State tennis: Highland doubles team's run comes to an end in first round

Lily Hantz's successful junior season and senior Claire Schlak's standout high school tennis career came to an end Thursday at the Division I state doubles tournment at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.Hantz and Schlak played much better in the second set but fell 6-0, 6-4 to Mason's Bhavana Singidi and Vanmayi Podili in the first round."It was competitive," Hantz said. "The first set we were just trying to figure their game out and we had a slow start. The second set we started communicating better and figuring out their weaknesses and targeting them more.""We played up to what we've been trained to do, but there were too many mistakes and definitely not enough net work," Schlak added. "They were good, but they were beatable. It was a little frustrating."Highland's top singles players in the regular season, Hantz and Schlak won the Solon Sectional and finished second at the Northeast District at Springside Athletic club.Singidi and Podili finished fourth at the Southwest District, but the first- and second-place teams were also from Mason, which has won eight straight D-I state team titles at the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Tournament.A year ago, Singidi won a doubles match at state with a different partner, then fell in three sets in the quarterfinals to a team that went on to lose to the other Comets entry in the championship. Mason also had the state singles champ in 2024.The Magnificat doubles team of freshmen Elizabeth Ammori and Medina Township resident Adriana Guillermo, which lost in three sets to Highland last weekend in the district semifinals and went on to finish fourth, downed Central/Southeast District champions Dani Ball and Sylvie Lederer 7-6, 6-3 in the first round Thursday. Ammori and Guillermo, the Blue Streaks' top singles players in the regular season, then fell 6-3, 6-4 to Mason's Singidi and Podili in the quarterfinals.Three of the four doubles teams in the state semifinals are from Mason, as is defending singles state champion Addison Cassidy."I don't feel like we got the luckiest draw," Schlak said.After a rough first set, Hantz and Schlak were up a break at 4-2 in the second, but Mason won the last four games to close the match."The first set we were right there with them," Schlak said. "It was just the lack of ability to end the point. The points seemed like they were going on forever. Then our confidence got better, we got returns in and we started believing in ourselves."The key for Hantz and Schlak in the second set was being more aggressive and getting to the net more frequently. That helped the Hornets take the lead, but they suffered two service breaks and were unable to close the set."It took us a little bit of time to start to penetrate the net like we're capable of," Highland coach Lisa Reynolds said. "In the second set, we started to do that. We were up a break, then we lost our break and let it get away from us."They had moments where they played brilliantly," Reynolds added of the duo's postseason run. "That was their potential."It was Hantz's first state tournament appearance, but she will enter her senior season as a three-time All-Gazette choice."It was a really cool experience and really fun," she said. "Having Claire along for the ride made the season even better."It was Schlak's second state appearance in doubles — she lost in the first round with Ally Haynes in 2024 — in a career that will end with her third straight All-Gazette selection."It's definitely a great accomplishment," she said. "I'm happy I could get here two times, but it would have been nice to win a match or two." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.