Girls state tennis: Rough day for locals as all bow out in Mason

Once Elizabeth Ammori and Adriana Guillermo forced a tiebreaker, they knew they could pull a big upset.The Magnificat freshmen stunned Upper Arlington's Danielle Ball and Sylvie Lederer with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win against the Central/Southeast district champions in the opening round of the Division I state tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason on Thursday.The Upper Arlington seniors were the only No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round in either Division I draw."We came into the breaker knowing we could finish it," said Ammori, an Avon resident. "In the second set, we were calmer and we played more aggressive. The tiebreaker was really big. We wanted to end it in two rather than three because three would have been tiring. It felt really good because I feel like if we can make it this far freshman year, whatever we end up doing in the future we could go very far."Ammori and Guillermo ended their season in the quarterfinals, losing 6-3, 6-4 to Vanmayi Podili and Bhavana Singidi of Mason, who advanced its entire lineup to the state semifinals, including three doubles teams. The doubles semifinals will look a lot like a district tournament as all four qualifiers from the Southwest advanced.The Blue Streaks freshmen, who played Nos. 1 and 2 singles during the regular season, will finish the season with All-Ohio second-team honors."I was so excited when we won our first match," Guillermo said. "It was really fun going to state and being at this facility. I'm definitely going to work in the offseason to improve my game so hopefully next year we can make it even further and then further after that."The rest of Lorain County bowed out in the opening round. Amherst senior Kayla Bussard lost to Upper Arlington's Alexa Roth 6-0, 6-2, concluding a record-setting career. All four district champions ultimately advanced to the Division I singles semifinals.Bussard leaves Amherst as the school's all-time wins leader at 91-30. She went 33-4 her senior year winning her first 31 singles matches and represented the Comets at the state tournament for the first time since 2004. She is the school's first singles qualifier since 1999.Magnificat's other doubles team of Marissa Packer, an Avon Lake resident, and Molly Williams had arguably the toughest opening-round matchup. They lost 6-0, 6-0 to Mason's Adriana Moreno and Saanvi Reddy, the team who defeated the defending state champions in the Southwest district final.The tournament concludes today with the semifinals and placement matches, beginning at 9 a.m. On Saturday, Magnificat also will face Perrysburg in the state semifinals of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association state team tournament. The Blue Streaks will then either play for the championship or third place against Mason or New Albany.The OTCA state tournament is scheduled to take place at Mason high school, but there's a chance play could be moved to the Lindner Family Tennis Center."We're all really excited," Ammori said. "We're all ready to play. We all have a lot of energy that we've been building up for this weekend. We want to use our energy and hopefully reach the final."Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.