MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon senior Marah Staats and junior Lucy Ogle lived up to expectations in last Saturday’s Ohio Cardinal Conference girls tennis tournament.
The second-seeded Staats won the silver medal in the third singles category, while the third-seeded Ogle placed third among the No. 2 singles players in the tournament, which Mount Vernon hosted at MVNU’s Ramser Courts and at Memorial Park.
Mount Vernon girls tennis coach Steve Tier, who guided his team to their first winning head-to-head conference record (3-2) during his tenure, was awarded with OCC Coach of the Year honors.
“That was a big surprise,” Tier said. “I wasn’t expecting that, but our performance was representative of the whole team. It wasn’t just certain people winning all of the time. All of the positions won some matches during the three head-to-head matches we won this season.”
The Jackets, who defeated Lexington during the regular season, finished fourth as a team in Saturday’s tournament. Lexington was third.
Staats got a bye in Saturday’s first round. Her only loss of the day was to top-seed Minnie Pozefsky of Wooster in the finals (6-2, 6-2). Pozefsky also gave Staats trouble during the regular season, but Staats proved to be a tougher opponent on Saturday.
“I did a hundred percent better against (Pozefsky) this time,” Staats said. “I kind of adapted more to her strategy to where I could win four games in the match. It was very competitive.”
All of the elements that Staats and her coaches have tried to work into her game during the season seemed to emerge on Saturday.
“I felt that I was more aggressive in these matches,” Staats said. “I think that my (shot) placement was a little better than normal yesterday. I figured out the strategy of the other players and I tried to adapt to the way that they played.”
Ogle; who dropped her championship semifinal match to Wooster’s Audrey Cochran 6-1, 6-2; came back in the third-place final to defeat Gabby Wallace of Lexington 8-1.
Justine Hull placed fourth in the No. 1 singles bracket, losing to eventual champion Grace Pfieffer of Lexington 6-1, 6-1. Hull dropped the third place final to Sophia Mathur of Wooster 8-4.
Mount Vernon’s No. 1 doubles team of Emma Annett and Anna Dinnen placed fourth. The Jackets’ No. 2 doubles team of Molly Clow and Jessie Gourley also finished fourth.
Wooster entered the tournament with 22 regular season match points. The Generals scored 24 points in the tournament and clinched the OCC title with a total of 46 points. They were followed by Ashland (34) and Lexington (33). Mount Vernon finished fourth in the conference with 21 points.
