WOOSTER — There might have been talk Thursday night that Friday’s Division I state girls tennis doubles semifinal between Dublin Jerome’s Adayla Coakley and Lydia Foster and New Albany’s Paige Cornelius and Richardlyne Francois could serve as a rubber match for the season series.
Foster and Coakley defeated Francois and Cornelius in tight regular-season singles matches in September, but Cornelius and Francois returned the favor with a 6-0, 6-2 sweep in a district doubles semifinal Saturday.
Friday’s match, however, will have the highest stakes yet with a spot in the state final on the line.
“We figured central Ohio might do well just judging from how often we’ve seen each other and how strong all these teams are,” Coakley said. “It’s exciting. We’re glad to be a part of it. We’ll see what we can do.”
Coakley and Foster, seniors who also made state as a doubles tandem in 2021, gutted out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) first-round win at the College of Wooster over Mason’s Ana Gotike and Saanvi Reddy and beat Whitehouse Anthony Wayne’s Mara Boyd and Cora Langenderfer 6-3, 6-1.
Cornelius and Francois, both seniors and last year’s state runners-up, swept through Thursday with wins over Rocky River Magnificat’s Corinne Daniels and Molly Williams (6-2, 6-0) and Cincinnati Walnut Hills’ Irisa and Perasa Poompanit (6-3, 6-2).
“Our strategies are better (than last year), we play smart when we need to and how to switch it up depending on the opponent,” Francois said. “Everything has improved in our game from last year. We don’t think about being a favorite or anything, we just keep our heads up and see if we can do good things.”
The winner will face Worthington Kilbourne’s Libby Alderman and Tyra Butler or Mason’s Pratyusha Chaudhuri and Emma Wagner in the final.
Alderman, a senior, and Butler, a sophomore, faced few difficulties in sweeps of Anthony Wayne’s Mallory Rettig and Emily Szul (6-0, 6-1) and North Canton Hoover’s Ema Papcke and Addison Shell (6-2, 6-4). They had placed fourth at district.
“Tyra is really athletic, really fast, so getting things by her is really hard,” said Alderman, who also qualified in singles as a freshman in 2020. “I have good endurance and she has good speed. It works really well. It’s a great experience to be back, playing against really good people.”
Chaudhuri and Wagner defeated Upper Arlington sisters Isabella Roth and Alexa Roth 6-2, 6-1 in the second round. Isabella, a senior, and Alexa, a freshman, opened with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Hoover’s Nyla Spangler and Bridget Fink.
None of central Ohio’s Division I singles players advanced to Friday.
Dublin Coffman junior Lauren Burkett, Olentangy Berlin freshman Soleil Cordell and Olentangy Orange junior Avery Reed each went 1-1, and Coffman senior Pritika Ghosh Choudhuri fell to Mason’s Amara Brahmbhatt 6-0, 6-2 in the first round.
Burkett shut out Medina Highland’s Ally Haynes 6-0, 6-0 and lost to Avon’s Natalie Smitek 7-5, 2-6, 6-0. Cordell cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin’s Elena Fleming 6-3, 6-2 and fell to Cincinnati Turpin’s Sarah Clark 6-1, 6-3, and Reed edged Perrysburg’s Penelope Giammarco 7-6, 6-3 before falling to Tess Bucher of Hoover 6-1, 6-0.
Bexley’s Bowles nears repeat in Division II
Defending Division II singles champion Amiya Bowles did not lose a game in two matches Thursday, winning 6-0, 6-0 over Lima Shawnee’s Ava Patel in the first round and Dayton Miami Valley School’s Ginevra Muratori in the second.
Bowles, undefeated in 15 matches this season, will face Eaton’s Mallory Hitchcock in a semifinal.
“I wasn’t nervous, I was more excited, and the adrenaline was really there,” Bowles said. “I’m starting to develop a kick serve and get my footwork together. The kick serve takes the ball out of (my opponent’s) strike zone and makes it easier for me and harder for them.”
Columbus Academy seniors Yasemin Bilgin and Arya Chabria cruised in the doubles bracket with wins over Port Clinton’s Gracie Arnold and Reagan Ruthsatz (6-0, 6-0) and Cincinnati Mariemont’s Lucy Glassmeyer and Ella Malafa (7-5, 6-3). They will play Ottawa Hills’ Catherine Rhegness and Bryn Tangeman in a semifinal.
“We knew we loved playing together last year and we wanted to give this another try,” Chabria said. “We’ve known each other since we were 8. We have great chemistry and we know each other really well.”
The Vikings’ other doubles team of senior Grace Philip and sophomore Sophie Wu split two matches. They opened with a 6-1, 6-1 sweep of Shelby’s Bella Carver and Annie Mahek and lost to Cincinnati Indian Hill’s Brooke Arington and Lillian Dwyer 6-3, 6-1.
Academy junior Tamanna Arya lost to Indian Hill’s Martha Thompson 6-0, 6-1 in the first round.
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