Girls tennis: Amherst rally falls short in state team tournament

AVON — Amherst's rally fell just short. Deadlocked at two wins each, the Comets' opening-round match in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association state team tournament came down to a third set at second doubles. Amherst's Avery Hawley and Madison Clappas shook off a 6-1 loss in the first set to win the second 6-4, but ultimately GlenOak's Abbey Caldwell and Jaylynn Crites survived 6-3 in the third Friday to clinch the team victory 3-2. "The thing that I was most proud of is they've been playing all year, but this was our first match that had some weight behind it, a tournament," Amherst coach Kyle Hougland said. "This is the first time that they've had to deal with anything like that. These are two girls who played JV their first two years. I loved watching them have that experience of knowing everything's riding on them. I'm glad that they could have that experience." The Comets' loss means Avon is once again the last Lorain County team standing in the OTCA Division I Northeast district draw. The Eagles won their opening match against Brecksville 5-0 on Friday and will host Uniontown Lake in the second round at a date to be determined. Avon Lake was eliminated in the opening round by St. Joseph 4-1 on Aug. 8. In Division II, Vermilion will host Huron in its opening-round match Thursday. Amherst (2-2) took care of business at first and third singles. Kayla Bussard improved to 4-0 on the season — she's at 62 wins for her career — with a routine 6-1, 6-0 win against Avery Swierz. "My serves were really consistent," Bussard said. "It felt like every single one of my forehands were going in and I hit a lot of backhand winners. This is our first time doing this tournament. It's a learning experience. Now we know what to expect from teams in this tournament." Emma Timko improved to 3-1 on the season, going up 4-0 in the first set against Lydia Hennessy and eventually building a 5-2 lead. Hennessy got one of the two breaks back, but Timko broke to close out the set 6-3. It was smooth sailing from there as she built a 3-0 lead that eventually turned into a 6-1 win. "I thought I did pretty well," Timko said. "There were certain aspects like my backhand I thought I could have done better on. Momentum plays a big role in the second set, at least for me. It keeps my mind in a good place. So if I win the first set, usually the second set is all right." GlenOak's first doubles team of Hadley Fox and Averie Bickel had a routine 6-1, 6-1 win against Sadi Dorazio and Mari Bak. Amherst freshman Sienna Nagy had a tight first set at second singles against Emily Hallaman, but led 5-4 with a chance to serve it out. Hallaman broke her twice to take the first set 7-5 and ultimately won the final nine games of the match. Caldwell and Crites got off to a fast start at second doubles, but Hawley and Clappas took a 5-2 lead in the second set. The GlenOak duo broke back and held, putting the pressure on the Comets to serve out the set. They responded with four straight points. GlenOak broke Amherst in the second game and took a 3-0 lead in the third set, but the Comets held and got the break back at 3-2. GlenOak capitalized on a double fault to take a 4-2 lead. Amherst had two chances to break back in the next game, but GlenOak forced deuce and held four points later for a 5-2 lead. The Comets held to put the pressure on the Eagles to serve out the match, and they responded in kind, shaking off a double fault with back-to-back unreturned serves. "Having a match like this so early is going to prepare us for the other tournaments that we will be going to," Hougland said. "There's going to be some weight that goes on matches and that's something some of these girls haven't felt going into today." Contact Chris Sweeney at(440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. GlenOak 3, Amherst 2FIRST SINGLES: Kayla Bussard (A) def. Avery Swierz, 6-1, 6-0.SECOND SINGLES: Emily Hallaman (G) def. Sienna Nagy, 7-5, 6-0.THIRD SINGLES: Emma Timko (A) def. Lydia Hennessy, 6-3, 6-1.FIRST DOUBLES: Hadley Fox-Averie Bickel (G) def. Sadi Dorazio-Mari Bak, 6-1, 6-1.SECOND DOUBLES: Abbey Caldwell-Jaylynn Crites (G) def. Avery Hawley-Madison Clappas, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.