The 5th annual Kokosing Valley Community Tennis Association’s Girls’ Tennis Team Invitational was played on August 7 at the Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s Ramser Tennis Courts and the City of Mount Vernon’s Memorial Park tennis courts.
The teams involved were Big Walnut, Clear Fork, Dover, Granville, Jonathan Alder, Mount Vernon, Newark, and St. Francis DeSales high schools.
To help limit the chance of transmission of the COVID virus, matches used the shorter 8-game pro set format instead of the traditional best two out of three sets.
Champions were crowned in each of the 5 positions that make up a high school team. Players earned points for their teams for each victory they earned. A team champion was determined by the number of points won by a team across all 5 positions’ tournament.
This year’s team champion for a second consecutive year was Big Walnut with a team total of 31 points. The other teams’ scores were St. Frances DeSales, 25; Granville, 22; Dover, 21; Mount Vernon, 17; Clear Fork, 15; Jonathan Alder, 11; and Newark, 2.
Mount Vernon’s Lucy Ogle was a finalist in the 1st singles tournament. She lost to her opponent from Granville, 8-5.
The second singles tournament was won by Kina Ehlers of Big Walnut. She didn’t lose a game on her way through the tournament, winning the title in the final against Maisie Dugger of Dover, 8-0.
The third singles tournament was won by Allie Sarff from St. Francis DeSales. Her opponent in the final, Addy Smith of Big Walnut, had to retire during the match due to complications from the heat.
The first doubles team of Karen Ambrose and Rosie Hartzler from Big Walnut won their tournament with an 8 -2 defeat of Pascaline Ndayishimue and Maddie Hill from St. Frances DeSales.
The second doubles tournament was won by the St. Frances DeSales’s team of Caroline Leithauser and Olivia Sanabria in an exciting final that was decided by a tie-break at 7 games all. The Stallions won 7 points to 1 to claim an 8-7 victory over Jenna Austin and Sam Blackburn from Big Walnut.
Mount Vernon players finished as follows: second singles player Emma Annett finished 7th, third singles player Anna Dinnen placed 6th, first doubles players Molly Clow and Addison Cooperider finished 3rd, and second doubles players Leah Gourley and Grace Mayville finished in 5th place.
