viewing will also likely be restricted because of COVID-19.
WEDNESDAY,
OTZ Top Girls Photos for 2020
Now that the photos have been processed for 2020, there was a reassessment of the girls top photos for 2020. Click for the Top Photos. This is subjective list of the OTZ favorites for the season.
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OTZ Top Photos - Click to report |
The attributes that many of these images have in common are: great tennis technique (i.e. coiling), athleticism, sharp focus, flowing hair and outfits, good eye-on-ball, and a non-distracting background.
While a couple of more photos could have been selected from States, I wanted more variety from different locations.
These photos compare favorably with the top photos taken in previous years in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.
The second after I took the top photo of Elizabeth Pendergast, I thought that it might beat the Anna Rogenburk photo taken in 2017, but I do not think it is quite there.
While there have been a couple of OTZ photos selected for cover magazine shots for platform tennis [Oct 2018 and March 2019], there have been no OHSAA awards for OTZ for high school tennis. The Columbus Dispatch photographers pick those award winners, and unlike the Cincinnati Enquirer and Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Dispatch does not post many tennis photos. The best chance for OTZ to win an OHSAA award for a tennis player may be to take photos of tennis players competing in a different sport..
A video / slideshow of the Top OTZ photos from 2020 will be created later this year. Click for the videos for 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016.
Speaking of platform tennis, can anyone identify this tennis player [photo] taken in 2017 when she was playing platform tennis? Submit a Feedback.
TUESDAY,
OTZ Top Players / Watch Lists
The OTZ Top Players and Watch Lists have been updated to reflect the State Tournament matches. While there is always a recency bias, the State Tournament plays a major role in the final rankings.
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OTZ Top Players List - Click to report |
The lack of play between the districts made it more difficult to compare players this year, but I think this is still a solid list. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Top Players list is ranked and the Watch List players are unranked.
Sign-in first to see the results for the non-OTZ Member players.
Congratulations to the girls who made the lists.
Off to vote..
MONDAY,
More OTZ Photos
There were 38 more photos added to OTZ this weekend. These photos included the matches from the first and second day of States and the State Team Tournament. Sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos to view the photos.
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Magnificat's Audrey Smitek - Click to enlarge |
For those interested in purchasing a photo, that would be great. That will help cover the cost of a new lens that was just purchased.
Here is how the process works. The best photo of your daughter was posted online. If you are going to purchase that photo but you would still like to see others, a pdf of additional photos will be provided to you. You just need to buy the original photo *or* one in the pdf file. If you do not like the current photo that is posted, then let's wait and see what I get next year. Since this is a time consuming, I do not want to spend additional time putting together photos in a pdf file only to find out that you do not want to purchase any. I know that this sounds a bit weird, but I have learned the hard way that some people just never get around to buying any photos (or they "buy" photos and then they do not pay for them).
Since high-resolution digital images are sold, they can be used on digital picture frames, shared with grandparents, and posted on TennisRecruiting.net, Facebook, or Instragram, etc. Some of the images will also be included on OhioTennisZone under the player's OTZ Player Profile (i.e. Audrey Smitek) and team page (i.e. Magnificat) for everyone to see.
The price of the first photo is $19.99 and it declines from there for additional photos (i.e. $17.50, $15.00, and $12.50). Photos of sisters can be grouped together for the discount during this girls season. For all of the prices, click on Buy an OTZ Photo.
If you (or the grandparents) have a digital picture frame, this is the image of your daughter that will always be on that frame to enjoy.
Quite a few comments have been provided about the schools of the freshman boys and incoming freshman girls. Thank you for your help.
SUNDAY,
Top Freshman Boys
This list would have normally been created at the end of the Boys 2020 season, but that season did not work out so well.. Hopefully 2021 will be better - a lot better.
Coaches are already requesting information on who the strong teams are and strong freshmen can normally step in and make an impact immediately. This list is created with the help of TennisRecruiting.net and it includes the freshmen who are in the Top 20 in Ohio. Of course, it is also important to know which school these players are attending so your help is needed with this. If you have inside knowledge of which school a player attends, please submit a Feedback.
OhioTennisZone.com |
||
| Player - TRN Stars | City (District) | School |
| Dean Atway - 3 | Powell (C) | Olentangy Liberty |
| Ethan Blatt - 2 | Cincinnati (SW) | |
| Ace Bloom - 2 | Pepper Pike (NE) | |
| Noah Boyce - 2 | Oakwood (SW) | |
| Nicholas Choo - 4 | Montgomery (SW) | Sycamore |
| Chase Homan - 2 | Cincinnati (SW) | St. Xavier |
| Rohit Jain - 2 | Westlake (NE) | |
| Srihan Jairam - 2 | Milford (SW) | |
| Jacob Khvalsky - 2 | New Albany (C) | |
| Cole Kirchick - 2 | Moreland Hills (NE) | University School |
| Dean Kirchick - 3 | Moreland Hills (NE) | University School |
| Jay Kneiss - 2 | Avon (NE) | |
| Avi Mahajan - 3 | Mason (SW) | |
| Nicholas Meyers - 4 | Cincinnati (SW) | Sycamore |
| Chika Nwaozuzu - 4 | Woodmere (NE) | |
| RJ Poffenberger - 3 | Cincinnati (SW) | Indian Hill |
| Jack Pollock - 3 | Cincinnati (SW) | Indian Hill |
| Arjun Rajagopala - 2 | Cincinnati (SW) | Sycamore |
| Sanjan Shanker - 2 | Dublin (C) | Wellington |
| Isaac Vens - 2 | Sylvania (NW) | |
Some of the schools listed are educated guesses based on players of the same last name who are currently attending the school.
The Tennis Recruiting.net star ratings are included beside each of the players. The player links go to Tennis Recruiting.net.
Of the 20 players on the list, the Central District has three, Northeast - six, Northwest - one, and Southwest - ten.
With the USTA schedule still in question, players who may have considered skipping high school tennis will probably reconsider this decision.
OTZ has provided daily updates since August 7th. That is 86 straight days without taking a day off. There will still be an update or two this week, but OTZ will soon be going into "intermittent mode".
SATURDAY,
Top Incoming Freshman Girls
Fans and coaches like to see who the strong players are on the horizon. Using TennisRecruiting.net, OTZ has identified the top 20(ish) eighth graders in Ohio. This information should be especially helpful to the coaches who want to schedule strong opponents. Of course, it is also important to know which school these players are attending. Some of the schools listed are educated guesses based on players of the same last name who are currently attending the school. Any help on this would be appreciated. Please submit a Feedback.
OhioTennisZone.com |
||
| Player - TRN Stars | City (District) | Incoming School |
| Audrey Austin - 2 | Perry (NE) | Perry |
| Amy Grace Beebe - 1 | Hudson (NE) | CVCA |
| Caroline Boyle - 3 | Hamilton (SW) | Badin |
| Lauren Burkett - 3 | Dublin (C) | Dublin Coffman |
| Elena Fleming - 3 | Mentor (NE) | NDCL |
| Sheryl Gerald - 3 | Lewis Center (C) | Olentangy |
| Reagan Gilbert - 2 | Liberty Township (SW) | Lakota East |
| Lucy Glassmeyer - 1 | Cincinnati (SW) | |
| Riya Hegde - 1 | Hudson (NE) | Western Reserve |
| Mallory Hitchcock - 4 | Eaton (SW) | Eaton |
| Amelia Kunard - 1 | Dublin (C) | Dublin Scioto |
| Brooke Lint - 1 | Cincinnati (SW) | Oak Hills |
| Anna Mancino - 3 | Westlake (NE) | Magnificat |
| Ava Mathur - 3 | Wooster (NE) | Wooster |
| Brooke McNeal - 4 | Chagrin Falls (NE) | Kenston |
| Mika Morris - 2 | West Chester (SW) | CHCA |
| Lucy Paulin - 1 | Chagrin Falls (NE) | NDCL |
| Madeline Peisley - 3 | Toledo (NW) | Sylvania Northview |
| Maria Poon - 3 | Cincinnati (SW) | St. Ursula Academy |
| Haley Slay - 3 | Canton (NE) | Archbishop Hoban |
| Sofia Tomlin - 2 | Waynesville (SW) | |
| Elle Warren - 4 | Canton (NE) | Mass. Jackson Boys |
The list is sorted alphabetically and the Tennis Recruiting.net star ratings are included beside each of the players. The player links go to Tennis Recruiting.net.
Normally there are a few players who are listed as Ohioans but it is clear that they are now living elsewhere for training purposes. That does not appear to be the case this year. Of course, COVID-19 may have squashed many of those plans.
While there are some players / parents who believe that participating in high school tennis is not worthwhile, none of the players on this list are in that elite (i.e. Caty McNally) category. Hopefully all of these players will be included on a team.
Of the 22 players on the list, the Central District has three, Northeast - ten, Northwest - one, and Southwest - eight.
Speaking of Tennis Recruiting.net, now is always the time to update player contact information on TennisRecruiting.net. This is the service that many college coaches use to reach out to prospective recruits.
Efforts are still underway with processing photos.
There have been 85 daily OhioTennisZone updates made in a row (since August 7). That run will end this coming week as publishing goes to an "intermittent" update schedule.
FRIDAY,
It's Photo Friday
There have been quite a few parents who have expressed interested in purchasing photos so it was time to spend more effort on processing photos. Today's 23 new photos brings OTZ up the Southwest District (held on October 15). Photos remaining to be processed include Central Districts (seeding round), first and second days of States, and the State Team Tournament. Sign-in first and then click to view the Most Recently Added Photos.
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Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer - Click to enlarge |
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there was no "on-court" access for the Northeast Division II Districts so that event was not included this year for the first time since 2016.
If things actually ever get caught up, there might be a special "pony tail tricks" competition. Today's featured photo of Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer would be included in the competition for getting her pony tail to mimic her racquet swing. There have also been several good anti-gravity pony tail tricks this season, too.
Note that there are a few other photos that could have been included for the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Classic but I do not know all of the girls who are not members of OhioTennisZone.
Several of the photos for the players on the OTZ All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team were updated to include recent action photos.
MONDAY,
OhioTennisZone.com's All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team
Congratulations to the players selected for the OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team for 2020.
OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio |
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Division I - Singles |
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Division II - Singles |
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 Macy Hitchcock Eaton |
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 Bella Kirby Indian Hill |
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Division I - Doubles |
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Division II - Doubles |
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![[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}
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 round in which the player reached at States.
The number of players on the OTZ All-Ohio Team can vary from year to year based on the skill levels of the players. The normal barometer in measuring the strength of the All-Ohio team is to count the number of Division I college or high-end Division III players on the list. Of course, nothing about this year is normal and the recruiting process is in disarray. That said, four players are known to be playing Division I college tennis. The number of Ohio D1 players on the OTZ All-Ohio team this year is seven for both D1 and D2. In previous years, it has been: 2019 - 8, 2018 - 7, 2017 - 7, and 2016 - 6. The D2 teams have totaled: 2019 - 7, 2018 - 8, 2017 - 6, and 2016 - 6.
Note that players with the yellow PP tennis balls next to their names have Player Profiles and that more information is available for them by clicking on their names. Click to sign-up to get obtain an OTZ Player Profile.
The OTZ Top Players Lists will be updated later today. 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 freshmen. 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 for next fall.
I was pleased to see the kind words by ZooTennis' Colette Lewis in her update today about OhioTennisZone. If you have not checked out ZooTennis, please do so. Colette does an incredible job of covering high-end junior tennis. She is credentialed for the Slams and she is widely followed by everyone on the who's who list of college and professional tennis. Regular readers of her web site may even notice an occasional OTZ photo that she uses for an article (i.e. JJ Wolf, Gabriela Talaba, Shelby Rogers, Cici Bellis, and Daniel Cukierman). In fact, her photo on her web site is an OTZ photo that was taken at the 'Zoo (USTA Boys' National in Kalamazoo) in 2016.
Speaking of photos.. Things are still waay backed up with other projects that needed to be addressed.
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 August 1 to October 26.
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Olen. Orange's Ellie Logan - Click to enlarge |
The Hathaway Brown team page drew the most interest during the season. The other teams in the top ten (in order) were: Upper Arlington, Columbus Academy, North Canton Hoover, Magnificat, Mason, St. Joseph Academy, Dublin Jerome, Olentangy Orange, and Dublin Coffman. 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 Northeast Team Lookup page jumped past the Southwest Team Lookup this season. The biggest usage day of the season was on the first day of States.
- Central Ohio Team Lookup
- Girls State Draws-2020
- OTZ Personalized Report (page presented at sign-in)
- Northeast Ohio Team Lookup
- Girls State Team Draws
- Southwest Ohio Team Lookup
There was a big change in which Metro Areas use OTZ. The Cleveland-Akron Metro (with 24%) area blew past the Cincinnati Metro (15%) in terms of users as more teams join OTZ from that area of the state. The Columbus Metro remains the highest at 27% but not by much. Other top areas are: Detroit (5%), Dayton (4%), and Toledo (3%). It has always been mind-boggling that the Detroit-area does better than the Toledo Metro area when OTZ does not include Michigan-area content.
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Mason's Aggarwal - Click to enlarge |
SJA's Brahmbhatt |
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Hoover's Bucher |
UA's Hazelbaker - Click to enlarge |
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SUA's Pendergast - Click to enlarge |
CA's Ratliff |
The six players who had the most views of their OTZ Player Profiles during the girls season are (in alphabetical order): Mason's Shyla Aggarwal, St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt, North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher, Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker, St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast, and Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff. 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.
Sure, Twitter is largely a waste of time, but it does draw people from Twitter onto the OhioTennisZone web site. It also extends the OhioTennisZone brand. The #1 Top Tweet this season is of Olentangy Orange's Ellie Logan (See photo above). This photo was taken at the Upper Arlington Sectional. The rest of the top 6 OTZ tweets sorted by impressions are: #2 The District Seeding rounds are finished. Click to read the Sunday edition of OhioTennisZone.com at ohiotenniszone.com/#2020-10-18_art. Today's photo is of the 2020 Central District D1 State Qualifiers.. #3 Upper Arlington's Megan Basil is recognized by TennisRecruiting.net.. #4 Ok. I'm really (really) getting tired of entering Sectional results. Next year, instead of keeping score, let's give everyone a ribbon instead.. #5 The order of finish for Central D1 Singles was: Ella Franz, Dani Schoenly, Dasha Chistyakova, Libby Alderman. Dubs: Hazelbaker-Basil, Sproule-Reed, Mizer-Richard, Nickel-Sriram. Video of Berlin’s Ella Franz in today’s match. #6 The Upper Arlington Sectional is off to a smooth start. Parents show their tickets as they enter. Per anonymous sources, the caution tape is electrified with 75K volts so please do what you are supposed to do..
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.
Spectrum had some problems in our area this morning and the update got off to a late start..
Tomorrow's update presents the OhioTennisZone.com All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team.
TUESDAY,
OHSAA Tournament Championship Points
Videos of all four championship points were captured this season. Normally, there have been zigs when there should have been zags when selecting the next court to zoom to next but that was not the case this season. Unfortunately though, since the goal is to capture the videos, it greatly reduces the amount of time available to take photos. The order of finish was D1 Doubles, D2 Singles, D2 Doubles, and then finally, D1 Singles.
New camera gear provided a much better video image, but the width of the video was less than in the past. 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 each 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.
All of the videos include two or three of the final points.
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Division I Singles: St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast defeated Mason's Shyla Aggarwal. |
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Division I Doubles: Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker - Megan Basil beat Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw - Clara Owen. |
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Division II Singles: Eaton's Macy Hitchcock defeated Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff. |
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Division II Doubles: Oakwood's Sarah Hall - Natalie Connelly beat Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter - Katie Zerbi. |
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 and Hathaway Brown ReReReRepeat as State Team Champions
Congratulations to Mason and Hathaway Brown as the D1 and D2 State Champions, respectively. Mason defeated Magnificat and Upper Arlington, and Hathaway Brown beat Indian Hill and Columbus Academy on their way to their respective titles. This is Mason's fourth title in a row and Hathaway Brown's sixth. Click to view the teams that started the current title runs -- Mason's 2017 team and Hathaway's 2015 team. Magnificat defeated Notre Dame Academy and Indian Hill beat Ottawa Hills for the third place awards. To view the graphic results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
The Mason - Upper Arlington match provided an exciting finish as momentum shifted back and forth. After UA won first dubs to tie the match, Mason clinched the championship with a three-setter at second dubs.
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Mason - D1 State Champions - Click to enlarge |
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Hathaway Brown - State D2 Champs - Click to enlarge |
These championship matches stop play as soon as a decision is clinched so many of the top court matches "Did Not Finish". Some of the ones that did finish included: Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff defeated Hathaway Brown's Alice Lin; Mason's Shyla Aggarwal beat Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker; Upper Arlington's Megan Basil defeated Mason's Harshita Uppuganti; Magnificat's Audrey Smitek beat Notre Dame Academy's Olivia Assenmacher; Columbus Academy's Carolyn Tsung defeated Hathaway Brown's Katie Mills; and Hathaway Brown's Brigette Fuentes beat Indian Hill's Jessica Budde and Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Thanks to Mike Reid for providing the Mason championship photo. It was used rather than the OTZ photo. Have an HB photo that you wish to share? Please forward it to OTZ.
OTZ content will continue for a few more days. The videos of the State Championship points will be posted tomorrow.
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. This was a historic year with COVID-19 and it was great that it ended on a picture perfect day. The tournament finished at 3:30pm on Court 11 with the Division I Singles match. Click for the final results at https://ohiotenniszone.com/draws.
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SUA's Pendergast - Click to enlarge |
UA's Basil - Hazelbaker |
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Eaton's Hitchcock |
Oakwood's Hall - Connelly |
The State champions and the finalists are:
Division I Singles: St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast defeated Mason's Shyla Aggarwal.
Division I Doubles: Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker - Megan Basil beat Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw - Clara Owen.
Division II Singles: Eaton's Macy Hitchcock defeated Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff.
Division II Doubles: Oakwood's Sarah Hall - Natalie Connelly beat Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter - Katie Zerbi.
There was already a backlog in processing photos before States and now things are waaay backed up. After the State Team Tournament this afternoon, the priority switches to getting the Columbus platform tennis schedule completed for our league.. For those who are buying photos, you will get a pdf with numerous photos from which to choose. This is going to take some time so please tell me if you need to get the photos by a certain date. Creating these pdf's takes time (as did taking the photos with expensive equipment) so as long as there are good photos, the expectation is that you are going to purchase at least two photos (and pay for them).
See you at Reynoldsburg (D1) and New Albany (D2). The first round matches are: Mason versus Magnificat and Upper Arlington versus Notre Dame Academy. Division II starts with Columbus Academy versus Ottawa Hills and Indian Hill versus and Hathaway Brown.
SATURDAY,
First Day of States in the Books
For a day that looked quite dire weather-wise early in the week, Saturday turned out great from both the weather and tennis perspectives. There was a weather delay (loud thunderclap) that began about 1:45pm and lasted for a half hour. At that point, there were ten matches that were "on court" that needed to be finished.
There was also great tennis. Unfortunately some of these great matches should have taken place in the semi-final round today. Read on below for results.
We have one more day of States and one more day of State Team Tennis. C'mon, we can do this..
Click the link below to follow all of the action.
https://ohiotenniszone.com/draws
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Hoover's Tess Bucher - Click to enlarge |
Division I
Singles: St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast defeated St. Joseph Academy's Tia Clemens and Perrysburg's Sydney Onest; Mason's Shyla Aggarwal beat Magnificat's Audrey Smitek and Mayfield's Hannah Kassaie; Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt and Olentangy Liberty's Dani Schoenly; and North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Wilmington's Claire Burns and Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz.
Doubles: Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker - Megan Basil defeated Magnificat's Lexi Ospelt - Kayra Koprulu and Ursuline Academy's Nina Dhaliwal - Bridget Estes; Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw - Clara Owen beat Olentangy Orange's Caroline Sproule - Tyler Reed and Mason's Annie Kruse- Raina Chada; Magnificat's Natalie Smitek - Caroline Moritz beat Bellbrook's Nitika Arora - Maya Bring and Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman - Paige Reese; and Upper Arlington's Noah Mizer - Ava Richard defeated Brecksville's Lakshmy Arakoni - Helen Lee and Massillon Jackson's Emma Henson - Samantha Reese.
Division II
Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff defeated Edison's Jayla Medina and Oakwood's Lily McCloskey; Eaton's Macy Hitchcock beat Orrville's Claudia Adcock and Laurel's Ellie Brotherton; Orange's Alexis Nyborg defeated Indian Hill's Brooke Arington and Toledo Central Catholic's Ellie Hire; and Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman beat Wheelersburg's Maddie Gill and Ottawa Hills' Catherine Rhegness.
Doubles: Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter - Katie Zerbi defeated Indian Hill's Jessica August - Hannah Pollock and Hathaway Brown's Ally Mills - Katie Mills; Oakwood's Sarah Hall - Natalie Connelly beat Hawken's Hayley Garber - Eliana Yang and Hathaway Brown's Brigette Fuentes - Alex Wolf; Toledo Central Catholic's Bella and Lucia Spinazze defeated CHCA's Kennedy and Payton Puryear and Canton South's Destiny Winans - Abigal Franks; and Bath's Ruby and Esther Bolon beat Marlington's Mary and Elizabeth Mason and Indian Hill's Jenny Zhang and Lexi Larsen.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Best of luck to all of today's participants.
FRIDAY,
Today is the Day | Upper Arlington Gets Last Final Four Spot
It is time to listen to this because it will add at least a couple of games to your score.
First, before you leave, enter the following link on the cell phone. Note that the court assignments for the first round of singles were added early yesterday evening.
https://ohiotenniszone.com/draws
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Draws with Court Assignments - Click to draws |
There have been some nice articles and videos about States. Click to read this article by Steve Blackledge in the Columbus Dispatch about Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff. Here's a nice video by BCNSports about Notre Dame Academy's Olivia and Ellie Assenmacher.
In the Central District, Upper Arlington defeated Olentangy Liberty yesterday to book the final Final Four spot, finally.
THURSDAY,
One More Day..
Warm conditions today and Friday will yield to cooler temperatures on Saturday and Sunday as fans and players pack all of their warm and cold weather clothes. It will likely be necessary to bring along some rain gear, too..
All sixteen courts will be available this year at the Lindner Family Tennis Center (LFTC) so hopefully the first round matches can be played before the rain begins. OhioTennisZone will be at the LFTC so this page of OhioTennisZone will not be updated after the early morning update. Watch for updates and announcements tomorrow via Twitter via @OhioTennisZone and via the OHSAA web site.
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OTZ Enhanced Draws - Click to enlarge |
There is a substantial amount of effort happening in the background to insure that the State Team Tournament is played. This is a bit like juggling cats as officials deal with varying site rules and health board regulations. Coaches know the details and they should be the first point of contact. Attendance will be severely limited and recorded to insure that contact tracing can be done if someone has or gets COVID-19. In a nutshell, if you do not already have a known ticket, then don't go. Some of the restrictions include: no sitting on bleachers (bring your own chairs), no tents, and no warmth sharing (maintain social distancing). The weather forecast is improving for Sunday, but if it cannot be played due to rain the team tournament will be delayed to the following weekend. Division I is at Reynoldsburg and Division II is at New Albany. We are going to have to roll with the punches with this -- just as we have done all season..
The court assignments should be included on the OTZ online draws soon so that players know where they will start the day tomorrow. The draws will be "put through their paces" this morning to insure that everything is aok. Please do not be alarmed if your player gets beat in the first round or happy that your player won the tournament..
As of now, there are photos included for all of the players in the Division I Singles and Doubles draws and Division II Singles. Hopefully more will be received today.
Everything is going to be dicey with photos, especially if play goes indoors. Send me an email or submit a Feedback if you want me to take a photo of your player and if you will be purchasing at least one.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Upper Arlington versus Olentangy Liberty match was rained out once again yesterday. They will play early this afternoon and then beeline it to the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
WEDNESDAY,
OhioTennisZone Video of Its Top Picks for the State Championships
It is time for something new. OhioTennisZone is releasing its first video that identifies the players who are favored in winning the State Championships. The video uses a combination of OTZ action photos and videos that were taken over the last two years. Hope you find it to be interesting and informative.
Most avid OhioTennisZone fans know that a "hype" video is normally created for States. Why the change? There are several reasons. #1 It is fun to use popular and professional produced music. When this music was used, the artists benefited from the ads that were included in the video. The three most recent girls hype videos in 2019, 2018, and 2017 included music from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N Roll", Fifth Harmony's "Worth it", and the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back", respectively. While the YouTube playlist was already restricted, Youtube now no longer offers any popular music to be used. Other YouTube's own music is available but it really is not satisfactory. #2 COVID-19 restrictions by teams meant that fewer teams traveled to Columbus or gathered for tournaments (i.e. Lexington Invite) so there were less photos this year of the top players. #3 It was a huge undertaking. 109 videos or photos were used in last year's video. Not only did these photos / videos have to be taken, but they also had to be prepared for use in the video. It was also time consuming to insure that photos were grabbed for each player. #4 The timeframes were too tight. While much of the work could begin after the State qualifiers were determined, there was always a Final Four spot or two that was not decided until the week of the State tournament. For example, the Central District still has not determined their Division I representative and it is Wednesday. #6 It was time to try something new and really challenging. It was. I have rarely been on camera, and the computer software, the camera, and the computer hardware are recent purchases.
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 pronunciations used in the video from this point forward..
There are a few items that I knew but misspoke on the video. Ananya Aggarwal was a State Singles Finalist last year. Midwest Sports is a tennis facility that is one of the biggest tennis retailers in the U.S. That is where we purchased most of our kids' tennis gear and where I get my snazzy tennis shoes and my stylish and intimidating tennis clothes. Use GERBER as the checkout code. Latest add.. Sydni Ratliff is a TennisRecruiting.net Blue Chip rather than a 5-star. "Blue Chip" is TRN's highest rating.
The last State Team Tournament finally takes place today. Really. Upper Arlington travels to Olentangy Liberty for the Central District finals. Finally.
TUESDAY,
One Day Closer..
Things are slowly coming together, but it is complicated.. The OHSAA released its state draws yesterday. There was one mistake and it was cleaned up quickly. The OHSAA will reportedly restrict attendance to the State Tournament but no details have been provided. The State Team Tournament will be restricted to family members and school coaches as they abide by school site and health board restrictions.
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Central D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
The weather could present another set of problems. Afternoon showers on Friday and morning showers on Saturday are expected in Mason. Morning showers are expected in Columbus on Sunday. Private clubs used as back-ups will likely have their own set of attendance restrictions. If showers rain-out the State Team Tournament, it is expected to be delayed until the following weekend.
Everyone has had to be flexible this season and this flexibility will need to continue..
The State draws are problematic for some of the top teams and players. The draws overloaded with talent are Q4 of D1 Singles, Q2 and Q4 of D1 Doubles, and Q1 and Q3 of D2 Doubles. More on this tomorrow..
The OhioTennisZone Enhanced State Draws are coming along nicely. There are now only 13 players (out of 96) who need photos. Please send a Feedback on how to include your players' photos. It would be nice to wrap this up by Thursday morning.
More players were added to the OTZ Top Players and Watchlists. These lists will continue to be tweaked. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The last State Team Tournament finally takes place today. Upper Arlington travels to Olentangy Liberty for the Central District finals.
MONDAY,
Awaiting the State Draws | State Team Tournament Information
The State draws are expected to be released today. The enhanced OhioTennisZone.com draws will be available via the link, OhioTennisZone.com/draws. Include it on your cellphone now to follow the action at States.
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Southwest D1 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
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Southwest D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
The State Team Tournament will be held at Reynoldsburg (map) for Division I and New Albany (map) for Division II. Per the Ohio Tennis Coaches' Association 's Mike Teets (Sycamore's coach), the tournament will begin at 10am and there will be a one hour break between the first and second round team matches. They play until one team clinches the victory. The cost will be $10/person. There will be limits on who can attend. Enter the Reynoldsburg facility via the northernmost entrance. Enter New Albany's tennis facility via Kardules Fields Way off of 605 (or New Albany Condit Rd). (Refer to the maps.) For those wanting to watch tennis at both sites, it takes about 23 minutes of travel time using back roads. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws. [Note that more information about audience restrictions is forthcoming.]
The OTZ Top Players and Watchlist reports will be modified today. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
All of the State Qualifiers are listed below in the entry for Friday, October 16. They are listed in seed order by District.
Thanks to Mason coach, Mike Reid, for the Southwest District photos. Contact OTZ if your district has State Qualifier photos that contain players from multiple teams. Sorry, I am not interested in same team group photos.All of the State Team Tournament Final Four teams have been decided except for Central D1. Upper Arlington is scheduled to play Olentangy Liberty tomorrow.
SUNDAY,
Ready for States
The District seeding rounds were completed yesterday. Was it chilly yesterday? Yes. Would high school tennis be thrilled to have the same weather conditions next weekend? Yes.
The biggest issue is that everyone needs to stay safe from COVID-19 this week. For schools that offer a hybrid option, this may be a great week to stay at home.
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Central D1 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
Singles players with the #1 seeds earned them by winning the following matches. Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff defeated Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria; St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast beat Wilmington's Claire Burns and Mason's Shyla Aggarwal; Mayfield's Hannah Kassaie defeated Magnificat's Audrey Smitek and North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz beat Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova and Olentangy Liberty's Dani Schoenly; Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black defeated Toledo St. Ursula Academy's Marissa Patino and Perrysburg's Sydney Onest; Orange's Alexis Nyborg beat Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu and Laurel's Ellie Brotherton; and Eaton's Macy Hitchcock defeated Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman and Oakwood's Lily McCloskey. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The finals in doubles were: Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker - Megan Basil defeated Olentangy Orange's Caroline Sproule - Tyler Reed; Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter - Katie Zerbi beat Columbus Academy's Carolyn Tsung - Lauren Motta; Magnificat's Caroline Moritz - Natalie Smitek defeated Brecksville's Lakshmy Arakoni - Helen Lee; Hathaway Brown's Ally Mills - Katie Mills beat Hathaway Brown's Brigette Fuentes - Alex Wolf; Mason's Annie Kruse - Raina Chada defeated Ursuline Academy's Nina Dhaliwal - Bridget Estes; and Oakwood's Sarah Hall - Natalie Connelly beat CHCA's Kennedy and Payton Puryear.
The Northwest and Southeast/East District draws have yet to be posted.
Upper Arlington is scheduled to play Olentangy Liberty in the district finals of the State Team Tournament.
There is a change for the State Team Tournament. Division I will remain at Reynoldsburg and Division II will play at New Albany High School. [Note: This is reversed from what was posted in the earlier edition.] This reduces the number of people at each site as a COVID-19 precaution. The good news is that the tournament will finish quickly but there will only be half of the excitement (and crowds). Ask your coaches for the details.
SATURDAY,
Ready for Seeding Round
The district seeding rounds will be delayed this morning in many areas of the state to allow temperatures to rise. As of now (7am), it is 31 degrees in Columbus, 35 in Mason, 34 in Akron, 38 in Port Clinton (NW Districts), and 29 in Portsmouth (SE/E Districts).
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Wilmington's Claire Burns - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Oakwood's Lily McCloskey defeated Indian Hill's Bella Kirby; Wilmington's Claire Burns beat Mason's Rashi Loni; Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu defeated Chagrin Falls' Adelaide Doman and Orrville's Claudia Adcock; Hathaway Brown's Olivia Gidlow beat Ursuline's Anna Morgione and Perry's Lily Walker; Orange's Alexis Nyborg defeated Archbishop Hoban's Kate Wenzlik and Revere's Morgan Dobos; and Laurel's Ellie Brotherton beat St. John's Julianne Sheldon and St. Vincent-St. Mary's Andie McKnight. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Look below for the October 16th update to see all of the State Qualifiers.
OTZ will be at Reynoldsburg today for the Central District Division 1 seeding round.
While many players are thrilled to be state qualifiers, others are vying for the #1 seeds to improve their chances of being state champions and state finalists. Good luck to everyone today.
FRIDAY,
Most of the State Qualifiers Determined
Most of the state identified their State Qualifiers, but not all. The Southwest District got rained out and the Northeast and Northwest need to play additional rounds.
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Wyoming's Sydney Evans - Click to enlarge |
The Northeast District D2 Qualifier takes place today. Normally OTZ would be on the way to this qualifier but not this year. The court area was restricted to officials and players. This would have been the seventh year of attending this tournament.
The photos taken at the Southwest District were not very good. The cloud cover was way too dense.
Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff defeated Columbus School for Girls' Sophia Vershinin and Columbus Academy's Grace Philip; St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast beat Northmont's Aubrey Ferrell and Mason's Anna Tonkal; Mayfield's Hannah Kassaie defeated Rocky River's Samantha Robertson and Canfield's Anna Kan; Mason's Shyla Aggarwal beat Springboro's Amaya Hulbert and St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein; Olentangy Liberty's Dani Schoenly defeated Dublin Coffman's Cassi Shough and Watterson's Sara Goodlive; Magnificat's Audrey Smitek beat Hudson's Sunny Fan and Highland's Jo Oberhaus; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher defeated Hudson's Laura Nijhuis and St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt; Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz beat New Albany's Madison Spiess and Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri; Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman defeated Greenville's Marchal and Wyoming's Sydney Evans; Eaton's Macy Hitchcock beat Mariemont's P.Wilhelm and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader; Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova defeated Upper Arlington's Ellis Mizer and New Albany's Paige Cornelius; Worthington Kilbourne's Libby Alderman beat Marion Harding's Nicole Flock and Olentangy Liberty's Kylie Wilson; Walnut Hills' Alexis Covington defeated Centerville's Arabelle MacPherson and Princeton's Brooklyn Bowen; and St. Joseph Academy's Tia Clemens beat Medina's Elizabeth Stuart and Solon's Niya Fried. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
This list of State Qualifers will be updated over the next two days. After the seeding round takes place, the players will be listed in seed order.
State Qualifiers:
Central D1 Singles: Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz, Olentangy Liberty's Dani Schoenly, Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova, and Worthington Kilbourne's Libby Alderman.
Central D1 Doubles: Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker - Megan Basil, Olentangy Orange's Caroline Sproule - Tyler Reed, Upper Arlington's Noah Mizer - Ava Richard, and Olentangy's Sydney Nickel - Archita Sriram.
Central District D2 Singles: Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff.
Central District D2 Doubles: Wellington's Alexis Burkhalter - Katie Zerbi.
Northeast D1 Singles: Mayfield's Hannah Kassaie, North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher, Magnificat's Audrey Smitek, St. Joseph Academy's Tia Clemens, St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt, and Canfield's Anna Kan.
Northeast D1 Doubles: Magnificat's Caroline Moritz - Natalie Smitek, Brecksville's Lakshmy Arakoni - Helen Lee, Massillon Jackson's Madison Altman - Paige Reese, Massillon Jackson's Emma Henson - Samantha Reese, Highland's Sarah Sgambati-Madison Pawlak, and Magnificat's Lexi Ospelt - Kayra Koprulu.
Northeast D2 Singles: Orange's Alexis Nyborg, Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu, Laurel's Ellie Brotherton, Hathaway Brown's Olivia Gidlow, and Orrville's Claudia Adcock.
Northeast D2 Doubles: Hathaway Brown's Ally Mills - Katie Mills, Hathaway Brown's Brigette Fuentes - Alex Wolf, Hawken's Hayley Garber - Hawken's Eliana Yang, Canton South's Destiny Winans - Abigail Franks, and Marlington's Mary and Elizabeth Mason.
Northwest D1 Singles: Anthony Wayne's Lilly Black and Perrysburg's Sydney Onest.
Northwest D1 Doubles: Notre Dame Academy's Olivia Assenmacher - Ellie Assenmacher and Notre Dame Academy's Gretchen Gmitter - Erin Sturgeon.
Northwest D2 Singles: Ottawa Hills' Catherine Rhegness, Lexington's Sydney Pfieffer, Toledo Central Catholic's Ellie Hire, and Edison's Jayla Medina.
Northwest D2 Doubles: Bath's Ruby and Esther Bolon, Toledo Central Catholic's Bella and Lucia Spinazze, Shawnee's Aria and Alora Patel, and Bryan's Emilee Bassett - Reese Grothaus..
Southeast D2 Singles: South Point's Meredith Riley and Wheelersburg's Maddie Gill.
Southeast D2 Doubles: East Liverpool's Sydney Cooper - Gianna Davie and Circleville's Emma Shaw - Kara Hinton.
Southwest D1 Singles: St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal, Walnut Hills' Alexis Covington, and Wilmington's Claire Burns.
Southwest D1 Doubles: Mason's Annie Kruse - Raina Chada, Ursuline Academy's Nina Dhaliwal - Bridget Estes, Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw - Clara Owen, and Bellbrook's Nitika Arora - Maya Brink.
Southwest D2 Singles: Eaton's Macy Hitchcock, Oakwood's Lily McCloskey, Archbishop Alter's Grace Lampman, and Indian Hills' Brooke Arington.
Southwest D2 Doubles: Oakwood's Sarah Hall - Natalie Connelly, CHCA's Kennedy and Payton Puryear, Indian Hills' Jenny Zhang - Lexi Larsen, and Indian Hills' Jessica August - Hannah Pollock.
THURSDAY,
Ready for Districts
Districts start in much of the state today. While States is the goal for most players, it is important to keep in mind that reaching Districts is a great accomplishment, too. Everyone is under pressure, so let's relax a bit and make this tournament fun and memorable. So here we go..
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Southwest District D2 2018 Qualifiers - Click to enlarge |
OTZ likes to recognize the players from each District who qualify for States by using group photos. Please get those cameras (or high-level, new cellphones) ready for Saturday. Note that group photos of players from multiple schools is what is needed -- not the state qualifiers from each school. Please put the singles players together in front, and team up the doubles players in back. Click State Qualifier Photos to view photos from previous years.
In the Southwest D1 2018 State Qualifier photo, there are five players who may make a return trip to States. They are Mason's Annie Kruse - Raina Chada; Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes - Nina Dhaliwal; and Indian Hills' Bella Kirby.
One free action photo* goes to the first person who identifies the first names of the two adorable OTZ youngsters (via Feedback). (*The action photo has to already be in the OTZ inventory of photos.)
I will be leaving shortly to attend the Southwest Districts at the ATP site. Both Division I and Division II will be playing so it is an ideal place to watch players and to take photos. A really big deal with photos is having a pleasing or non-distracting background. It is not possible to have better background than what a professional tournament site provides.Just in case the only reason why you are coming to Southwest Districts today is because of the McNasty Food Truck, it will not be there. It will be at States.
Dual match scores are still coming in from earlier in the season. As long as coaches are using the OTZ score reporting system, the scores will be included online.
WEDNESDAY,
Mason, Notre Dame Academy, and Hathaway Brown Secure Final 4 Spots
Three more State Team Final Four berths have been decided. Mason defeated St. Ursula Academy and Notre Dame Academy beat Toledo St. Ursula Academy. In an earlier contest, Hathaway Brown defeated Laurel for their NE D2 spot. Only Central D1 and Northwest D2 have yet to be decided. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
In another dual match, Centerville defeated Oakwood using their State line-ups. 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 OTZ Team Members. They are led by Morgan Dobos, Maddie Kavenagh, and Nina Lazbin.
OTZ plans are to go to the Southwest Districts on Thursday, Northeast D2 Districts on Friday, and the Central District finals on Saturday. The Southwest District is played at the Lindner Family Tennis Center and their 16 courts accommodate both the Division I and Division II teams. If rainy weather bumps the Southwest District matches to Friday, that is where you will find me.
Platform tennis leagues throughout the state are preparing for their seasons. Interested in playing this invigorating outdoors racquet sport? I've got you covered in Central Ohio. Just submit a Feedback. I can probably also connect you with someone if you live elsewhere in the state. When is it too cold to play? At our club, it is 10 degrees or lower (with chill factor). Before playing, it is absolutely mandatory that participants first be tested -- and receive a positive result -- for hardiness and/or insanity..
TUESDAY,
Two More Teams to the Final Four: Magnificat Beats Hoover | Indian Hills Defeats Eaton
Two more teams get to book their trips to Reynoldsburg. Magnificat defeated North Canton Hooverand Indian Hill beat Eaton. Upper Arlington defeated Pickerington Central for an opportunity to play against Olentangy Liberty in the Central District D1 final. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
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Olentangy Liberty - Click to team page |
In other matches yesterday, Walsh Jesuit defeated St. Joseph Academy and Delaware Hayes defeated Buckeye Valley. To view the graphs from yesterday's matches, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker defeated Pickerington Central's Semmie Moore; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Magnificat's Audrey Smitek; Magnificat's Natalie Smitek defeated North Canton Hoover's Lilly Altman; Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy beat St. Joseph Academy's Tyler Schuerlein; and Upper Arlington's Megan Basil defeated Pickerington Central's Khandice Thomas. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's featured team is Olentangy Liberty. They are coached by Will Thieman. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Dani Schoenly and Kylie Wilson.
St. Ursula Academy (A) plays Mason in the Southwest District final today.
MONDAY,
District Draws Posted
The District draws are now available statewide. This is the earliest that these draws have been available so great job by all of the District tournament managers. All of the draws are accessible via the links above. (Watch for the Southwest District's draw soon.) The managers also included the full names of the players, their grades, and their schools. This is extremely important to college coaches, so again, good job.
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Oakwood's Lily McCloskey - Click to enlarge |
There will be some interesting match-ups to determine state qualifiers. Note that when the word "interesting" is used, that means it will be great viewing for fans but absolutely agonizing for the players, parents, and coaches.. The Southwest normally has some quarters that are not as strong as others and unfortunately that is the case again this year. There are some really strong players from the Mason, ATP, and Centerville Sectionals which means that strong, 1-2 seeds will have to meet before they qualify. States-worthy players that could meet in the second round include: St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast versus Mason's Anna Tonkal; Oakwood's Lily McCloskey versus Indian Hills' Bella Kirby; and Eaton's Macy Hitchcock versus CHCA's Lynn Kader. All but one of the above players have competed at States in the past.
The Northeast has numerous strong match-ups but since they get six spots for Division I and five spots for Division II, that makes it a bit easier for the top players to qualify. They must still reach the second round though and some strong first round matches include Solon's Niya Fried versus St. Joseph Academy's Tia Clemens.
The Central District has numerous good match-ups, but there are no quarters that contain the top players as is the case in the Southwest. Central gets four states spots for Division I but just one spot for Division II.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There are two big State Team Tournament matches scheduled for today. North Canton Hoover (A) plays Magnificat in the Northeast finals and it is Upper Arlington (A) versus Pickerington Central in the Central D1 semi's. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
SUNDAY,
Day 2 of Sectionals Completed
It is really nice to be able to type, "So far. So good". Hopefully that will continue..
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Orange's Caroline Sproule - Click to enlarge |
I was pleasantly surprised when I did not get eye strain on Friday after entering all of the Sectional results. Well, that feeling of happiness did not last long on Saturday. Many of the results got entered but I had to shut down things early on Saturday evening. All of the results for the Central and Northeast Districts and a portion of the Southwest are online.
Among the top players, Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff defeated Columbus Academy's Arya Chabria; St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast beat St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein; Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Mason's Anna Tonkal; Mayfield's Hannah Kassaie beat Solon's Niya Fried; Magnificat's Audrey Smitek defeated St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt; Olentangy Liberty's Dani Schoenly beat Olentangy Liberty's Kylie Wilson; Laurel's Ellie Brotherton defeated Hathaway Brown's Summer Mu; Indian Hill's Bella Kirby beat Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader; and Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz defeated Watterson's Sara Goodlive. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
More results will be entered after I return from my 8am platform tennis match.
SATURDAY,
Day 1 of Sectionals Now Online
After entering 600 matches, the Sectional results for day 1 are now online*. Congratulations to all of the players who reached Districts.
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Franklin Heights' Liliana Soy - Click to enlarge |
*The exception being the Northwest District, but watch for those later today. Since there are not many OTZ members in Northwest Ohio, that district is the quickest to do.
Since there are so many OTZ customers in the Central District, all of those matches are included. There are also a few Southwest and Northeast Sectionals with the majority of their matches included.
While reaching Districts is a big accomplishment, the top teams in the state want more. They want a #1 or #2 seed to better position themselves to get to States.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Good luck to all of the players today, especially those with short, easy to type names..
FRIDAY,
Day One of Sectionals is Finished | Mason Beats Ursuline Academy
The weather was even better than perfect yesterday as the District qualifiers in all areas of the state were determined. In fact, some Sectionals have even played their seeding rounds. How much longer until States begin? This lady knows the answer.
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Laurel - Click to team page |
In the State Team Tournament, Mason defeated Ursuline Academy. In that match, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Ursuline Academy's Nina Dhaliwal and Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes beat Mason's Anna Tonkal. Mason will play St. Ursula Academy in the Southwest District Finals. Click for the State Team Tournament Draws.
OTZ fingers were crossed, hoping that the results would be posted in the Columbus Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer, but that was not the case. OTZ will be retrieving the data from the draws to include the information on OTZ. This will take most of the day. There is little doubt that input will be interrupted numerous times as OTZ's only full-time employee persistently requests outdoor play time and an opportunity to go to the bathroom outdoors..
Today's featured team is Laurel. They are coached by Betsy O'Neill. They are Team Members. They are led by Ellie Brotherton and Julia Bowman.
There are no dual matches listed in the OTZ schedule for today.
THURSDAY,
Sectionals Breezing Along
So far so good.. Even though it has been windy, the weather has been ideal thus far. Getting through the first day of Sectionals is critical because of the number of players involved. There are just no good indoor alternatives for this many teams, and that was before the COVID-19 concerns.. While Sectionals started on Monday, today is the huge day for the Central District as it starts five of its Sectionals.
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Olentangy Liberty's Dani Schoenly - Click to enlarge |
Many of the matches in the first day are rather one-sided, especially for the seeded players. The seeding rounds on Saturday are always interesting.
Both the Cincinnati Enquirer and Columbus Dispatch are doing great with the results so far in their respective areas. Again, all of those results will be posted online - regardless if players are OTZ members.
The OTZ focus today will be on entering results but I plan to stop by the Upper Arlington location to watch and to get a few photos.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There are no dual matches scheduled.
WEDNESDAY,
Columbus Academy Beats Dublin Coffman | Notre Dame Academy Defeats Sylvania Northview
Except for the wind, it was a perfect evening. Last year, Sectional week had boiling temperatures. Among the state's top teams, Columbus Academy defeated Dublin Coffman and Notre Dame Academy beat Sylvania Northview in the State Team Tournament. There were seven matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 6 and and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hamilton Township defeated Franklin Heights; Dublin Jerome beat Olentangy Orange; and Delaware Hayes defeated Hartley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Olentangy Berlin's Ella Franz defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Libby Alderman; Dublin Coffman's Dasha Chistyakova beat Columbus Academy's Lauren Motta; Upper Arlington's Megan Basil defeated New Albany's Kary Hollenbaugh; Olentangy Orange's Karol Korotkin beat Dublin Jerome's Audrey Cook; and Notre Dame Academy's Ellie Assenmacher defeated Sylvania Northview's Fiona McDaniel. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Sectionals may be a new process for many. Because of the extremely large number of matches, here is how the results are included on OTZ. If results are included in the newspapers (Columbus Dispatch or Cincinnati Enquirer), then those results will be included on OhioTennisZone. For the results not in those huge score aggregators, OTZ retrieves the Sectional results for players if the Coach or Team has an OTZ membership or if the Parent/Player has an OTZ membership. Results will largely be gathered after a Sectional is completed to reduce the number of duplicate postings on OTZ. Some Sectionals delay the posting of the results, and obviously that is a problem. The Columbus Dispatch has done an incredible job with Sectional results in previous years, but this year has been challenging for them. We will see what happens..
OhioTennisZone will recognize the players who reach States by including their photos on the OTZ online draw. Click to view the State Draws for 2019. This is extremely time consuming process and alert readers know that OTZ did this with Ohio High School State draws before the Grand Slams did it for professional tennis. (Pause and think about that for a second..) To my knowledge, no other state recognizes their high school players to this extent. Since OTZ needs the photos of State Qualifiers, *think* about getting your qualifier's photo to OTZ immediately after they qualify for States. Don't do it yet though.. That would be a kid jinxing mistake..
There were no matches included in the schedule today as teams either play in or prepare for Sectionals.
TUESDAY,
Columbus Academy Gets 1st State Team Tournament Final Four Spot
Columbus Academy now has something to do on October 25th. CA defeated Wellington, 3-1, to get the first Final Four spot in the State Team Tournament. To advance to the District Finals in their respective draws, Olentangy Liberty defeated Olentangy Orange and St. Ursula Academy beat Sycamore. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
There were 17 dual matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 10, Southwest - 2, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: DeSales defeated Worthington Christian; Lancaster beat Granville; Pickerington Central defeated Watkins Memorial; and Laurel beat Beachwood. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Columbus Academy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Marc Wurtzman. They are Team Members. They are led by Sydni Ratliff, Carolyn Tsung, and Lauren Motta.
Sectionals began yesterday in the Northeast and Southwest Districts. To prevent duplicates from being entered, OTZ will wait until the Sectionals are completed before posting the results.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Dublin Coffman; Upper Arlington (A) versus New Albany; and Centerville (H) versus Miamisburg. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
OTZ College Report | Sectionals Begin Today
The OhioTennisZone College Report for the 2020-2021 season is now available. It includes information on 156 Ohio high school players who are competing in D1, D2, and D3 college tennis programs. High school tennis players tend to do well after high school, and this report is a way to recognize them by making it easy for fans to see where they are attending college and what their college majors are. (Perhaps you will even want to hire one of these players when they graduate from college and include them on your company's tennis team..) It is also fun to see how much the players have changed physically since their high school years.
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OTZ College Report - Click to enlarge |
This report includes easy access to each player's OTZ Player Profile, the player's high school profile photo, his/her college tennis web site, and one click access to a player's OTZ action photos.
Because this report is very time consuming to create, note that this it is not exhaustive. OTZ primarily focuses on players who had OTZ Player Profiles (or in other words were team or individual OTZ members).
Players who did not have OTZ Player Profiles are often still listed, especially if the college coach is an OTZ member.
Several colleges have terminated their tennis programs and their players are still listed. This includes Wright State (Jillian Milano, Anna Reynolds, and Madison Riley) and Notre Dame of Ohio (Hayleigh Tucker).
This report will be tweaked over time because many colleges have not yet updated their rosters for this year.
This report includes an occasional update on how Ohio's professional players are doing on the tour. This information was updated this morning and it is in the right-side navigation bar.
This is Sectional week as the march toward Districts and States begins. Sectionals begin today in the Northeast District's Solon and Canton locations.
Today's matches include: St. Ursula Academy (H) versus Sycamore; Upper Arlington (H) versus Watterson; Westerville North (H) versus Hilliard Bradley; and Mayfield (A) versus Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Mason Wins GMC | North Canton Hoover Beats St. Joseph Academy
There were tournaments and one key State Team Tournament match yesterday. Mason won the Greater Miami Conference. They won all of the flights. In the State Team Tournament, North Canton Hoover defeated St. Joseph Academy. Hoover faces Magnificat in the Northeast Finals. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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SJA's Amara Brahmbhatt - Click to enlarge |
Click to view the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
Among the top players, Mason's Shyla Aggarwal defeated Sycamore's Gabrielle Frischer; St. Joseph Academy's Amara Brahmbhatt beat North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher; Mason's Anna Tonkal defeated Sycamore's Marilene VandenBerg; and St. Joseph Academy's Tia Clemens beat North Canton Hoover's Lilly Altman. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today would be a great day for teams to enter older results. Older results can be submitted at any time.
SATURDAY,
Solon Defeats Laurel
There were just three matches recorded from yesterday: Solon defeated Laurel; Avon beat Kenston; and Pickerington Central defeated Watterson. To view the graphs from yesterday's matches, click on Previous Day's Match Results. For the State Tournament results, click on OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws
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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, Phoebe Shi, and Ariel Hsieh.
The headliner match today is the State Team Tournament match between OTZ #4 North Canton Hoover and #5 St. Joseph Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY,
Ursuline Academy Beats St. Ursula Academy | Upper Arlington Defeats Reynoldsburg
Rain arrived into Central Ohio at just the wrong time yesterday and many matches were affected. Among the top teams, Ursuline Academy defeated St. Ursula Academy and Upper Arlington beat Reynoldsburg. There were just four matches recorded. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
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Eaton's Sophia Murphy - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast defeated Ursuline Academy's Nina Dhaliwal; North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher beat Highland's Jo Oberhaus; Walsh Jesuit's Emma Kealy defeated Hudson's Laura Nijhuis; St. Ursula Academy's Emily Jennewein beat Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes; and North Canton Hoover's Addy Utterback defeated Highland's Sammy Kuczynski. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
There are 12 cheers posted thus far for the OTZ Cheer Contest. Some of these were entered while others were captured by OTZ. Cheers need to be submitted by the end of Sectionals which is on October 10. The plan as of now (which is subject to change within five minutes) is to total the number of Twitter Likes and Retweets that each cheer generates. The cheers with the highest totals will be included in a Twitter poll. The top five cheers so far (sorted in totals order) are: Laurel (32), Notre Dame Academy (27), Westerville North (25), Columbus Academy (22), and Wilmington (21). The others (in alphabetical order) are: Big Walnut, Bishop Hartley, Centerville, Dublin Jerome, Olentangy (Excellent), Watkins Memorial, and Worthington Kilbourne.This is not a Photo Friday. OTZ traveled to Cincinnati last Saturday for the Coaches Classic but those were the only photos taken this week due to weather issues. More from that tournament will be posted after several names are confirmed.
Today's matches include: Avon (H) versus Kenston; Laurel (H) versus Solon; and Seven Hills (A) versus St. Ursula Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY,
Ursuline Academy Beats Cincinnati Hills | Massillon Jackson Defeats Solon
It was a windy evening. Ursuline Academy defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and Massillon Jackson beat Solon. There were 22 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 9, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Granville defeated Worthington Kilbourne; Watkins Memorial beat Reynoldsburg; Chaminade-Julienne defeated Northwestern; Grandview beat Canal Winchester; Big Walnut defeated Worthington Christian; and Newark beat Westerville North. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy Orange - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff defeated Olentangy's Pranjal Agochiya; Solon's Niya Fried beat Massillon Jackson's Paige Reese; Hilliard Bradley's Anh Thi Thai defeated Dublin Jerome's Ella Oleson; Worthington Kilbourne's Libby Alderman beat Granville's Eckels; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Lynn Kader defeated Ursuline Academy's Bridget Estes; Dublin Coffman's Pritika Ghosh-Choudhuri beat Dublin Scioto's Srivastava; Reynoldsburg's Kareen Meoko defeated Watkins Memorial's Breaunna Doucette; and Olentangy Orange's Karol Korotkin beat Westerville Central's Sidney Choo. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
All of the Sectional Draws have now been posted. These draws are available via the links at the top of this page. They will remain there until the District Draws are posted.
Today's featured team is Olentangy Orange. They are coached by Susan Storrer. They are Team Members. They are led by Caroline Sproule, Karol Korotkin, and Tyler Reed.
Today's matches include: North Canton Hoover (H) versus Highland; St. Ursula Academy (H) versus Ursuline Academy; Columbus School For Girls (H) versus Olentangy Berlin; and Upper Arlington (A) versus Reynoldsburg. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY,
Magnificat Beats Highland and Upper Arlington Defeats Wellington
Tennis was back in full force yesterday with regular and State Team Tournament matches. In the State Team Tournament, Magnificat defeated Highland and Pickerington Central beat Hilliard Bradley. In an OTZ Top Ten match, Upper Arlington defeated Wellington; There were 18 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 4, and Northeast - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Dublin Scioto defeated Hilliard Darby; Olentangy beat Upper Arlington-B; Dublin Jerome defeated Gahanna; Oak Hills beat Sycamore-B; and Hartley defeated Whetstone. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. For the State Tournament results, click on OTZ Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
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Centerville - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long. They are led by Caroline Hinshaw, Clara Owen, and Arabelle MacPherson.
Today's matches include: Hathaway Brown (H) versus North Canton Hoover; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Solon; Notre Dame Academy (H) versus Sylvania Northview; and Dublin Coffman (A) versus Dublin Scioto. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY,
Rain. Finally.
It may not have been a complete rain-out, but it was close enough. There were just two matches reported, Louisville defeated Manchester and Lancaster beat Athens. It had been two weeks since Central Ohio had received rain. To view the graphs from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Orange - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Orange. They are coached by Rich Bole. They are Team Members. They are led by Alexis Nyborg and Natalie Borsch.
The Central and Southwest Districts have posted all of their draws. While the Mason location was posted, it does not include the player names which means that it is not very helpful. For example, it uses "Sycamore #3", rather than the name of the player. The Northwest has posted most of their locations. The Northeast has not posted any of their draws.
There are plans to catch up on the big backlog of email messages today.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Highland; St. Ursula Academy (A) versus Wyoming; and Upper Arlington (A) versus Wellington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
Sectional Draw Edition
Yesterday was the Sectional Draw day throughout Ohio. The draws will be posted (or linked to) as they become available.
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Mason's Shyla Aggarwal - Click to enlarge |
The first draws posted were for Central District Division I. There were no major surprises on who are playing singles and doubles. Players of note: Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker and Megan Basil and Olentangy Orange's Caroline Sproule and Tyler Reed are playing doubles. The Central District normally allows teams to pick their Sectional location, but not this year. The teams returned to the same location as last year. The draws were conducted via Microsoft Teams and the process appeared to go very smoothly. I was a typist for the Upper Arlington Sectional and we finished at 2:50pm. Central D1 gets four spots for States.
Click for the Central District Division 2 Draws. Central only gets one spot for States which obviously makes it tough for the other players when a Division II State Singles Champion (Sydni Ratliff) is in your district.
The Southwest Draws are here. All of the draws are posted except for the Mason Site. Some of the stronger players were expected to team up for doubles in Division II, but many did not.
When the Northeast District makes their Sectional draws available, they will be here.
When the Northwest District makes their Sectional draws available, they will be here. The Northwest Districts' draws are normally the last to be posted. The Northwest has also not made any updates to their State Team Tournament Draws. C'mon Northwest, listen to Arnold. The parents and players like to know what's going on.
As other draws become available, they will be posted on or linked to from OhioTennisZone. Aware of draws that are posted but not linked to from OhioTennisZone? Please submit a Feedback.
Today's matches include: Mayfield (A) versus Solon and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (A) versus Ursuline Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY,
Mason Wins Flight A of GCTCAC, Ursuline Academy Wins Flight B
There were several tournaments held yesterday. The highly successful Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Classic was completed. Mason won Flight A and St. Ursula Academy finished second. The winner of Flight B was Ursuline Academy and Seven Hills was second. Highland won the Surburban League-American Division Tournament. Revere was the runner-up.
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SUA's Elizabeth Pendergast - Click to enlarge |
There were also several big dual matches. Upper Arlington defeated Oakwood and Magnificat beat Rocky River. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, St. Ursula Academy's Elizabeth Pendergast defeated Mason's Shyla Aggarwal and Indian Hills' Brooke Arington; Mason's Shyla Aggarwal beat Indian Hill's Brooke Arington; Magnificat's Audrey Smitek defeated Rocky River's Samantha Robertson; Upper Arlington's Ella Hazelbaker beat Oakwood's Lily McCloskey; and Revere's Morgan Dobos defeated Highland's Madison Pawlak. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
As it is probably clear from the above photo, OTZ traveled to the Classic's Flight A round-robin tournament. It was great to meet a few new parents and to see the strong competition. The common theme was "how can we keep our kids out of quarantine?". The State tournament that is four weeks from now could get blown up quickly if kids cannot compete in Sectionals.
Today is the day for the big Sectional Draw. Let's hope that it goes smoothly. Hopefully the Sectionals that are doing in-person draws will not have anyone exposed to COVID-19. For those doing the draws remotely, we will keep our fingers crossed that there will not technical issues.
SATURDAY,
St. Joseph Academy