Ohio High School Tennis

 

ARCHIVE -- August 2016 - June 2017

 

FRIDAY,

Midwest Closed

The biggest, most important Midwest Section tournament of the USTA season takes place beginning tomorrow (Saturday) in Indianapolis. Those players who do great in this tournament go on to play at the Hard Courts in San Diego (girls) and Kalamazoo (boys). Ohio has numerous high-level seeds in these tournaments, and the players along with their seeding positions are identified in the parentheses. Also identified are the incoming freshman (IN). Click Midwest Closed to follow the action.

Reece Yakubov
St. Charles' Reece Yakubov- Click to enlarge
The boys in the B16's are: Mason's Niraj Komatineni (#1 seed), Saiprakash Goli (#2), Shashank Reddy (#25), and Pranav Viswanathan; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur (#4) and Max DeCurtins; New Albany's Nathan Jose (#11); Wellington's Trevor Ball; University School's Chas Norman and Charlie Joranko; Sycamore's Alex Karev; St. John's Jesuit's Anish Karnani; and St. Charles' Reece Yakubov (IN).

The boys in the B18's are: New Albany's Robert Cash (#2 seed); University School's Paul Gota (#8); Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai (#22); Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel (#25); Solon's Rotnov (#27); St. Charles' Jack Dabek; St. Ignatius' Josh Hsia, Sycamore's Varun Kalaiarasan and Nathan Zhang, St. John Jesuit's Akhil Katragadda, Wyoming's Joseph Kelly, Columbus Academy's Lawrence, Hawken's Ryan Leizman, Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps, and Mason's Vishnu Srinath.

Jamie Kim
Mason's Jamie Kim - Click to enlarge
Also playing from Ohio in the B16's are: Kai Britz, Nathan Englehart, Wilder Geier, Christopher Knight, Raj Kumar, Greg Morgione, Chukwudumebi and Onyedikachukwu Smarty, Ryan Stocker, Drew Swisher, Chester Wickwire, and Aiden Williams. Other B18 players include: Zach Beaschler, Clark Bilinovich, Tim Cianciola, Dominic Ciucci, Colten Clark, Aris Jhaveri, Colton Morehart, Michael Rutter, Grant Smith, William Sultan, Dan Thomas, Nick Williams, and Aaron Yeh.

The girls in the G16's are: Mason's Jamie Kim (#1) (IN), Nataly Kader (#7) (IN), and Ananya Aggarwal; Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff (#2) (IN); Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk (#5) and Olivia Rondini; Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch (#12), Nicole Gillinov (#19), Isabella Daverio, Megan Qiang, and Rebecca Wolf; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn (#13); Gilmour Academy's Carly Cohen (#18); Hawken's Stephanie Shulman (#30); Clay's Madison Arquette; Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky; Summit Country Day's Elizabeth Fahrmeier (IN); Turpin's Caitlin Fisher; Upper Arlington's Paige Kompa; Toledo Central Catholic's Ava McQuillin; Dublin Jerome's Jiaqi Liu and Reagan Resor; and Dublin Coffman's Katherine Wang.

Sydni Ratliff
Col. Academy's Sydni Ratliff - Click to enlarge
The girls in the G18's are: Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal (#31) and Vicki Chang; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti; Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones; Carroll's Jillian Milano; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Irene Norman; Ursuline Academy's Gabriella O`Connor; Upper Arlington's Anna Marie Reynolds; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio; and Centennial's Zoey Weil.

Also playing from Ohio in the G16's are: Chloe Barr, Marie Discini, Alexandra Garofoli, Kyleigh Henthorn, Mikenzie Hindenlang, Taylor Kuncl, Blessing Nwaozuzu (#14), Emma Peeler (#25), Libbey Rhegness, Sarah Robertson, Angelica Ross (#29), and Maggie Yang. Other G18 players include: Molly Sanberg (#5), Emily Thomas (#11), Kelli Niehaus (#13), Claudia Althans, Emma Deimling, Maverick Delp, Laura Haley, Anjali Kashyap, Lauren Longo, Kathryn Mattimoe, Madison Mueller, Megan Reese, Amanda Reinhart, Marisa Ricciardi, Sophia Spinazze, Emily Thomas, and Sabine Worthoff.

OTZ will be going to the Closed to watch the tournament and to take photos. Look for me on Sunday.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Top Photos of the Boys 2017 Season

The Top Photos of the Boys 2017 season are now online. This year, twelve photos made the list. I think the photos from this season compare favorably to the top photos from previous boys seasons and from the girls, but you can be the judge of that. Click to view the boys for 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014. Click to view the top photos for the girls for 2016, 2015, and 2014.

Chas Norman
University's Chas Norman - Click to enlarge
The characteristics of a good photo include: good eye-on-ball, even lighting, good action, and a non-distracting background (i.e. Upper Arlington's signs and the New Albany's porta john). I also like to include a variety of shots, such as forehands, backhand volleys, "reaching" shots, etc. Generally, it is easier to take better photos of the girls because their uniforms are more colorful and because their pony-tails and skirts depict more movement. (The optimal pony tail length is seven to ten inches.)

Unlike in previous years, all photos are available for purchase, even photos from States. In fact, I think it is now fine if you would like to purchase a States photo from previous years. Just submit a Feedback or email me if you would like to purchase a photo.

Sign-in and click to view all of the photos from this season.

At this point, it is uncertain how many of these photos will make the Top Photos of 2017 Video Slideshow. Click to view the Top Photos for 2016.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Rising Freshmen and Their Schools

Fans and coaches like to see who the strong players are on the horizon. This is especially helpful for the coaches because it helps with scheduling. Using TennisRecruiting.net, OTZ identifies the players who are in the Top 500 in the nation. After those players are identified, it is time to figure out which schools they plan to attend. I need your help with this.

OhioTennisZone.com
Top Rising Freshmen Boys (alphabetical order)
Player / TRN Stars City / School
Devin Boyer * * * Columbus / New Albany
Connor Krings * * * New Albany / New Albany
Anish Madgula * * Mason
Benjamin Martin * * * Canfield
Ryan Mudre * * * New Albany / New Albany
Ty Rothchild * * * * Beachwood
Charles Temming * * * * Loveland / St. Xavier
Yukun Wang * * * * Highland Heights
Reece Yakubov * * * * Columbus / St. Charles

Only schools for Reece Yakubov and Charles Temming have been identified thus far. If you have inside knowledge of which school a player plans to attend, please submit a Feedback.

If an incoming school is an OTZ Team Member, player names have clickable links to their TennisRecruiting.net profiles. (Subliminal message to incoming freshmen - don't you want to be on a team that takes high school tennis seriously enough to be an OTZ Team Member?)

The TennisRecruiting.net star ratings are also included by all of the players.

Based on where some of these players are competing in tournaments, some are likely no longer living in Ohio.

OhioTennisZone.com
Top Incoming Freshmen Girls (alphabetical)
Player / TRN City / School
Madeline Atway * * * * * Powell / Olentangy Liberty
Nina Dhaliwal * * West Chester / Ursuline Academy
Arya Dudipala * * * Dublin / Dublin Jerome
Elizabeth Fahrmeier * * * * Cincinnati / Summit Country Day
Ella Hazelbaker * * * Columbus / Upper Arlington
Nataly Kader * * * * Mason / Mason
Hannah Kassaie * * * * Highland Heights
Jamie Kim * * * * * Mason / Mason
Bella Kirby * * * Cincinnati / St. Ursula Academy
Annie Kruse * * Mason
Elizabeth Pendergast * * * Cincinnati / St. Ursula Academy
Sydni Ratliff Blue Chip Gahanna / Columbus Academy
Danielle Schoenly * * * * Powell / Olentangy Liberty
Soniya Yalamanchili * * * * Centerville
The top incoming freshman girls are included in this table.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

OTZ Final Top Ten Rankings for 2017

As OTZ wraps up the boys season with its last OTZ Top Ten Team Ranking, it is also time to look forward to 2018.

The Boys Division I rankings were reshuffled in the seven through ten positions based on State and OTCA performance. The OTZ Matrix Report was used extensively for this and the teams in those four spots were included here. Note that OTZ also refers to the line-ups in the closest contests. You can quickly shift to the starting line-ups in the Matrix Report by clicking on the school "header".

The Boys Division II rankings were really difficult to determine. The seven through nine positions were very close. The OTZ Matrix Report for Division II is here.

As for 2018, readers can now see the key players who are graduating, those who are returning, and the incoming freshmen. Please submit a Feedback if you are aware of other strong incoming players who will be attending one of the top teams. This should benefit coaches as they schedule matches for 2018.

Friday's update will show the top incoming freshmen in the state. The below table will be updated upon receipt of more information.

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Boys Tennis Teams
June 8, 2017
Division I
Team - State Spots Key Players Graduating Returning Incoming Freshmen (TRN)
1. University School◄TEAM 4 State Spots Gota, T.Krantz, D.Krantz, Buchinsky Norman, Joranko -
2. New Albany◄TEAM 2 Green, A.Cash, Mathes R.Cash, Jose Devin Boyer, Connor Krings, Ryan Mudre
3. Sycamore◄TEAM 3 Stern, Liou, Kalaiarasan Zhang, Karev -
4. Mason◄TEAM 3 C.MacKenzie, Krayterman Goli, Komatineni, Reddy -
5. St. Xavier◄TEAM 2Schulteis, Geoppinger, Hagemeier Hiryur, DeCurtins Charlie Temming
6. Upper Arlington◄TEAM 2 Zelezny, Hughes, Schadek Cole -
7. Solon◄TEAM 2 Rotnov, Johnson Qin, Jain -
8. St. Ignatius 3 Hsia, Siciliano Brahmbhatt -
9. St. John's Jesuit◄TEAM 2 Abdul-Aziz Fahoury, Laungani, Katragadda -
10. St. Charles◄TEAM 1 E.Yakubov, V.Thai Dabek, Gonela Reece Yakubov
Division II
1. Bexley◄TEAM 1 Nudelman, J.Meyer, Hoffman Schottenstein, Roddy -
2. Hawken◄TEAM 3 Lee, Horwath Leizman, Shulman, Khosla -
3. Cin. Country Day◄TEAM 2 Yu, Nalagatla, Baker Midha -
4. Indian Hill◄TEAM 2 Lima, Bhandari Pregel, Pisati -
5. Wellington School◄TEAM 2   C.Biernat, Ball, Sorrels Griffin Biernat
6. Col. Academy◄TEAM 1 Lawrence, Min, Qi Haffer -
7. Seven Hills 1   Williams -
8. Miami Valley 1 Perevozchikov, Keller Morehart -
9. Ottawa Hills 1 Gargas Bais -
10. Wyoming◄TEAM 1 Behrman, Osha Arenas, Demers, Kelly -
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available

 

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Most Team Report Viewed: New Albany

The voters of the OTZ poll on Twitter nailed it on all four spots. Per Google Analytics, the team page with the most views during the season was New Albany, followed by Mason, Upper Arlington, St. Xavier, and Sycamore. All were OTZ Team Members. See poll results below. (I inadvertently left UA out of the poll.)

Saiprakash Goli
Mason's Goli - Click to enlarge
Many coaches view Team Memberships as a way to enable multiple team members to access OTZ information, and that is certainly true, but it is far more than that. Schools need to think of Team Memberships as extremely affordable advertisements for their teams. These team reports reflect very positively on seventh and eighth graders who have the flexibility to select their high schools. These reports also encourage these younger players to work hard in junior tennis, knowing that they too will receive recognition on OhioTennisZone.

The other teams in the top 15 are in usage order. They are: Indian Hill, University School, Cincinnati Country Day, Columbus Academy, Bexley, St. Charles, Wellington, Dublin Jerome, Dublin Coffman, Hilliard Davidson, Hawken, Westerville North, and Solon. Again, all but one (Dublin Jerome) are OTZ team members.

As high school tennis loses more and more kids to lacrosse, to other sports, and to smart phones usage, coaches should include money in their budgets to promote their tennis programs. Need proof? Check last weekend's newspaper coverage of the State lacrosse tournament. In the Dispatch, it was extensive, and that makes a huge impression on parents and their young children.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

Most Frequently Viewed Player Profiles

One OhioTennisZone's most popular features is the Player Profile report. Players, fans, college coaches, etc. like to monitor how players are performing, and OTZ is the only web site that makes it easy to monitor high school results.

Robert Cash
New Albany's Robert Cash - Click to enlarge
As expected, the most competitive players are typically the ones that are viewed the most. Per Google Analytics, the top five most frequently viewed profiles from the beginning of the season to yesterday were (in order of views): New Albany's Robert Cash, St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur, University School's Paul Gota, Mason's Saiprakash Goli, and Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel.

Other players in the top 10 listed in alphabetical order were: Wellington's Connor Biernat, Olentangy's Stu Brdicka, Mason's Niraj Komatineni, Solon's Vlad Rotnov, Hawken's Stephanie Shulman, Sycamore's Noah Stern, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai, Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino, Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu, and Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny.

Twitter Poll
Twitter Poll - Click to enlarge
Which school do you think was viewed the most? You can vote on Twitter or by clicking on the link below. [This poll is now over and the final vote is shown in the graph.]

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

USTA Midwest Qualifiers

The Midwest Qualifiers are underway (or coming up) for the various USTA Districts. These tournaments will provide States-quality match-ups and in some cases, matches between teammates. Those players who qualify will go to the Midwest Closed in Indianapolis (BG 16-18) and in Okemos, MI (BG 12-14).

The USTA Midwest Districts are self-explanatory for the Northeast and Northwest. The Ohio Valley is unique, not only because it covers a large area in Ohio, but also because it include portions of West Virginia and Kentucky. The Ohio Valley also includes the Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton metro areas.

Stephanie Shulman
Hawken's Stephanie Shulman - Click to enlarge
Current OTZ plans are to attend portions of the Ohio Valley G16, Ohio Valley B18, Midwest Closed BG16-18, and the National Championships B16-18 in Kalamazoo.

Northeast Ohio District Qualifier BG16, G18

Northeast Ohio District Qualifier BG14, B18

Northwest Ohio District Qualifier - All Age Groups

Ohio Valley G14

Ohio Valley G16

Ohio Valley G18

Ohio Valley B14

Ohio Valley B16

Ohio Valley B18

Those who successfully compete at the qualifiers will play in the Midwest Closed.

Midwest Closed BG14 - June 24-29, 2017

Midwest Closed BG16-18 - June 24-29, 2017

A very fortunate few will compete at the USTA National Championships in San Diego and Kalamazoo (or The 'Zoo).

National Championships G16-18 - August 5-13, 2017

National Championships B16-18 - August 4-13, 2017

In the French Open Juniors, Danny (DJ) Thomas and Caty McNally will be competing. I last saw Thomas play against Jacob Wareti in the OVTA B18 Midwest Qualifier in Cincinnati last summer. On the way to winning that tournament, Thomas beat Nalagatla 1,1; Yoshino 1,1; Niehaus 1,1; and Wareti 0,2.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

OTZ Top Players | Watch Lists Finalized for 2017 Season

The OhioTennisZone Top Players | Watch Lists have been revised to reflect States and the OTCA tournament. The breakdown by District for players on these lists is: Central - 16, Northeast - 2, Northwest - 10, and Southwest - 18. Should there have been more players included from the Northeast and Northwest? Maybe, but OTZ does not have many results from these two Districts because coaches and/or the newspapers are just not as engaged with the sport as in other areas of the state. In fact, Southeast Michigan generates more than twice the usage on the OhioTennisZone web site about Ohio tennis players than what Northwest Ohio does.

OTZ Top Players
OTZ Top Players - Click to report
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. To view the list in its entirety, click All.

The Player Accomplishments have also been updated to reflect those players who are OhioTennisZone All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team Players and for those who reached States.

During the ten week season, the goal was to update the web site by 8am each morning. Now the goal is for me to run, jog, walk, or crawl two miles before 7am. I am also mixing in tennis during the mornings. There is still material for a few more days before updates are switched to a once-a-week-or-so "between seasons" mode.

I continue to work on States and OTCA photos.

Please keep those comments coming!

 

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

OTZ Good. OTZ Stuff Maybe Not So Good.

What would you like to see changed on OhioTennisZone? Maybe more humor? Maybe less attempts at trying humor? Here's your chance to share your thoughts. Of course, I would vote for more bar charts.

OTZ Feedback Form
OTZ Feedback - Click for Feedback
To share your thoughts, please use a Feedback message, or if you know my email address, use that.

While I really do care about what you think, I was also very light on content today because 1) I'm starting to work on photos from States and the OTCA tournament; 2) I went to a fun graduation party last night; 3) I felt that I was rushing out too much material before thoroughly vetting it (this is another way of saying I was making too many errors.).

Please submit your comments by Monday. I'll share some of the comments next week.

The OTZ Top Ten Team lists are coming soon but I want to enhance my lists with players who will be enrolling next year as freshmen. I'll need your help on that.

I also have a few checks that I need to cash. Watch for those to hit your bank account soon. I also have a few checks that I need to cash that I have not yet received. Please get those into me quickly. Let me know if you need an invoice.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

End of Season Report

Data. Data. Data. OTZ has been hunkered in the bunker over the last two days reviewing and correcting names in the results. While I normally do a so-so job of replying to emails, even emails have been a no-no as I've focused only on this data.

One of the most difficult tasks for OhioTennisZone is to insure that the names are correctly spelled in the system, especially for the Coach and individual members. Without correct names, Player Profiles and the End of Season report do not work correctly. Unlike what the USTA and ITA have where every player is "databased", OTZ does not have that luxury. If the Cincinnati Enquirer has an incorrectly spelled name, I have to fix it or the process does not work. With over 4,500 matches in the system, that's a tough task.

Drew Haffer
University's End of Season - Click to enlarge
Coaches may now retrieve the End of Season report. In fact, parents of that team may do so as well. To access it, sign-in first, and then click on > Coaches > Obtain End-of-Season Report. This report makes a great memento of the season. Contact me with any questions.

I had one alert reader who suggested that I may have overlooked Stu Brdicka in the OTZ All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team. I agree. Brdicka has been added to the list. I also did not have Niraj Komatineni's name correctly included under his photo. That error was corrected.

I still struggle with how to handle States doubles players on the OTZ All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team. Some of the doubles players are excellent singles players and would have done well had they chosen that path to States. For the time-being though, I will only include the doubles champions and finalists.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Presenting the OhioTennisZone All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team

Congratulations to the OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team for 2017. This is the fifth year for this list.

OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio
Boys Tennis Team for 2017

 Division I - Singles

 Division II - Singles


Nick
Williams
Seven Hills

Austin
Hanna
Cloverleaf


Tyler
Gargas
Ottawa Hills

 Division I - Doubles

 Division II - Doubles

The OTZ All-Ohio team list is different than others because it is a combination of how players performed at States and ow well they played during the entire year. It also includes players who would have played and excelled at States had Districts been re-seeded. (For example, D2 State Champion, Nick Williams, made the OTZ All-Ohio list last year but he did not participate at States last year.)

The number of players included on this list will vary from year to year. This year's group of players was strong and that is evident by the number of seniors who will be playing collegiately this fall. For the last two years there have been ten singles players on the Division I list and six players on the Division II list.

The OTCA/OHSAA All-Ohio list is certainly an extremely high honor, but it is too mechanical in how it is done. If a player reaches the semi-finals, he is on the first team and quarter finalists are on the second team. If a player gets an unfavorable draw in the first round, then he might not receive any recognition. Again, their list is great, but I like my approach better.

Congratulations to these players.

Slowly - more players are becoming OTZ members - either by enrolling individually or through a team. OTZ members are provided with a Player Profile as indicated by the yellow-PP. In fact, all of the Division 1 are on-board. Click on the player name to view the player's Profile.

Note how some players have photos included in their Player Profiles. Any purchased OTZ photos are shown in this manner. See Nathan Zhang and Bryan Yoshino.

This is the time of the year that many things are happening in the background as I wrap up the 2017 season.

TUESDAY,

Videos of Championship Points

It is time for the OHSAA championship point videos. OTZ captured video for three out of the four championship points. Unfortunately, I was a minute too late for the Division II championship point. For best results, use HD (High Definition) and expand to full screen mode.

Division I Singles:

University School's Paul Gota defeated Solon's Vlad Rotnov.

Division 1 Doubles:

Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny and Josh Cole beat Sycamore's Noah Stern and Nathan Zhang .

Division II Singles:

Seven Hill's Nicholas Williams defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu. Williams called for a medical timeout at duece while serving for the match. He held on for these last two points but became ill immediately after this video ended.

MONDAY,

University School | Bexley are OTCA Champions

As OTCA Vice President, Chris Johnson, stated on Sunday, "The weather was the MVP of the tournament." It was supposed to rain on Saturday, then it slowly improved. Then it looked like we were going to have to call Uber Ark on Sunday, but that rain did not materialize either. Having the entire OHSAA tournament and OTCA outdoors was great for everyone involved.

Alex Warstler
Alex Warstler
Alex Warstler
Alex Warstler

The OTCA matches were very interesting yesterday. In Division I, the University School versus Sycamore match was expected to be closer and perhaps taxing enough on University School so that New Albany could take them with their 1-2-3 singles punch. That was not the case. University School surprised fans with their strong doubles teams by quickly beating Sycamore's doubles. US then clinched the match against Sycamore at 1st singles.

In the match against New Albany, US quickly won 1st dubs with the team of Tyler Krantz and Danny Godes and on 3rd singles by Drew Krantz. The clincher was at 2nd doubles by Chas Norman and Charlie Joranko. On courts 1 and 2, New Albany's Robert Cash had a one set lead over Paul Gota and NA's Nathan Jose and University's David Buchinsky were in a tight, 6-5 match before the match ended.

In Division II, the major match of the day was expected to be Cincinnati Country Day versus Hawken School, but Bexley did not get that InstaGram. The CCD - Hawken match was a battle and it ended when Hawken won on 3rd singles and 2nd dubs almost simultaneously. Not that anything was verbally communicated, but the celebration after that match felt like "the celebration" for winning the D2 crown. The Bexley versus Hawken match felt more like a formality until Bexley quickly won the first set in second dubs. It was a "Wait.. What?" moment. Bexley then also went up on 1st dubs getting the first set.

The eventual order of finish was: Bexley's Noah Hoffman and Aaron Young won 2nd dubs; Hawken's Josef Horwath won 3rd singles; Bexley's Christian Roddy won 2nd singles (but not before Roddy's serving hand went into severe cramp mode); Hawken's Stephanie Shulman won first singles in a great three set match; and finally, Bexley's Josh Meyer and Leo Schottenstein beat Hawken's first dubs team in a three-setter for the clinch. Again, all of the results are under "Previous Day Match Results" in the drop down link above. (Don't forget to use the "Line-up View" mode to see the player line-ups.)

In the third/fourth matches, Sycamore defeated St. John's Jesuit and Cincinnati Country Day beat Ottawa Hills.

The Reynoldsburg restroom situation was greatly improved this year by the opening of the restrooms in the newer, north facility. That had not been done for previous OTCA Tournament matches. That also doubled the number of toilets from two to four - until one of them went into a "plugged, overflow" situation. That was the closest thing to a water problem that we had all weekend.

I took quite a few photos yesterday and at States, but I will not be processing many because that is also very time consuming. My approach this year has been to post one really good photo of each player, rather than multiple photos. If you are planning to purchase a photo, please let me know via email or Feedback and I will crop/color correct/etc. several photos of your son to review. Most parents buy multiple photos after viewing them. Don't forget that the digital photo may also be used on TennisRecruiting.net.

The matches are done for the high school season, but there will still be a few days of catchup work on OhioTennisZone. It looks like I may even have to move Bexley higher in the end-of-season OTZ rankings.. Since Mrs. OTZ does not read this blog (despite her free membership), I may even try to stretch it out for a few more days after that.

[Clinch corrections provided by David Joranko.]

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

Great States Finales | OTCA Tournament Starts Outside

The three Districts with players in the semi-finals all took home a big prize. The Southwest District won the D2 singles and doubles championships thanks to the efforts of Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams and Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla and Justin Baker. University School's Paul Gota won the D1 Singles crown for the Northeast. The Central District's Jack Zelezny and Josh Cole of Upper Arlington won the Division I Double Championship.

Paul GotaUA's Cole-Zelezny
Nick WilliamsOSU's Andrea Ballinger

All of the results are included in the player records, plus they are also in the OhioTennisZone Online Draws.

Many have requested that the tournament be "spread out" so that fans can watch more players compete. Thanks to the efforts of Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu and Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel the fans got their wish. The Yu-Pregel match took three hours and 55 minutes before Yu won the match in a third set tiebreaker.

Rain threatened play for most of the morning and there were occasional raindrops, but it never stopped play. The tournament was backed up by the Yu-Pregel match, but it still wrapped up at a very respectable 4:30pm.

Yesterday's OTZ usage broke the previous record by 31% versus the same day as last year.

Unlike as in previous year's, all OhioTennisZone States photos are for sale.

See you at the OTCA Tournament! [And I'm already late...]

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY EVENING,

OTCA Tournament Checklist | OTCA Tournament Starts Outdoors

It is still unclear where the OTCA Tournament will be held on Sunday. [It will start outdoors at the Reynoldsburg Summit Campus.] Here are handy checklists for each site.

Checklist for the OTCA Tournament if outdoors at Reynoldsburg:

Checklist for Olympic Indoor:

Olympic Indoor is the primary club which our kids attended as juniors.

OhioTennisZone has already sold out of all of the "Go to the Front of the Line" passes for the restrooms.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Day One Finished

A perfect weather day and great tennis was a good reason to get a day off of school or work. By District, Central now has six spots in the semi's while the Northeast and Southwest both have five. All of the results are posted in the OTZ Online Draw. Yesterday's usage of the draws broke all records.

All of the results are also included under the player records.

OTZ had interviews with four of the senior semi-finalists during the season. Click to read the interviews with Sycamore's Noah Stern, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai, University School's Paul Gota, and Solon's Vlad Rotnov.

Bryan Yoshino
Coffman's Bryan Yoshino - Click to enlarge

Today's update is super quick because I need to get on the road.

See you at States.

 

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Yes, Everyone, It's Time for States.

Ok. Here we go. On with the show, this is it.

Site Map
Site Map - Click to enlarge
Here's a good checklist.

Top Ten Teams
OTZ Top Teams - Click to enlarge
The Top Players were re-arranged. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The order of the OTZ Top Ten Teams were also re-shuffled. Note that the number of State Spots that each team earned is included to the right of the team. The green Team indicator means that the team is supporting OhioTennisZone by purchasing a Team Membership. Note that "clickable" links are included in the right-navigation bar.

I think that I will have time to take a few more photos tomorrow, but ask me when you see me. Note that if you ask for me to take a photo of your son, I expect you to buy at least one photo. Taking photos of doubles players is far more time consuming.

Note that I posted an interview with Solon's Vlad Rotnov last night. It is immediately below today's posting.

There was an article in the Columbus Dispatch about States. Click to read.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY, MAY 25, - SECOND THURSDAY POSTING

OTZ Interview: Solon's Vlad Rotnov

OTZ's last interview of the season is with Vlad Rotnov. Rotnov is a senior at Solon and he will start OHSAA States tomorrow on Center Court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. He will play against Olentangy's Stu Brdicka.

Vlad Rotnov
@ '16 States - Click to enlarge
During an interview conducted on May 15, Rotnov's described his playing style as "I'm not a super aggressive baseliner but I like to play on all parts of the court. I'd say that just waiting for a good rally ball from the baseline and taking any opportunity to move in is how I like to play." He added, "I don't wait for them to make errors but I try to make them make errors. I don't like losing points easily just because I'm not consistent."

He views his first serve and his forehand as his weapons. His first serve would be clocked at approximately 100mph.

After an early stint in hockey, which his older brother played, Rotnov started playing tennis. He began tennis at eight years old, and he enjoyed it but he did not have early success. His success began after he really started practicing at age 12. He also found that he really enjoyed competing and traveling with his friends.

Vlad Rotnov TRN Ranking
Rotnov's TRN Rankings (lower is better)
Rotnov is on a positive trajectory with his TennisRecruiting.net rankings as shown in the graph on the right. His ranking of 477 in 2014 has slowly improved to his current highest ranking of 200. His Universal Tennis Rating is at 11.66 and his OTZ player ranking is fourth.

Rotnov attributes his success to his demeanor. "I was struggling with staying super cool on the court and just forgetting about misses. ... I would think about it too much or get too upset or mad, and now I don't show it at all. .. That has allowed me to make many more balls and just enjoy the game a lot. Now I like practicing a lot more and that is all that I can think about."

Rotnov's parents are Alexander and Lana. His father is a building contractor and his mother works as a buyer at a shoe retailer. His father plays some tennis during the summer. His brother, Sergei, lives and works in Columbus as an IBM software engineer.

Rotnov is a math/science guy and he is interested in bio-chemistry and bio-med engineering. He took one AP course in high school - AP Spanish.

In addition to Denison, Rotnov was considering the University of Toledo and the College of Wooster as college choices. He choose Denison for several reasons. He stated, "My high school is pretty small. Our graduating class is 400 students and the whole school itself is about 1,700 students so Denison is a little bit of a step up with 2,300 students. It's a little bit bigger, it is a small town campus, and it is close to Columbus where my brother lives. They have a good academic program and they are going to have a very good tennis team." Rotnov also said that he really likes the chemistry of the tennis team. Rotnov will join fellow freshmen, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai, Ottawa Hill's Tyler Gargas, and Granville's John Purnode on the Denison team.

In his off time, he likes to swim, go to the gym, and ride his bike. As for the social networks, he uses SnapChat and InstaGram.

OTZ asked Solon coach, Jim Elwing, for a few words about Rotnov. He shared, "Vlad is a four year letterman at Solon High School. While playing #3 singles his freshman year he compiled a 22-5 record winning 10 matches 6-0, 6-0. His sophomore year he played #2 singles with a 24-2 record. He led the team playing #1 his junior and senior year going 48-6, plus reaching the state tournament both years. Vlad is a super kid, he is such a hard worker and really knows how to stay focused on his goals."

When asked what type of photo he would like for me to take of him, Rotnov said, "I really like running forehands". I asked if he thought that his opponents would cooperate with a shot that would give him a running forehand, Rotnov joked, "I'll leave that corner open..."

States begins tomorrow at 9am. See you there.

THURSDAY, - FIRST THURSDAY POSTING

OhioTennisZone States / OTCA Preview Video

Yo. If your video playing device has an audio setting called "GE Jet Engine" or "Beyond the Threshold of Pain", that's a great place to start because it is time to watch the OhioTennisZone.com State / OTCA Tournaments Preview Video. Using a high volume setting is also a great way to make co-workers on the upper and lower floors aware that your son is playing this weekend. This year's video has 63 action photos and a few video segments. I try to get photos of all of the top players each year, but that does not always work out because of rain cancellations and scheduling issues. While the great majority of the photos are from this spring, there are a few that date back to the 2015 season.

There is too much OTZ content to include and not enough days to run it before States, so today will include at least one more update. Tomorrow's edition will also be posted later tonight so I can leave for Mason early tomorrow morning. An interview with Solon's Vlad Rotnov will be posted later today.

The Top Players will be rearranged later this morning. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Top Teams in the state will also be re-shuffled later today. Note that the Final Four teams are listed in the right-side navigation bar.

All of the player photos on the OTZ Online Draws are now set so that they can be viewed by all of the fans. Please make sure that you include the link to the draws on your smartphone. The URL has been shortened to ohiotenniszone.com/draws.

Note that the OTZ draws have tomorrow's court assignments included. Many grandparents would never consider going to the Western & Southern Tournament because of the vast amount of walking involved, but they do want to watch their grandchild play at States. Hopefully the court assignments will make it easier for them to get around the facility without as much effort. The court assignments are courtesy of Tim Voegeli.

There are still a few openings for photos tomorrow. If you want an official OTZ photo of your son playing at States, please submit a Feedback or email me. Any photos purchased will also be viewable by all on OhioTennisZone. Also note that any photos in today's video may also be purchased.

Note that the video may include advertising. OTZ does not benefit monetarily from the advertising. It does, however, help compensate the artists for their music. I am very grateful that I can use popular music for these videos; otherwise, I probably would not create them. You may turn off the advertising if you wish.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Final Four Set: US > Solon | Sycamore > Mason | CCD > Indian Hill

The last three spots for the Final Four were claimed last night. In those matches, University School defeated Solon; New Albany beat Upper Arlington; Cincinnati Country Day defeated Indian Hill; and Sycamore beat Mason. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. (I am awaiting box scores from the Sycamore versus Mason match.)

New Albany
New Albany - Click to team page
Among the top players, New Albany's Robert Cash defeated Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny; University School's Paul Gota beat Solon's Vlad Rotnov; Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu defeated Indian Hill's Pablo Guzman; New Albany's Joel Jose beat Upper Arlington's Josh Cole; Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla defeated Indian Hill's Gautham; Solon's Luke Qin beat University School's David Buchinsky; and Cincinnati Country Day's Manav Midha defeated Indian Hill's Maanas Pisati. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is New Albany. They are coached by Marc Thomas. They are Team Members. They are led by Robert Cash, Nathan Jose, and Graeme Green.

The song? Picked. The photos? Taken. OTZ is now crunching on the official OhioTennisZone States | OTCA Preview Video Slideshow. Click for last year's Boys State video. If you really need to procrastinate today, click to view the 2016 Girls States video, 2015 Boys States, and 2015 Girls States videos.

The first of the newspaper articles about States was included in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Click to read this article by Mark Schmetzer. If your paper has a States article that includes quotes, feel free to forward it to OTZ via Feedback or email.

Interested in getting a States photo of your son? Submit a Feedback or send me an email. With all 32 singles players going on court at the same time, I have to have a plan to insure that I get to your son's court. I'm taking between 15-20 requests but I am taking photos in the order in which I receive the request. (I am also hoping that several of the players win their first round matches...) Please get your request into me asap.

Do not be alarmed if your son loses in the first round of States today. The online OTZ Draw Sheet is being prepped and tested. I actually have to practice entering the results so that I can enter them quickly at States. Of course, if your son wins States today, you might want to get a screen shot just in case it doesn't happen on Saturday.

The NCAA Singles and Doubles tournaments are now beginning. To read this Columbus Dispatch article by Bill Rabinowitz, click Torp and Francesca. Coach Melissa Schaub was also named ITA National Coach of the Year.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

St. John's Jesuit and Ottawa Hills in Final Four

Two teams from the Northwest District are making their hotel reservations at Reynoldsburg. St. John's Jesuit defeated St. Francis DeSales, 3-0, and Ottawa Hills beat Lexington, 3-2. Click to view all of the OTCA Tournament draws to-date.

St John's Jesuit
St John's Jesuit - Click to team page
Among the top players, St. John's Jesuit's Akhil Katragadda defeated St. Francis DeSales' Minor and St. John's Jesuit's Dev Laungani beat St. Francis DeSales' DeVaney. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is St. John's Jesuit. They are coached by Jim Davis. They are Team Members. They are led by Alan Fahoury, Dev Laungani, and Akhil Katragadda.

The Ohio State Men's and Women's programs got beat yesterday in great matches by the scores of 4-2 and 4-3, respectively. I am normally not a fan of live-Tweeting match scores, but one volunteer, Lisa Stone of Parenting Aces (@ParentingAces), kept everyone riveted with her constant updates of the OSU Women's match. The event was supposed to have Live Scoring, but it was minutes late. The live scoring also did not include game scores. The women's match finished at midnight. Click to read the Columbus Dispatch article about the OSU's matches.

Interested in purchasing a States photo of your son (or daughter)? Submit a Feedback or send me an email.

Special thanks to Anthony Clouse of Logan Elm. He provided seven State Qualifier photos for the Southeast District. OTZ now has photos for 88% of the State Qualifiers for the OTZ State Draws. Again, I do not believe that any high school sport in Ohio (or anywhere else) has the photos of their State Qualifiers. These draws will be "opened up" so that everyone can view the photos of all of the players on Thursday night.

All of the remaining OTCA District Finals will be held tonight.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

OHSAA Draws Now Available

It's here. It's States week. Things really speed up now. The other Final Four spots will be determined by tomorrow night. OTZ also begins work on the State / OTCA Tournament Preview video slide-show today.

Click for the OTZ State draws. [Updated 1:30pm]

Drew Haffer
Southwest District Division 1 - Click to enlarge
Drew Haffer
Northeast District Division 1 - Click to enlarge
Drew Haffer
Northeast District Division 1 (5th/6h) - Click to enlarge
Drew Haffer
Northeast District Division 2 - Click to enlarge

The OTZ State Qualifier List is ready to turn into the OTZ State Draw Sheet as soon as the information is obtained from the Ohio High School Athletic Association. I think this is the first time that the photos for all of the players in the Division I singles and doubles draws have been included before the tournament. The plan is to take photos for the Division II players that I am missing while I am at States. Please help out OTZ by making sure that the names match the players in today's State Qualifier photos.

OhioTennisZone now intends to sell photos from States. Because I am already super busy at the tournament with the online draws, you will need to pre-order a digital photo to insure that I take a photo of your son (or daughter). If you want on this list, you are agreeing to buy at least one photo. It's first come, first serve, except for those who have already purchased photos from me this season. They get moved to the top of the list. I think I will have time to take photos of between 15 and 20 players and I already have four orders. If the tournament goes indoors, all bets are off with the photos. Contact me via Feedback or email to get on the list.

States are a family thing with grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and illegitimate service dogs in attendance. If you have everyone assembled and you see me racing around, please ask me to take a photo of your family. If you have already pre-ordered a photo from me, I'll throw in this photo for free.

Why am I selling photos this year? The previous, exclusive photographer simply could not make enough money to continue with this service. There is less demand for photos, plus some parents and players were evil enough to grab the professional photos and remove the watermarks. Stealing a photo is no different than shoplifting a $20 item from a store shelf. You just can't do it.

In previous years, OTZ has provided 5x7 prints of the State Qualifier Photos to OTZ Members free of charge. I would race around during the first round of play with my box of photos and distribute them. Since I now plan to take photos, I cannot do this. Instead, I will be making high-resolution State Qualifier photos available (without the copyright) for download. You may print it, put it on Facebook, place it in a digital frame, etc. These are for your personal use only. They cannot be sold and they cannot be included in a media publication. If you have been a long term customer and you really want a 5x7 print, please contact me via email.

Go ahead and hit your 130mph serve. Tennis stringer extraordinaire, Alann Leinwohl, will be at the OHSAA and OTCA tournaments to string racquets. He can be reached at the tournament (and prior to the tournament) by calling 614-902-0927.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

District Seeding Rounds Finished - Awaiting State Draws

Somehow in some way all of the Districts completed their seeding rounds yesterday. The results from the Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest are also now online. The order of finish of all of the seeds are soon going to be included on OhioTennisZone in the OTZ State Qualifier List.

Central D1 State Qualifiers
Central D1 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
OhioTennisZone recognizes Ohio high school tennis players more than what any other state in the universe does for its high school tennis athletes. Now is the time when the best players in Ohio get recognized state-wide for their efforts by the fans, other players, parents, and coaches. But.. It's a two way street. For the players, coaches, and clubs who never made the effort to sign-up for an OTZ membership, you get far less recognition than what you otherwise would. You can imagine how you would look on the OTZ State Qualifier List (and the upcoming draw) by looking at the other players. Note how all of their results are included. Yours are not. If you were an OTZ member, you could also sign-in and see the action photos. But.. You can't. Mr. Lebowski summarizes the situation in this insightful video clip.

Central D2 State Qualifiers
Central D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge

All of the State Qualifier District photos will soon be online. Special thanks to Sycamore's Linda Stern, Hawken's Marc and Nancy Leizman, and NEDAB's Mike McGee. I may need assistance before I can add names to all of the photos.

The results from the District Singles finals in each of the Districts were:

Central: New Albany's Robert Cash defeated Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai and Wellington's Connor Biernat beat teammate, Trevor Ball.

Northeast: Ottawa Hill’s Tyler Gargas defeated Ada’s Zach Beaschler and Perrysburg’s Ben Weider beat St. Frances DeSales’ Greg Leroux.

Northwest: University School's Paul Gota beat Solon's Vlad Rotnov and Cloverleaf's Austin Hanna defeated Bay's Adam Krueger.

Southwest: Mason's Saiprakash Goli defeated teammate, Niraj Komatineni, and Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams beat Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel.

For the doubles results, click on the OTZ State Qualifier List.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

District Seeding Rounds

More players earned the right to participate in States yesterday when the Northeast District Division 2 players competed. The results for those players are now online and the players have also been added to the State Qualifiers List. The Northwest State Qualifiers and the remaining Northeast qualifiers will be determined today.

Granville
Granville - Click to team page
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Granville. They are coached by Keith Mullins. They are Team Members. They are led by John Purnode and Elia Martinelli. [Individual photos to be added later today.]

I will be at the Central District seeding round at Upper Arlington.

The State Qualifier List will be updated later today with the results from the seeding round. It will also include more player photos thanks to the efforts of several parent photographers.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Hawken in Final Four | State Qualifers Set for Central and Southwest

State Qualifiers are set for the Central and Southwest Districts. There are still qualifier spots for the Northwest and Northeast Districts in play. To view the singles and doubles players who are currently set to play at States, click OTZ State Players. More players will be added as the information becomes available. (Note that while this information is included in a draw format, it is not the draw. The information is ordered as it is on the District draw sheets.)

Rain forced the Southwest District to get off to a late start. The boys went on-court at 10:30am and the matches were wrapped up by 4:30pm. It was hot day and one player could not finish after getting cramps.

In the OTCA Tournament, Hawken booked a ticket to Reynoldsburg by beating Orange, 4-0.

Drew Haffer
Sycamore's Kalaiarasan- Click to enlarge

Among the top players in the Central District, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated New Albany's Chris Mathes; and Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte; New Albany's Robert Cash beat Olentangy's Alex Konstan and Mount Vernon's Ben Camara; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Thomas Worthington's Kai Britz; Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino beat Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen and New Albany's Alek Jacoby; Wellington's Connor Biernat defeated Columbus Academy's Drew Haffer; and Wellington's Trevor Ball beat Granville's John Purnode.

In the Southwest District, Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Turpin's Grant Wendel; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur  beat Mason's Vishnu Srinath and Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz; Mason's Saiprakash Goli defeated Centerville's Brandon Valley; Sycamore's Regis Liou beat Centerville's Josh Giambattista; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated Badin's Noah Connaughton; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams beat Cincinnati Country Day's Manav Midha; and Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu defeated Miami Valley's Colton Morehart.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OhioTennisZone needs State Qualifier pictures if your players want to be recognized on OTZ. I will take the photos for the Central District and Sycamore's Linda Stern will get photos for the Southwest. It is easy to do this. Just ask the tournament director to gather the players ten minutes before they go onto the court. Many other parents will also scramble for their cameras to get this great photo memory. These photos will also be used in the OTZ online draw sheet. (See above.)

The Northeast District Division II plays today. When all of the Northeast and Northwest results are entered on the draw sheets, those scores will be included on OhioTennisZone.

In NCAA play, Ohio State won their match against Oklahoma. CCD's JJ Wolf clinched the win for OSU. Click to read more. The OSU Women play at noon today.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Districts - Who is Going to Play at States?

It's time for Districts. Not that you are Under Pressure or anything but today is for a spot at States.

Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da

Hawken
Hawken - Click to team page
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is the Hawken School. They are coached by Brian Smallwood. They are Team Members. They are led by Ryan Leizman, Michael Lee, and Stephanie Shulman.

Remember that OTZ wants to include pictures of all of the State Qualifiers in the OTZ States Preview Video. I need helpful parents to email me a high-resolution image of *all* of their Divisions' State Qualifiers, not just of their teams' qualifiers. Click to view photos from previous years.

This is also a huge day for college tennis. Click to read about the upcoming Ohio State Men's match against Oklahoma.

Time for OTZ to get on the road. I'm going to Lindner Family Tennis Center to eat McNasty's food and hopefully watch tennis matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Bexley in Final Four

The OTCA Final Four has its first entry. Bexley defeated Columbus Academy in a close, 3-2, match. In other OTCA matches, St. John's Jesuit beat Perrysburg; New Albany defeated St. Charles; and Solon beat Copley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Worthington Christian
Worthington Christian - Click to team page
Among the top players, New Albany's Robert Cash defeated St. Charles' Milan Milan Gonela; Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence beat Bexley's Mark Nudelman; Perrysburg's Ben Weider defeated St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Worthington Christian. They are coached by Justin Bays. They are Team Members. They are led by Ben Kindberg, Chris Tsibouris, and Ajai Smith.

The Sectional results for the Northeast were added this morning for OTZ members. The results for the Southeast will be added tomorrow.

There will not be many (if any) matches tonight as teams prepare for Districts. OTZ plans to be at the ATP site tomorrow for the Southwest Division 1 and Division 2 Districts.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

More Awful Southwest District Draws

Same story. Different year. Luck always play a role in who goes to States, but it should never play a major role. Unfortunately that is the way it has been in the Southwest District for years. Everyone can recall top players who did not get to participate in States because of an awful, horrendous draw. That's why OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio Team includes players from the Southwest who do not even participate in States (i.e. Deepak Indrakanti in 2014, Nick Williams in 2016). There have been times when a school's #2 doubles team goes to States but not that school's #1 team because of bad draws.

It is in the best interest of the kids and the sport to fix this District draw mess. When can this happen? A quick solution would be to have the #1's and #2's from Mason and Cincinnati Sectionals to never meet in Districts. Could that be made to happen? Sure. The OHSAA pitted the #1 and #2 players of the Central and Southwest Districts in the second round of States for over 10 straight years. I pointed this out in an old document that I created back in 2008 before OhioTennisZone even existed, and this practice continued for several more years. Click to view that analysis document. The "fix" could go into effect next year or in two years, but something needs to be done. Overtime, this is the type of thing that causes players (and families) to shift into other sports.

Jack Zelezny
Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny - Click to enlarge
In addition to the awful draws, there was actually other news yesterday. In OTCA play, Cincinnati Country Day defeated Miami Valley; Upper Arlington beat Dublin Jerome; and University School defeated St. Ignatius. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click to view the OTCA Tournament Draws.

Among the top players, University School's Paul Gota defeated St. Ignatius' Josh Hsia; Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu beat Miami Valley's Colton Morehart; Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla defeated Miami Valley's Michael  Perevozchikov; and Upper Arlington's Josh Cole beat Dublin Jerome's Anish Patel. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Special thanks to Matt Sexton for the links to the Southwest District draws. As of Tuesday morning, the draws were still not up on the Southwest site.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

OTZ Interview: University School's Paul Gota | District Draws

In the series of OTZ interviews with several of the top seniors in the state, today's interview is with Paul Gota. Gota will graduate from University School and he is ranked third in Ohio on OhioTennisZone.com. Gota is a TennisRecruiting.net 4 Star, and he has a Universal Tennis Rating of 12.61.

Gota's parents are Marius and Carmen. Both are physicians at the Cleveland Clinic. His father is an anesthesiologist and his mother is a rheumatologist. Neither of his parents actively plays tennis but Gota's father closely follows the sport and "knows all that there is to know about the sport" by reading tennis books and watching videos. His father was Gota's first coach.

Paul Gota
University School's' Paul Gota - Click to enlarge
Gota was introduced to tennis at six years old, but he did not seriously play the sport until he was eight. That's when he played his first tournament. He has always focused on tennis rather than play other sports.

His strengths are his serve and forehand. His serve would be clocked in the 120-125mph range. He also looks to serve and volley when the opportunity presents itself.

Gota has shown substantial and steady improvement over the last four years. His TennisRecruiting.net (TRN) rankings in 2014, 2015, and 2016 were 230th, 199th, and 139th in the nation, respectively. His TRN ranking is now 76th. He explained, "I think I have really learned how to control my emotions on the court and more importantly I know how to think, how to analyze the situation - tactically, strategically, and technically - and figure out not only the things that I change when I lose a match but having adjustments when I win a match. It has been much clearer mentally for me and I think that has been my biggest improvement."

He has high goals for the season. "First and foremost, I care most about the team tournament. That's where we all want to play our best tennis and I'll be playing someone like Robert [New Albany's Cash] at that time of the year. I also have my individual goals and I do want to win singles in the State tournament. I had a rough start to the year. I wasn't playing my best tennis in the transition from indoor to outdoor [tennis], but now I'm starting to get the hang of it."

Paul Gota
Paul Gota - Click to enlarge
In fact, Gota's match (and loss) against Solon's Vlad Rotnov earlier in the season was a turning point for him. It put Gota into "another gear." "I started logging everything that I was doing every single day. Every day I came to tennis with a piece of paper and I wrote down what I was working on. When I went home, I thought about what else I should put on there and what else I could take off." ... "I felt like I needed to lose pretty badly to wake up. The first time that I played Vlad - he beat me down - it wasn't even close." [Rotnov beat Gota 6-2, 6-1 on April 25 and then Gota defeated Rotnov, 6-3, 6-4, in the Sectional seeding round on May 11.]

Gota is a math-science guy. He took four AP courses at University School. His favorite was AP Calculus.

Gota selected the University of Notre Dame but he was also looking at Ohio State and a school that no one likes or cares about (university of michigan). Gota has already been accepted into Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. Notre Dame loses just two seniors and has three other highly regarded incoming freshmen, but Gota hopes to "crack the line-up." Note that St. Ignatius graduate, Nathan Griffin, is also a member of the Notre Dame team.

Outside of tennis, he said that "I really love working out. That's one of those things that I do every day. I love lifting and that is obviously extremely conducive to not only being healthy but also to high performance in tennis, so those two things go hand-in-hand." Being with friends before they all leave for college is also important to him.

Of the various social networks, he uses Twitter (@PaulGota) and Facebook (for a college group at Notre Dame), but mainly Instagram. He also uses OhioTennisZone just as all courteous OTZ interviewees say they do.

This summer he hopes to be able to compete at the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo. He last competed there when he was in the B16's.

Gota added "I am counting down the number of days to States." Today that number is eleven.

The Northeast District was the first to release their draws yesterday. The web pages on which the draws will be posted are linked to above. The Central and Northwest Districts are also now available.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

Sectionals Are Completed

It was perfect weather for the Sectional Seeding round. OTZ went to the Hilliard Davidson-wind tunnel where fans are encouraged to bring rope to tie down their cars, especially if they have light cars, but conditions were perfect at Davidson as well. Now everyone anxiously awaits the District Draws which should hopefully be released tomorrow morning.

John Purnode
Granville's John Purnode - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Mason's Saiprakash Goli defeated Mason's Niraj Komatineni; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel beat Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams beat Badin's Connaughton; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino; and
Wellington's Connor Biernat beat Wellington's Trevor Ball. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OTZ will start reviewing draws from the Southwest, Northeast, and Northwest District today for OTZ member results to include those results online.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Sectional Seeding Rounds Today

Congratulations to the boys who made it to Districts. The Sectional seeding rounds take place today. In OTCA Tournament play, Hawken beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy to reach the finals of the Northeast District D2. Click on OTZ OTCA Draws for the most recent results.

JJ Wolf
OSU's JJ Wolf - Click to enlarge

In addition to high school tennis, the NCAA's are now in gear. The Ohio State Men played and defeated Butler yesterday and the OSU Women play Buffalo today at noon. To monitor all of the action, click on SLAM.TENNIS.

SLAM.TENNIS is brought to you by the same people who offer TennisRecruiting.net.

There are several more JJ Wolf photos on Twitter @OhioTennisZone. There are also two photos of Lexington grad, Mason Dragos, who plays for Butler.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Boys Sectionals Beat the Weather

Wet weather delayed the start of the Central District Sectionals for about one and half hours, but gray skies eventually switched to partly sunny skies by the end of the day. It was a great call by the Central District not to delay the tournament when it appeared on Wednesday night that it would be a complete rainout.

Nick Roden
Buckeye Valley's Nick Roden - Click to enlarge

As prior-year OTZ readers know, this is the busiest day of the season for data entry. (The Columbus Dispatch has two and half columns of agate-type results.) Watch for the scores to be databased before I leave for Skyline for lunch.

Scores for the Central Sectional are now online. Scores for two of the Southwest District are also online. [Updated: 11:23am]

As the other Sectionals complete their play, those scores will also be added for OTZ Members.

While waiting for the Sectional results, click to read the article about the Ohio State Women's Tennis team written by Bill Rabinowitz. This the first time that I recall the OSU Women's tennis team being the featured story on the Columbus Dispatch sports page.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Mason > St. X | Bexley > Wellington | Sycamore > Turpin

There were several bigger than huge OTCA matches played yesterday. This was surprising because these matches were played on the eve of Sectional play. There were 13 matches recorded and six were played in Central and seven were played in the Southwest District. The OTCA matches included: Bexley defeated Wellington; Seven Hills beat Summit Country Day; Sycamore defeated Turpin; and Mason beat St. Xavier. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

The Central District starts its Sectionals today, but they are delayed until 10am. Of course, always check with your coach for the latest information.

Upper Arlington
Upper Arlington - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated Sycamore's Noah Stern; Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Gordon Liu; Wellington's Connor Biernat defeated Bexley's Christian Roddy; Sycamore's Nathan Zhang defeated Turpin's Ethan Caruso. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Upper Arlington. They are coached by Will Thieman. They are Team Members. They are led by Jack Zelezny, Josh Cole, and Jack Hughes.

If the weather holds, Sectionals will be played throughout the State.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Sectionals Underway

Sectionals began in the Southwest and Northeast Districts yesterday. OhioTennisZone subscribes to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Columbus Dispatch, and results from those newspapers will be included on OTZ. If the results are not in one of these newspapers, OTZ will retrieve the results for the later rounds from the Sectional draw sheets for only the OTZ members. To reduce the chance of double entries, it is better to wait until all of the matches are recorded for that Sectional. Always feel free to contact OTZ with any questions via Feedback or via email.

There were nine dual matches recorded from state-wide play. Eight matches were recorded from Central and one from the Southwest. One key Central OTCA match, New Albany versus St. Charles. was rained out. The close, 3-2 matches were Olentangy defeated Dublin Scioto and Big Walnut beat Delaware Hayes. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Dublin Jerome
Dublin Jerome - Click to team page
Among the top players, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams beat Wyoming's David Keller; and Olentangy's Alex Konstan defeated Dublin Scioto's Joseph Hill.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Dublin Jerome. They are coached by Ken Berlin. They are led by Ryan Worthen, Noah Schneider, and Anish Patel.

Miami Valley is an OTZ Top Ten school but it was difficult to evaluate their performance because of the lack of posted match results. As an experiment, their results for the entire season are now online.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

St. Xavier Beats Indian Hill | St. Charles Defeats Columbus Academy

Ohio returned to perfect weather yesterday. Hopefully Ohio will have good weather for Sectionals because there are far too many pairings in the first round to go indoors. From last night, there were 20 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 4, and Northeast - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Delaware Hayes defeated Thomas Worthington; New Richmond beat Madeira; Dublin Coffman defeated Bexley; Watterson beat Worthington Kilbourne; St. Charles defeated Columbus Academy; Andrews Osborne beat Lake Ridge Academy; and St. Xavier defeated Indian Hill. In the OTCA Tournament, University School defeated North Canton Hoover. In the GMC, Mason won four of the five flights over Sycamore. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Click above for updated Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Tournament results.

Hilliard Bradley
Hilliard Bradley - Click to team page

The Top Players / Watch Lists were re-shuffled last night. The lists were also updated with the college choices for many players. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Among the top players, University School's Paul Gota defeated North Canton Hoover's Andrew Triner; Mason's Niraj Komatineni beat Sycamore's Noah Stern; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur defeated Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel; Mason's Saiprakash Goli beat Sycamore's Nathan Zhang; Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino defeated Bexley's Mark Nudelman; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps beat Dublin Scioto's Joseph Hill; Granville's John Purnode defeated Watkins Memorial's Braden Clear; Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte beat Pickerington Central's Jacob Scott; Mason's Shashank Reddy defeated Sycamore's Regis Liou; and Indian Hill's Christiano Lima beat St. Xavier's Max DeCurtins.

Today's featured team is Hilliard Bradley. They are coached by Donna Long. They are led by Mitchell Thai.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Hilliard Bradley; Kettering Fairmont (H) versus Archbishop Alter; Olentangy (H) versus Dublin Scioto; and Wyoming (H) versus Fenwick. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

Photo Day | Sectional Week

Brace yourself. The photos are up-to-date. Finally. There were 46 photos added yesterday on top of the approximate 75 photos posted earlier in the season. Click to view. Since it is sooo time consuming to travel to, take, process, and database the photos, OTZ has shifted to more of a quality over quantity approach this year. I am posting only what I think is the best photo of your son. (Occasionally, there might be two.) If you would like to purchase a photo of your son, and you think I may have more photos of him. You might be right. Contact OTZ via Feedback or email to request to view more photos. However... If you request to view more photos, then you are committing yourself to purchase at least one photo.

Lancaster
Lancaster - Click to team page
These OTZ digital photos may be used anywhere you wish, plus they are added to your son's OhioTennisZone Player Profile. They are also available for everyone to view under the Most Recently Viewed Photos and under the team photos. I will assist you if you have any questions on how to add them to TennisRecruiting.net.

If you really truly absolutely love your son, then there is no better way of showing this than to buy a great photo of him while playing his favorite sport. Note that these photos also make great Mother's Day presents. For a limited time only, OTZ will also provide a 5x7 print for each digital photo that you purchase. Click to Buy a Photo. Photos are only $19.99, plus sales tax, and the price per photo decreases as you purchase more.

The Top Photos were also updated. Great photos have these traits in common: sharp focus, eye-on-ball concentration, some sunlight (but not too much), and a non-distracting background. The background is really important. No one likes to see a porta john in the background. No one likes Upper Arlington signs in the background. (This is a hint for today's OTZ Twitter poll question.) Those players wearing hats also rarely make the list. Photos taken in the middle of the day rarely make the list (unless there is light cloud cover). Click to view the Top Boys photos of 2016, 2015, and 2014. Click to see the video sideshow of the Best Photos of 2016. Always play OTZ videos in high resolution mode.

It is also worthwhile to note that it is never (ever) ok to use a photo from OhioTennisZone and share it anywhere else. Unless you purchase a photo from OhioTennisZone, then that photo can only be viewed on OhioTennisZone.

Sectionals start this week. They kick off in the Northeast District on Tuesday. Most of the rest of the state begins on Thursday.

Today's featured team is Lancaster. They are coached by Gary Elick. They are led by Braeden Kennedy.

Kettering Fairmont (H) versus Miami Valley; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Bexley; Dublin Jerome (A) versus Olentangy; and Dublin Scioto (A) versus Olentangy Orange. Sycamore and Mason players will also be competing against each other in the GMAC tournament. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

St. John's Jesuit Beats Ottawa Hills

The day got off to a slow start for many areas of the state, but there were still numerous matches and tournaments. In dual matches, St. John's Jesuit defeated Ottawa Hills; Upper Arlington beat Pickerington North; and Fenwick defeated Badin. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

In league play, St. Xavier won its 50th straight Greater Catholic League title, and St. John's Jesuit won its thirteenth league championship in a row. Findlay was second.

Ronit Hiryur
St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur- Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny defeated Pickerington North's Grant Schroeder; St. Francis DeSales' Leroux beat St. John's Jesuit's Alan Alan Fahoury; St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury defeated Ottawa Hills' James Schwann; Badin's Noah Connaughton beat Fenwick's Dylan Sagan; Upper Arlington's Josh Cole defeated Pickerington North's Keen and St. John's Jesuit's Dev Laungani beat Findlay's Matthew Munoz. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur received the most Twitter votes and won the OTZ Skywalker award to commemorate #MayTheFourthBeWithYou day. Hiryur received 47% of the 88 votes. Westerville Central's Michelle Cardwell was second with 27%.

I finished the photo processing (cropping, color correction) yesterday. The databasing will be done today. Look for more photos tomorrow. I really mean it this time. Really.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Sycamore Beats Indian Hill

Yesterday was a quality, not a quantity day. There was just one match recorded but it was a great match. Sycamore defeated Indian Hill by the score of 4-1.

Dublin Coffman
Dublin Coffman - Click to team page
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated Sycamore's Noah Stern; Sycamore's Nathan Zhang defeated Indian Hill's Anay Gautham; and Sycamore's Regis Liou defeated Indian Hill's Mrinal Singh. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Dublin Coffman. They are coached by Brett Hundertpfund. They are Team Members and they are led by Bryan Yoshino, Robby Berling, Pratheek Gandhodi, and Brisket the Wonder Dog (animated gif).

Dublin Coffman tentDublin Jerome tent
Dublin Coffman vs. Dublin Jerome - Click to enlarge
In addition to their tennis skills, Dublin Coffman is also the Dublin school for master tent builders. Please refer to the pictures to the right. Please note that it is never, ever OTZ's intention to diminish a school's tent building ability, or lack thereof..

TennisRecruiting.net is having their first May Madness Bracket Challenge to pick the NCAA champions. Even though you will lose to the OTZ staff, click to pick your favorites.

Call ahead before going to a match. Some schools may have been a bit too quick to cancel tennis matches today.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

St. Xavier Beats Turpin

The weather did not cooperate yesterday and today looks bad as well. Only seven matches were recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - Nada, Southwest - 5, and Northeast - 2. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Indian Hill
Indian Hill - Click to team page
Despite the weather, there were still several good individual matches. Among the top players, Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur; University School's Paul Gota beat Kenston's Grossman; Mason's Saiprakash Goli defeated Fairfield's Jacob Heyser; Hawken's Ryan Leizman beat Geneva's Ernst; and St. Xavier's Max DeCurtins defeated Turpin's Ethan Caruso.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Indian Hill. They are coached by Wade Ward. They are Team Members. They are led by Andrew Pregel and Christiano Lima.

The Ohio Tennis Coaches Association released its poll yesterday. Click to read OTCA Coaches' Poll.

OTZ Twitter PollIn honor of Star Wars, OTZ created a poll on Twitter to identify Ohio's best high school "Skywalker". Click to see the contestants. Click to vote. St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur is currently leading the vote.

The Cincinnati Enquirer does a very nice job of including tennis articles in its flagship newspaper. Click to read Scott Springer's articles about the GCTCA Tournament and Indian Hills.

Today's matches include: Sycamore (H) versus Indian Hill; Columbus Academy (H) versus New Albany;  Dublin Jerome (H) versus Bexley; and Olentangy (A) versus Gahanna. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches. Always check with a coach or player before going to a match.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Mason Defeats Indian Hill | Solon Beats St. Ignatius

The Sectional draws are now posted for the Southwest and Northeast Districts. The players who OTZ believes have the best chance of getting to States will eventually be included in the May 1st summary below.

There were 25 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 25, Southwest - 7, and Northeast - 4. There were quite a few close, 3-2 matches. They included: Bloom-Carroll defeated Fisher Catholic; Buckeye Valley beat Hilliard Darby; Dublin Scioto defeated Olentangy Liberty; Fenwick beat Archbishop Alter (three 3-setters); Kettering Fairmont defeated Milton-Union; Amherst Steele beat Oberlin; Olentangy defeated Hilliard Davidson; and DeSales beat Centennial. In other significant matches, Mason defeated Indian Hill; Solon beat St. Ignatius; and St. Charles defeated Dublin Coffman. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Kettering Fairmont
Kettering Fairmont - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel; Solon's Vlad Rotnov beat St. Ignatius' Josh Hsia; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Hilliard Davidson's Justin Wingenfield; St. Charles' Jack Dabek beat Dublin Coffman's Robby Berling ; Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz defeated Milton-Union's Phillip Brumbaugh; Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte beat Lancaster's Braeden Kennedy; Bay's Adam Krueger defeated Rocky River's Wang; Mason's Saiprakash Goli beat Indian Hill's Pablo Guzman; and Solon's Luke Qin defeated St. Ignatius' Sicliano. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Kettering Fairmont. They are coached by Matt Hughes. They are Team Members. They are led by Murad Nawaz, Jacob Haas, and Tyler Juhasz.

Today's matches include: Upper Arlington (A) versus Columbus Academy; Hawken (H) versus Brecksville; Turpin (A) versus St. Xavier; and Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus Summit Country Day. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Upper Arlington Beats St. Charles | Seven Hills Defeats CCD

Finally, Ohio spring weather returns. There were 28 matches recorded under cloudy skies from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 17, Southwest - 9, and Northeast - 2.

Seven Hills vs CCDThe close, 3-2 matches included: Granville defeated Pickerington Central; Talawanda beat Colerain; Seven Hills defeated Cincinnati Country Day using the line-up listed to the right; Olentangy beat Bexley; Westerville North defeated Big Walnut; Hamilton Township beat West Jefferson; and Wellington defeated Dublin Coffman. In other prominent matches, Upper Arlington defeated St. Charles and Mason beat Covington Catholic. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Beechcroft
Beechcroft - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Covington Catholic's Anthony Bosch; Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny beat St. Charles' Jack Dabek; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated Anderson's William Sultan and Milford's Holden Owens; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams beat Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Bexley's Mark Nudelman; Wellington's Connor Biernat beat Dublin Coffman's Robby Berling; Hawken's Stephanie Shulman defeated Gilmour Academy's Bennett Hilkert; and Upper Arlington's Josh Cole beat St. Charles' Vinh Thai. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Beechcroft. They are coached by Daphne Hess. They are Team Members. They are led by Godfred Kyei, Henry Bright, and Ali Mojtabaei.

Today's matches include: Indian Hill (H) versus Mason; Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus St. Xavier; Solon (H) versus St. Ignatius; Columbus Academy (A) versus Dublin Coffman; Dublin Jerome (H) versus New Albany; Hawken (H) versus Geneva; Kettering Fairmont (H) versus Milton-Union; Turpin (H) versus Walnut Hills; and Wyoming (A) versus Lakota West.. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Mason Beats Cincinnati Country Day | Sycamore Defeats St. Xavier

There was a fierce, Hilliard Davidson-like wind yesterday as yet another cold front moved into Ohio. The wind made conditions almost comical -- for the fans -- not the players. There were 23 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 10, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: River Valley defeated Jonathan Alder; Batavia beat Amelia; Gahanna defeated Pickerington North; West beat Centennial to win the Columbus City League Championships; Bethel-Tate defeated Blanchester; Indian Hill beat Turpin; and New Richmond defeated Western Brown. In other significant matches, Mason defeated Cincinnati Country Day and Olentangy defeated Wellington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Olentangy's Stu Brdicka
Olentangy's Stu Brdicka - Click to enlarge
There were numerous matches between the top players. They included: Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated New Albany's Robert Cash; Sycamore's Noah Stern beat St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryrur; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel; Mason's Saiprakash Goli beat Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Wellington's Connor Biernat; Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence beat Bexley's Mark Nudelman; Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla defeated Mason's Shashank Reddy; and Turpin's Ethan Caruso beat Indian Hill's Christiano Lima. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

A courageous, undisclosed fourth party leaked the Mason D1 Sectional data to OhioTennisZone under the cover of darkness in a Washington DC parking garage early this morning.. This person is now seeking asylum in the Central District. Now that the finger prints have been scrubbed from the document, it is accessible here. Now that the Mason D1 draw is available, it would be great if a Mason D2 could also be provided to OTZ. Please email or submit a Feedback if you can provide said document. Your identity will be protected unless OTZ is promised Peanut M&M's.

Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus Massillon Jackson; St John's Jesuit (H) versus Ottawa Hills; Cincinnati Country Day (A) versus Seven Hills; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Wellington; Dublin Jerome (H) versus Hilliard Davidson; and New Albany (A) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

Sectional Draws

The Sectional draws were conducted across the state at 2:00pm on Sunday -- hopefully even in Northwest Ohio. Players who have the best opportunities to get to States are listed below. Summaries for two Districts follow. While all of the locations for the Central District have been posted, that's not the case for the Southwest District. As other draws are released, this blog entry will be updated. All of the draws will be linked to in the table listed above.

Central District D1

Singles: The top players who are competing in singles are: New Albany's Robert Cash, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka; and Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino.

CCD's Kevin Yu
CCD's Kevin Yu - Click to team page
Doubles: The top doubles players are: Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny - Josh Cole; New Albany's Nathan Jose - Graeme Green; St. Charles' Jack Dabek - Evan Yakubov; Upper Arlington's Jack Hughes - Jack Schadek; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps - Alex Heiden; St. Charles' Vinh Thai - Quyen Thai; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps - Alex Heiden; and Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni - Noah Elliott.

Note that all of the above players are OTZ members. Being an OTZ member, just makes kids better players. (Your performance may vary.) It also helps fund this web site.

Central District D2

Singles: Wellington's Connor Biernat; Wellington's Trevor Ball; Granville's John Purnode.

Doubles: Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence - Eric Min; Bexley's Josh Meyer - Christian Roddy; Worthington Christian's Ben Kindberg - Chris Tsibouris; Bexley's Mark Nudelman - Leo Schottenstein.

Southwest District D1

Singles: Mason's Niraj Komatineni; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur; Mason's Saiprakash Goli; Turpin's Grant Wendel; Sycamore's Regis Liou; Mason's Vishnu Srinath; Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz; Centerville's Josh Giambattista; Miami Valley's Colton Morehart.

Doubles: Sycamore's Noah Stern - Nathan Zhang; Mason's Shashank Reddy - Charlie MacKenzie; St. Xavier's Peter Schulteis - Max DeCurtins; Sycamore's Alex Karev - Varun Kalaiarasan; St. Xavier's Joe Beischel - Cameron Geoppinger.

Southwest District D2

Singles: Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams; Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Badin's Noah Connaughton.

Doubles: Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla - Justin Baker; Indian Hill's Milan Bhandari - Christiano Lima; Indian Hill's Mack Ellis - Mrinal Singh; Seven Hills' Quinn Shim - Max Yuan; Wyoming's Joseph Kelly - Zach Osha; Miami Valley's Makul Sharma - Niyanth Reddy.

The Mid-State League Tournament was rescheduled for today at Columbus Academy. Today's dual matches include: Mason (H) versus Cincinnati Country Day; Indian Hill (A) versus Turpin; Hawken (H) versus Beachwood; Olentangy (A) versus Wellington; and  Hilliard Bradley (H) versus New Albany. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

Sycamore Wins GCTCA Flight A | Seven Hills Wins Flight B

Yesterday was a rainout but the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association (GCTA) Tournament went indoors to finish their tournament. In the Flight A group, Sycamore and Mason tied with 310 points, but Sycamore won the tiebreak. The tiebreak was the number of flight champions. Sycamore had three and Mason had two. St. Xavier was third with 150 points and Cincinnati Country Day was fourth with 90. Seven Hills won Flight B.

Sycamore
Sycamore - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated Mason's Niraj Komatineni; Mason's Saiprakash Goli beat Sycamore's Nathan Zhang; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams defeated Anderson's Sultan; and Sycamore's Regis Liou beat Mason's Vishnu Srinath. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Sycamore. They are coached by Mike Teets. They are Team Members. They are led by Noah Stern, Nathan Zhang, and Regis Liou.

The Sectional Draws take place at 2pm throughout the state. Northwest Ohio is still part of the state so hopefully they do their draws today, too.. The Central District draw normally flows smoothly, but OTZ has a few ideas that might make it run faster with fewer misspelled names. The bulk of my time yesterday was spent on that. Watch for the Central District draws to go online later today.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Cincinnati Country Day Beats Wellington | University School Defeats UA

Ohio has been extremely fortunate with the weather so far this season, but avoiding rain outs today will be difficult. Hopefully a few teams will be able to go indoors. There were 10 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 6, Southwest - 3, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Cincinnati Country Day defeated Wellington; Beechcroft beat DeSales; and Pickerington Central defeated Lancaster; In other significant matches, University School defeated Upper Arlington and Solon defeated Kenston. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Grandview
Grandview - Click to team page

Among the top players, University School's Paul Gota defeated Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny; Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu beat Wellington's Trevor Ball; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated Loveland's Christian Harris; Centerville's Josh Giambattista beat Lexington's Luke Webster; Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden defeated Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte; Upper Arlington's Josh Cole beat University School's David Buchinsky; and Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla defeated Wellington's Connor Biernat. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Grandview. They are coached by Kathy Kinnard.

There were good intentions to catch up on photo processing last night but the thunderstorms quickly put an end to those plans. The computer goes off-line when lightning enters the area.

The only dual matches in the scheduling system are Solon (A) versus St. Charles and New Albany. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

GCTCA First Day

One more great, bonus day of weather allowed the tournament with the longest name, the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Classic (GCTCA), to get off to a great start. Some, but not all, of the results are online. Photo-taking conditions turned almost perfect right as I was leaving. I essentially guarantee that the photos from the Mason Flight A group will be posted online at some point someday.

There were 13 dual matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 10, Southwest - 2, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Worthington Kilbourne defeated Pickerington Central; Sycamore-B beat Wyoming; St. Ignatius defeated Hawken; and Marysville beat Kenton. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Andrew Pregel
Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated Turpin's Grant Wendel; and Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel; Mason's Niraj Komatineni beat Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur; St. Ignatius' Josh Hsia beat Hawken's Stephanie Shulman; Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen defeated Gahanna's Kyle Fout; and Bexley's Mark Nudelman beat Watterson's Chris Finissi.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's matches include: St. Xavier (A) versus Sycamore; Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus Wellington; Columbus Academy (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; and St John's Jesuit (A) versus Sylvania Northview. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

St. Xavier Beats Centerville | Upper Arlington Defeats Olentangy Orange

Not to be greedy, but can we have one more perfect day to kick off today's Greater Cincinnati Coaches' Classic? This is the best tournament in the state.

There were 30 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 17, Southwest - 10, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Worthington Kilbourne defeated Hilliard Bradley; Dublin Scioto beat Hilliard Davidson; Logan Elm defeated Jackson; Madeira beat Mariemont; Turpin defeated Walnut Hills; and Kettering Fairmont beat Northmont; In other significant matches, St. Xavier defeated Centerville and Upper Arlington beat Olentangy Orange in OTCA Tournament play. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Olentangy
Olentangy - Click to team page
Among the top players, New Albany's Robert Cash defeated Dublin Coffman's Robby Berling; Sycamore's Noah Stern beat Colerain's Matthew Laskey; Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny defeated Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka beat St. Charles' Jack Dabek; and Upper Arlington's Josh Cole defeated Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden. Just as a normal rule of thumb, top players are listed above when their opponents are included on TennisRecruiting.net. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Olentangy. They are coached by Jeff Luxenburger. They are Team Members. They are led by Stu Brdicka and Alex Konstan.

The Greater Cincinnati Coaches' Classic begins today. I will be at Mason taking photos of the Flight A group. Dual matches include: Hawken (H) versus Kenston; New Albany (H) versus Hilliard Davidson; Olentangy (H) versus Columbus Academy; and Watterson (A) versus Bexley. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Cincinnati Country Day Beats Indian Hill | University School Defeats Solon

Yesterday's great weather led to a large number of matches, plus several great matches. It also led to a complete mess this morning as results were scrambled by several of my news sources. There were 40 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 22, Southwest - 15, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Reynoldsburg defeated Lancaster; Loveland beat Milford; Fisher Catholic defeated Teays Valley; Talawanda beat Ross; Thomas Worthington defeated Worthington Kilbourne; Cincinnati Country Day beat Indian Hill; Hamilton Township defeated Circleville; DeSales beat Hartley; and Anderson defeated Kings. In other significant matches, University School defeated Solon and Columbus Academy beat Bexley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Bryan Yoshino
Coffman's Bryan Yoshino - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Solon's Vlad Rotnov defeated University School's Paul Gota; Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu beat Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel; Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated Lakota West's Garrett Lindsey; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka beat Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen; Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence beat Bexley's Mark Nudelman; and University School's David Buchinsky defeated Solon's Luke Qin. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's matches include: New Albany (H) versus Dublin Coffman; Upper Arlington (A) versus Olentangy Orange; Olentangy (A) versus St. Charles; Turpin (H) versus Walnut Hills; and St. Xavier (H) versus Wyoming. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Changes Made to OTZ Top Ten Teams Rankings / Top Players

The weather was perfect but many of the best teams took the day off after competing in tournaments and significant dual matches over the weekend. There were 22 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 4, and Northeast - 4. The close, 3-2 matches included: Loveland defeated Walnut Hills; Watkins Memorial beat Westerville Central; Fisher Catholic defeated Hartley; Talawanda beat Little Miami; and Glen Este defeated Hamilton. In OTCA tournament play, Columbus Academy beat Granville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Watkins Mem vs West. Central
Watkins Mem vs West. Central - Click to enlarge

One of the closest matches seen this year was between Watkins Memorial and Westerville Central. The graph points out how close it was on each court. The detailed ("Line-up View") information provides readers with even more insight. While these kids likely did not have enough time to finish their homework, the fans would have appreciated their efforts.

As more and more information is added to the "Top" or "Home" OhioTennisZone page, it is taking too long to load. The Twitter widget, located in the right navigational bar, is a very time consuming task for the system. This widget will be removed until after the season. To follow OTZ on Twitter, just look for @OhioTennisZone.

The Sectional Draws takes place on Sunday -- even for Northwest Ohio. For those teams that are missing a few scores on OhioTennisZone, please get those results into me asap. [Northwest Ohio had a history of not doing its draws on the same day as the rest of the state, and it caused all kinds of problems.]

The OTZ Top Players Reports and the OTZ Top Ten Teams were changed last night. The Top Ten Teams ranking is in the right navigation bar along with links to most teams.

Bloom-Carroll
Bloom-Carroll - Click to team page
Among the top players, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated Pickerington Central's Jackson Mathias; St. Charles' Jack Dabek beat Olentangy Liberty's Marcello Aguilar; Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler defeated Dublin Scioto's Joseph Hill; and Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen beat Worthington Kilbourne's Gordon Liu. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Bloom-Carroll. They are coached by Rick Rowland.

There are several really big matches tonight. They include: Solon (A) versus University School; Indian Hill (A) versus Cincinnati Country Day; St. John's Jesuit (A) versus Findlay; Columbus Academy (A) versus Bexley; and Olentangy (A) versus Hilliard Darby. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY, APRIL 24,

OTZ Interview: Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai

The Thai family has been a large, friendly force in Central Ohio tennis for a decade. As Hilliard Bradley’s Mitchell Thai assessed his goals this year, it had two elements -- he wants to do well for himself -- and for his family.

Thai Family & Friends
@ '16 CDAB Districts - Click to enlarge

Thai lives in a close-knit extended family in southwest Columbus. “My parents came over from Vietnam during the Vietnam War as refugees. They came over when they were nine years old and my grandparents worked really hard to make a living over here. I am a second generation Vietnamese American”, he said. Closely affiliated with the South Vietnamese government, the Thai family fled South Vietnam in 1975. The family has lived in close proximity to each other ever since, growing up as neighbors. They all played tennis, loved tennis, and excelled in tennis. Thai began playing when he was only three years old.

In terms of Thai's goals for this season, he stated, “There is a lot of pressure to uphold the family name. My sister [Lauren] and my cousin [Ashley] won States and My Linh [Li] and Kim My [Li] [cousins] won States, too. So going into this season, it’s definitely been my goal, especially as my senior year, to win States in singles.” Thai also mentioned, “I just want to thank my family for being such a good tennis family. My grandparents have a tennis court and we would all go over there when we were younger, and they were the ones who got me started in tennis. It would be a great honor to win States for them. It’s not only for me but also for them.” In addition to winning States, Thai hopes to compete at the USTA National Championships this year in Kalamazoo. (Thai played at Kalamazoo in the B16's.)

Mitchell Thai
Thai @ '17 Bradley Dubs Tourney - Click to enlarge
Just in case a family score card is needed (or for a brief trip down memory lane), his cousin, Khang (Do) Thai, was a States Qualifier for Bishop Ready in 2008. Cousins, Kim My Li and My Linh Li, were State D2 Doubles Champions in 2009 for St. Francis DeSales. His sister, Lauren, and his cousin, Ashley, were State D2 Doubles Champions in 2010 for Hilliard Bradley. My Linh Li finished third at States in 2011 and she was a State Finalist in Singles in 2012. (Click links above to view the OHSAA Draws.) Thai has two more cousins, Vinh Thai and Quyen Thai, who currently play for St. Charles Preparatory.

Thai's father is Dzung (pronounced "Young") and his mother is Thuy (pronounced "Twee"). Thankfully, his sister [Lauren] has the same name as our daughter so I have that figured out.

Mitchell Thai
Thai @ CDAB Districts - Click to view video

Thai’s style of play is to stay glued to the baseline and to dictate play using his forehand to create opportunities. Over the summer, he worked on his serve (which would be clocked in the 110mph range), improving his shot selection, and getting to the net. Thai is one of several central Ohio boys who participates in clinics with OSU Coach Ty Tucker.

As shown in his OTZ Player Profile, Thai is undefeated so far this season, losing no more than three games in any of his matches. Thai had only two losses last year with one of them coming in the first round of States. Thai was leading 5-1 in the third set against Solon's Vlad Rotnov before Thai's leg cramps began. He lost 6-3, 6-7, 7-5.

Thai will be going to Denison next fall for college. He selected Denison for a number of reasons. Denison offered him with an early matriculation program to get into dental school. He will attend Denison for three years and then transfer to Case Western’s dental program for four more years. Thai mentioned, "My sister was one of my biggest influences in choosing to go into the field of dentistry." Lauren participated in the same program, but she went to Toledo (playing tennis for them) before going onto Case Western. To prepare himself for college, Thai took eight AP and eight honors classes at Hilliard Bradley. Thai favors a math/science curriculum and will major in biology.

Thai should be able to contribute to the Denison tennis line-up early-on. He has a TennisRecruiting.net 4-star rank, placing him only behind University School’s Paul Gota in TennisRecruiting.net's Ohio senior class ranking. Thai has a Universal Tennis Rating of 11.95, and he is currently ranked third on the OhioTennisZone Boys' Rankings. There will be more than a few familiar faces on Thai's team next year. Solon's Vlad Rotnov and Granville's John Purnode will also be playing for Denison. St. John's Jesuit grads, Kevin Brown and Ryan Issa, are currently on Denison's team.

This probably goes without saying, but going to Denison also means that Thai can play closer to home so that he can remain near his family. "Nothing rivals my family and I'm so glad that I was raised in such a deep rooted culture." Thai added, "I consider my cousins to be my best friends."

When not playing tennis, Thai, as well as many of his cousins, enjoy target shooting and traveling. They also scuba. He also uses SnapChat.

Oh yeah, there is another Thai on the way.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY, - BONUS SPECIAL

Special Monday Bonus Update | Mason Conquers All

Not since the first Monday was invented, slightly before a Tuesday, has there been so much tennis news from a Sunday.

Central Ohio devised a scheme to blow up the bridge over the Little Miami River to prevent Mason from getting to Columbus. The scheme did not work. Reportedly fording the river with their bus on their backs, the Mason team still got to Columbus beat Upper Arlington and Wellington and went home.. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

The Ohio State Women's tennis team won their second consecutive Big Ten Championship on Sunday. Ohio high school players, New Albany's Francesca Di Lorenzo, Olentangy Orange's Anna Sanford, and Mount Notre Dame's Sandy Niehaus, played starring roles.

The Ohio State Men's tennis team won a tightly contested, 4-3, away match over Illinois to complete a perfect 11-0 Big Ten season. Cincinnati Country Day's JJ Wolf clinched the match for OSU by winning 6-7, 6-4, 7-6.

Watterson's Coco Watterson's Coco
Mason's Komatineni - Click to enlarge
OSU's Di Lorenzo- Click to enlarge
Anna Sanford New Albany's Dolce
Sanford - Click to enlarge
Niehaus- Click to enlarge

Among the top players in yesterday's high school matches, Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny; Mason's Saiprakash Goli beat Wellington's Connor Biernat and Upper Arlington's Josh Cole; and Mason's Vishnu Srinath defeated Upper Arlington's Jack Hughes. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

In other tournaments over the weekend, Solon won the Lexington Invitational and Hawken won the Caraboolad Trophy in their tournament.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Hawken (A) versus Chagrin Falls; Wyoming (A) versus Anderson; and Solon (A) versus Brunswick. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

New Albany Beats Sycamore | Upper Arlington Defeats St. John's Jesuit

Yesterday was expected to be a rainout, and yet again, we had a full day of tennis. There were seven matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3 and Southwest - 4. The close, 3-2 matches included: Walnut Hills defeated Seven Hills; New Albany beat Sycamore; and Upper Arlington defeated St. John's Jesuit. Granville and Mount Vernon tied for the championship of the Reynoldsburg Doubles Tournament. To view all of the dual match results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Alan Fahoury
SJJ's Alan Fahoury - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated New Albany's Nate Jose; Upper Arlington's Josh Cole beat St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury; New Albany's Graeme Green defeated Sycamore's Nathan Zhang; and St. John's Jesuit's Dev Laungani beat Upper Arlington's Jack Hughes. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Except for the OTCA Tournament, there are normally not many matches played on Sunday. That's not the case today. Mason is coming to Columbus to play Upper Arlington. Cincinnati Country Day (T) is playing St Xavier (Louisville, KY).

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Sycamore > UA | CA > SJJ | Mason > 7 Hills | Solon > Brecksville

Many of Ohio's best teams went on the road this weekend, and again, the weather is cooperating. The teams also cooperated by providing fans with great matches. There were 17 contests recorded from state-wide play yesterday. The breakdown by District was: Central - 8, Southwest - 5, and Northeast - 4. The close, 3-2 matches included: Ross defeated Northwestern; Loveland beat Fairfield; Columbus Academy defeated St. John's Jesuit; and St. Edward beat North Olmsted. In other prominent matches, Mason defeated Seven Hills; Sycamore beat Upper Arlington; and Solon defeated Brecksville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Bradley Chefs
OTZ Personal Chefs at Bradley - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Solon's Vlad Rotnov defeated Brecksville's Benjamin Yeh; Sycamore's Noah Stern beat Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny; Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams; Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence beat St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury; and Upper Arlington's Josh Cole defeated Sycamore's Nathan Zhang. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

As displayed in today's photo, only the finest in dining was provided at yesterday's Hilliard Bradley's doubles tournament. The chefs in the picture above are Velan Rajmohan (left) and Anish Chitti. The teams that participated in the tournament were: Big Walnut, Gahanna, Hilliard Bradley, Lancaster, and Olentangy.

The weather continues to confuse absolutely everyone. The Hilliard Davidson Doubles tournament was canceled last night as what appeared to be rain armageddon approached central Ohio. Today's matches include: Upper Arlington (H) versus St John's Jesuit and New Albany (H) versus Sycamore. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Picture Day | Solon Beats Copley

Rain impacted matches in the Central and Southwest Districts. Today and tomorrow will also be iffy. There were 24 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Edgewood defeated Little Miami and Batavia beat Bethel-Tate. In other prominent matches, Centerville defeated Springboro; Upper Arlington beat Dublin Coffman; and Solon defeated Copley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Dan Mayotte
West. North's Dan Mayotte - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Solon's Vlad Rotnov defeated Copley's Brian Yang; Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny beat Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino; and Centerville's Josh Giambattista defeated Springboro's Jack Diehl. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There were 46 more photos added to the Recently Added Photos area. Please sign-in to view. Note that all of these photos are for sale. Those photos that have been purchased are available for all to view. They are also included on Player Profiles. (See Chris Finissi's profile.) Never (ever) take an unpurchased OTZ photo and use it elsewhere (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.). It is very expensive for OTZ to take and to publish these photos and I need to be compensated.

For those who wish to purchase a photo, note that there are far more photos than what have been published online. If you promise to purchase at least one photo, I will go back into my inventory and retrieve other photos of your son to see if there are others that you would prefer. Click to Buy a Tennis Photo.

The Top OTZ photos still need to be reviewed and updated. If you are having trouble getting your Friday started and you need another reason to procrastinate, click to view the Top OTZ Photos for 2016. Photos from the Western & Southern Open, USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Ohio State, and many Ohio high school matches are included. Always set your volume level to "pain" prior to playing any OTZ video.

Today's matches include: Sycamore (A) versus Upper Arlington; Columbus Academy (H) versus St John's Jesuit; Mason (H) versus Seven Hills; and Solon (A) versus Brecksville. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Wellington Beats Columbus Academy | Bexley Defeats Granville

We need rain because I need a break from entering scores. I also need to catchup on about a dozen different things.. There were 33 matches recorded from state-wide play yesterday. The breakdown by District was: Central - 21, Southwest - 10, and Northwest - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Northwest defeated Harrison; Glen Este beat Bethel-Tate; OTZ #6 Wellington defeated OTZ #5 Columbus Academy; Fisher Catholic beat Reynoldsburg; Mount Vernon defeated DeSales; Milford beat Anderson; Grove City defeated Lancaster; Bexley beat Granville; and Gahanna defeated Thomas Worthington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Centerville
Centerville - Click to team page

Among the top players, New Albany's Robert Cash defeated Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni; Solon's Vlad Rotnov beat Shaker Heights' Wilder Geier; Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Turpin's Grant Wendel; Wellington's Connor Biernat beat Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence; Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler defeated Watterson's Chris Finissi; Hawken's Stephanie Shulman beat Orange's Robert Miron; Wyoming's Joseph Kelly defeated Madeira's Gray Palmer; and Granville John Purnode beat Bexley's Mark Nudelman. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

On the potentially good news front, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) may finally allow OhioTennisZone to sell photos from States. As many of you know, this has been an ongoing issue for about five years. I travel throughout the state to take photos during the entire season. As a result, OTZ probably has more photos than all newspapers combined, but the OHSAA prohibited OTZ from selling photos from the the most important tournament of the year - States. The OHSAA also prohibited OTZ from posting more than four photos from States on the same web page. (See posting for October 23.) This issue was discussed at the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association meeting that I attended yesterday.

Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long. They are led by Josh Giambatista and Brandon Valley.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (A) versus Upper Arlington; Solon (A) versus Copley; Thomas Worthington (H) versus Worthington Kilbourne; Turpin (H) versus Kettering Fairmont; and Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Olentangy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Indian Hill Beats Seven Hills | Turpin Defeats Anderson

Perfect weather provided the biggest tennis night of the season. There were 40 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 23, Southwest - 13, and Northeast - 4. In matches involving Top Ten Teams, D2 #1 Indian Hill defeated D2 #2 Seven Hills and D2 #4 Cincinnati Country Day beat D2 #7 Wyoming. The close, 3-2 matches included: Fisher Catholic defeated Logan; Olentangy Orange beat Olentangy; Strongsville defeated North Olmsted; Dublin Scioto beat Hilliard Bradley; Little Miami defeated Ross; and Turpin beat Anderson. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Hilliard Darby
Hilliard Darby - Click to team page
Among the top players, Seven Hills' Nick Williams defeated Indian Hill's Andrew Andrew Pregel; University School's Paul Gota beat Brecksville's Benjamin Yeh; Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated Dublin Scioto's Joseph Hill; Solon's Vlad Rotnov beat Avon Lake's Spencer Gray; Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated Oak Hills' Michael Cole; Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu beat Wyoming's Joseph Kelly; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated William Sultan; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka beat Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps; Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz defeated Centerville's Josh Giambattista; and Watterson's Chris Finissi beat DeSales' Armando DiMichaelangelo. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Hilliard Darby. They are coached by Scott Nickel. They are led by Thomas Ohler, Adam Schrock, and Krishna Revur.

Today's matches include: Hawken (H) versus Orange; Solon (H) versus Shaker Heights; Upper Arlington (A) versus Dublin Coffman; Columbus Academy (H) versus Wellington; and Turpin (H) versus Mason. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Sycamore Beats Cincinnati Country Day

More schools are back from spring break as other schools leave. This week, Columbus City Schools are out. There were 29 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 16, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 5. Two of the top tennis schools clashed last night - OTZ #4 Sycamore defeated OTZ D2 #4 Cincinnati Country Day 4-1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Granville defeated Gahanna; Hilliard Darby beat Hilliard Bradley; Indian Hill defeated Sycamore-B; Thomas Worthington beat Dublin Scioto; Grove City defeated West; Bexley beat Westerville North. In another prominent match, Wellington defeated Olentangy Orange. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Marysville
Marysville - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai beat Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler; Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino defeated Hilliard Davidson's Ethan Clark; Wellington's Connor Biernat beat Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps; Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte defeated Bexley's Mark Nudelman, ; Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz beat Beavercreek's Austin Staiger; Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla defeated Sycamore's Nathan Zhang; and Wellington's Trevor Ball beat Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Marysville. They are coached by Brian Ash. They are led by Haden Fluharty, Tony Martin, and David Sanders.

Today's matches include: Indian Hill (H) versus Seven Hills; Turpin (A) versus Anderson; Olentangy (H) versus Olentangy Orange; DeSales (A) versus Watterson; St John's Jesuit (A) versus Lima Central Catholic; and Thomas Worthington (A) versus Hilliard Darby. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY, APRIL 17,

OTZ Interview: Sycamore's Noah Stern

As was done last year, OhioTennisZone will feature several seniors who have excelled in Ohio high school tennis. The first interview this year is with Sycamore's Noah Stern [click for Player Profile]. Stern is a three-time State qualifier in doubles and doubles finalist last year with Alex Taylor [click for OTZ article]. He is also now a captain of a team that has won the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Division 1 crown for the last three years. This interview took place on April 4th.

Noah Stern
Stern @ '16 OVTA Qualifier - Click to enlarge

While Stern started playing tennis at a young age - at five or six - he did not only play tennis. He was a five sport athlete prior to focusing on tennis in high school. His other sports included football (playing as QB and defensive end), baseball (short stop and pitcher), basketball (forward), and soccer. This athleticism is also apparent in his tennis game.

Stern has an all-around game. He is a TennisRecruiting.net 3-star and he has a UTR rating of 11.48. Stern practices five days a week for two to three hours a day, and he has focused his efforts this year on his serve (which is now 110-115 mph) and his court positioning. He wants to stay aggressive on the court by getting into the net whenever possible. When asked which tennis strokes he wanted in an OTZ photo this season, his answer was "forehands or volleys". Hopefully his opponents will cooperate.

Noah Stern
Stern @ '16 UA Match- Click to enlarge

As far as his team goals go, Stern was not in the sharing mood when asked if it was time that three-in-a-row champion Sycamore share an OTCA team title with another team. He stated, "I know that obviously some of the other teams are thinking otherwise, and I know that we have a huge target on our back which we have had for a couple of years now. But we are definitely still looking to do it again. We know that it will be a tough thing to do. It's really incredible that we've happened to do it three times. Everyone knows how hard it is, and we still believe that we can do it. We have it as one of our big goals despite losing some of the players that we had last year."

In terms of his personal goals, Stern stated, "Individually for me, I'd say that I definitely want a state title for sure. I don't know if that will be in singles or doubles. I want to see how I do in events that include the better players in the state in the regular season because I am going to have a chance to play most of them. If I feel like I have a good shot at singles, I might pursue singles, but if I think that maybe doubles is a better option, then I'll stick with doubles. But definitely a state title for sure, and also winning the Coaches' Classic first singles bracket would also be something very memorable. ... So those two things for sure would be the two things that I want to do individually."

After graduation, Stern will be going to Ohio State where he plans to major in business. He has already been admitted into OSU's Fisher College of Business, and his Sycamore curriculum has certainly prepared him for the rigors of OSU. In addition to the strong curriculum that Sycamore provides, Stern took nine AP classes. His two favorites were AP Psychology and AP U.S. History. He plans to play club tennis at Ohio State and he already has a strong connection with that club. His brother, Dylan, is the president of the club. Dylan will graduate in finance and international business this spring. [Click for photo of Dylan at States with partner Deepak Indrakanti in 2013.]

Stern's parents are Linda and Joe. Both are big high school tennis fans. Linda is also a regular contributor of Sycamore photos, and Joe is an avid tennis player who played with his sons at an early age.

When he is not studying or playing tennis, Stern enjoys being with friends and family. He likes watching NetFlix and tennis. He also likes reading classic books in his backyard hammock. In addition to Twitter (his handle is @besthands_), he also uses InstraGram and SnapChat. Click to view Stern's OhioTennisZone.com and TennisRecruiting.net profiles.

Today's matches include: Cincinnati Country Day (A) versus Sycamore; Wyoming (H) versus Mariemont; Solon (A) versus Medina; Hawken (A) versus Geneva; Westerville North (H) versus Bexley; and Worthington Christian (A) versus Grandview. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

St. Xavier Louisville Beats Indian Hill and Sycamore

There were several good matches yesterday despite it being Easter weekend. The close, 3-2 matches included: Massillon Jackson defeated Dublin Coffman; Sycamore beat Louisville Trinity; and St Xavier-Louisville defeated Indian Hill. In other prominent matches, St Xavier-Louisville defeated Sycamore;St. John's Jesuit beat St. Francis DeSales; and Centerville defeated Bellbrook in an OTCA match. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Tom Ohler
Hilliard Darby's Tom Ohler - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated St Xavier-Louisville's Alex Westbrooks; Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino beat Massillon Jackson's Danny Thomas; Trinity’s Presley Thieneman and St Xavier-Louisville's Drew Singerman defeated Sycamore's Noah Stern; Centerville's Josh Giambattista beat Bellbrook's Brayden Kopp; and St. Francis DeSales' Gregory Leroux defeated St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

As a public service announcement, OTZ would like to remind everyone that peeps may have feelings, too. It's best to never ever ever microwave them, put them in vacuum chamber, or put them in a 100,000 watt microwave without first having your dad beside you to enjoy it.

Happy Easter.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Mason Beats Lakota East

It was a slow match day yesterday due to Good Friday. In the only match recorded, Mason defeated Lakota East. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday and from previous days, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Whetstone
Whetstone - Click to team page
The results of Mason's top three players were: Mason's Saiprakash Goli defeated Lakota East's Chris Holden; Mason's Vishnu Srinath beat Lakota East's Kamil Sacha; and Mason's Duncan MacKenzie defeated Lakota East's Andrew Hoke. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Whetstone. They are coached by Bucky Walters. They are led by Kaleb White and Colin Harmon-Ulmer.

If match results are not included on OTZ for your team, please send OTZ the results via email. With fewer matches being played, now is a good time to catch up. This offer is only for OTZ members. This offer was extended to non-members a few years ago but unfortunately, it resulted in a large number of late scores, rather than new OTZ members.

Today's matches include: Indian Hill and Sycamore  are both traveling to play against St Xavier (Louisville, KY). In other matches, it’s Olentangy Liberty (A) versus Pleasant and St John's Jesuit (H) versus Perrysburg. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Mason Beats Sycamore | CCD Defeats Seven Hills

There were two big matches involving the top teams in the state. OTZ #3 Mason defeated OTZ #4 Sycamore and OTZ D2 #4 Cincinnati Country Day beat OTZ D2 #2 Seven Hills. These teams will likely meet again in the OTCA Tournament when the stakes are higher. Many of the Catholic schools did not play yesterday because it was Holy Thursday. The number of matches today will also be lower today than normal since it is Good Friday. There were 27 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 18, Southwest - 6, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Harrison defeated Little Miami; Olentangy Liberty beat Westerville North; Northwest defeated Ross; Whetstone beat Teays Valley; Talawanda defeated Oak Hills; and OTZ D2 #3 Hawken beat Shaker Heights. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Mason
Mason - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated Sycamore's Noah Stern; Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai beat Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen; Solon's Vlad Rotnov defeated Hudson's Harrshavasan Congivaram; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel beat Mariemont's Cameron Stephens; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Wellington's Connor Biernat beat Dublin Scioto's Joseph Hill; Bexley's Mark Nudelman defeated Worthington Christian's Ben Kindberg; Shaker Height’s Wilder Geier beat Hawken’s Stephanie Shulman; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps defeated Westerville South's Anthony Vilardo; and Mason's Saiprakash Goli beat Sycamore's Nathan Zhang. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Mason. They are coached by Mike Reid. They are Team Members. They are led by Niraj Komatineni, Saiprakash Goli, and Shashank Reddy.

Today's schedule is light due to Good Friday. Cincinnati Country Day (H) is scheduled to play against Massillon Jackson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Seven Hills Beats Wyoming | University School Defeats Erie Prep

The scores from Northeast Ohio have been few and far between, but a few more coaches are apparently starting to figure out how to use the Plain Dealer score entry system. Hopefully more coaches will get engaged to recognize their players. There were 34 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 12, and Northeast - 7. The close, 3-2 matches included: New Richmond defeated Fenwick; La Salle beat Ross; North Olmsted defeated Lakewood; Kettering Fairmont beat Oakwood; Reynoldsburg defeated Granville; Seven Hills beat Wyoming; and Watterson defeated Whetstone; In another prominent match, University School defeated Erie Prep-PA.To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Tennis Articles
Tennis Articles - Click to view report

Among the top players, Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated Walnut Hills' Sushruth Manchineela; Sycamore's Noah Stern beat Moeller's Max Berky; Seven Hills' Nicholas Williams defeated Wyoming's Joseph Kelly; University School's Tyler Krantz beat Erie Prep-PA's Joseph Demarco; Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence defeated Worthington Christian's Ben Kindberg; Badin's Noah Connaughton beat New Richmond's Angus Matthews; Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden defeated Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler; and Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz beat Oakwood's Nick Cassidy. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

News articles about high school tennis are thankfully still being written and included in a few newspapers. Special thanks to the Cincinnati Enquirer and Columbus Dispatch-based newspapers for their "Season kick-off" articles. OhioTennisZone is accumulating a large number of these tennis news articles into one location and they are on the Ohio HS Tennis News page. (For future reference, this report is listed under "Tennis Statistics / Info" in the drop-down menu.) Note that these articles are also listed on each team page (when an article is available). Please make sure that you thank these reporters for their efforts. Each of these articles are great public relations for Ohio high school tennis and for their teams. OTZ has started interviewing seniors and those articles will be included soon.

It has been "so far so good" with the OTCA Boys Tournament Draws. These draws are current with the information that has been reported to OTZ. Please submit a Feedback to report any missing matches.

There are several matches tonight that are bigger than huge. Matches today include: Mason (A) versus Sycamore; Solon (A) versus Hudson; Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus Seven Hills; and Dublin Jerome (H) versus Hilliard Bradley. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Solon Defeats Hawken | Indian Hill Beats Wyoming

The weather impacted a few matches - either by raining or by faking coaches out so that they canceled matches when the conditions turned out to be perfect. There were 26 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 10, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Grove City defeated Reynoldsburg; Little Miami beat Northwest; Hilliard Bradley defeated Delaware Hayes; and Pickerington North beat Watterson. In other notable matches, Solon defeated Hawken and Indian Hill beat Wyoming. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

St. Charles
St. Charles - Click to team page
Among the top players, Solon's Vlad Rotnov defeated Hawken's Stephanie Shulman; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel beat Wyoming's Adam Berhman; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte; Centerville's Josh Giambattista beat Oakwood's Nick Cassidy; Badin's Noah Connaughton defeated Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz; Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen beat Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler; Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden defeated Westerville Central's Mitchell McClain; Watterson's Chris Finissi beat Pickerington North's Peter Vanderhoff; St. Charles' Vinh Thai defeated DeSales' Armando DiMichaelangelo; and Solon's Luke Qin beat Hawken's Michael Lee. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is St. Charles. They are coached by Max Quinton. They are Team Members. They are led by Jack Dabek, Evan Yakubov, and Vinh Thai.

Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus Elyria; St John's Jesuit (A) versus St Francis DeSales; Wyoming (A) versus Seven Hills; Olentangy (A) versus St. Charles; Hawken (A) versus Beachwood. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Olentangy Beats Dublin Coffman | Moeller Defeats Seven Hills

A few more scores were expected after another great weather day for matches. There were 26 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy defeated Dublin Coffman; River Valley beat Jonathan Alder; Andrews Osborne defeated Gilmour Academy; Moeller beat Seven Hills; Granville defeated Big Walnut; Whetstone beat Beechcroft; and Badin beat McNicholas. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Solon
Solon - Click to team page
Among the top players, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka beat Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino; Badin's Noah Connaughton defeated McNicholas' Justin Bolin; Bay's Adam Krueger beat Lake Ridge Academy's Benjamin Gwinnell; Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Stefone Broaders; Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden beat Reynoldsburg's Boban Mihajlov; Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte defeated Groveport's Austin Sourinha; and Watterson's Chris Finissi beat Upper Arlington-B's Nick Gruss. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Solon. They are coached by James Elwing. They are Team Members. They are led by Vlad Rotnov, Luke Qin, and Kavi Jain.

Conditions were perfect for taking photos at the Whetstone versus Beachcroft match last night. I am behind on the photos. I will hopefully make a dent in the backlog today.

Today's matches include: Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus Wyoming; Centerville (H) versus Oakwood; Worthington Christian (A) versus Grandview; St John's Jesuit (H) versus Fremont Ross; and Dublin Jerome (A) versus Hilliard Darby. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

Revised Top Ten Teams | Top Players Report

The season continues to awkwardly move forward as some teams return from spring breaks and others begin their breaks.

Top Ten Teams
OTZ Top Ten Teams - Click to enlarge
The Top Ten Team Rankings have been revised. Division I teams have had numerous good matches while D2 teams largely have not. Remember, you can always vote for teams you deem worthy. Click-able links to the teams are available in the right side navigation bar. Note that extensive information is available for those that are Team Members.

Revised Top Players / Watch Lists are now available. This list will obviously continue to evolve. Many of the top players have not yet had meaningful matches due to spring breaks and/or because they've wanted to play yet another USTA tournament before they start the high school season. The OTZ goal is not to match your list but to be within four spots of it. Another goal is to clearly show the results so that everyone is working off the same information, and since almost all of the top players have Player Profiles, that information is now visible to all. Since all players start on the Watch List, a few more players will quickly switch to the Top Players list next week. Coaches may always contact me if they feel that I am overlooking a player on his/her team or an opponent's team. Other "helpful" people can talk with the coach to request that the coach contacts me or they can contact the IRS and request that their taxes be audited. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. These lists will be solid in time for the Sectional Draws.

The Line-up view in the Previous Day's Match Results report goes behind the pay wall today. OTZ members may still see this information after they sign-in.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Olentangy; Indian Hill (H) versus Wyoming; Upper Arlington (H) versus Hilliard Davidson; Beechcroft (A) versus Whetstone; and  DeSales (H) versus Bloom-Carroll. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

University School > New Albany > Mason

Perfect weather and terrific tennis led to a great day in central Ohio. There were also great matches in other parts of the state. There were 12 matches recorded from state-wide play and most involved the top teams in the state. OTZ #1 University School defeated #6 St. Charles and #2 New Albany; New Albany beat #3 Mason; #3 Mason defeated St. Charles; #5 Sycamore beat #9 St. John's Jesuit; #7 St. Xavier defeated #10 Dublin Jerome; #4 Upper Arlington beat D2 #1 Indian Hill; Bexley defeated #7 Ottawa Hills; and Indian Hill beat Centerville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Drew Haffer
University's Paul Gota - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, New Albany's Robert Cash defeated University School’s Paul Gota and Mason's Saiprakash Goli; University School's Paul Gota beat St. Charles' Jack Dabek; Mason's Saiprakash Goli defeated St. Charles' Jack Dabek; Sycamore's Noah Stern beat St. Johns Jesuit's Alan Fahoury; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny and Centerville’s Josh Giambattista; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur beat Centerville's Josh Giambattista and Dublin Jerome's Anish Patel; Mason's Niraj Komatineni defeated St. Charles' Evan Yakubov; New Albany's Joel Jose beat Mason's Niraj Komatineni and University School's Tyler Krantz; Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu; Turpin's Grant Wendel beat Dublin Jerome's Noah Schneider; and Ottawa Hills' Tyler Gargas defeated Bexley's Mark Nudelman. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The weather was perfect for watching tennis yesterday but not for taking photos. The sun was too harsh, and taking photos of players wearing hats was really difficult. The shade caused by the hats essentially prevents viewers from seeing the players' eyes.

Today is puppy pickup day, but I hope to rearrange the Top Ten teams and Top Players for tomorrow's update.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

St. Xavier Beats Upper Arlington | CCD Defeats St. John's Jesuit

Ok. We have perfect weather again. Teams are back on the road again. In the two biggest matches of the day, St. Xavier defeated Upper Arlington and Cincinnati Country Day beat St. John's Jesuit. Other matches included: Edgewood defeated Badin; Mariemont beat New Richmond; and Moeller defeated Lakota East. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Watterson
Watterson - Click to team page
Among the top players, Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu defeated St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur beat Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny; St. Xavier's Max DeCurtins defeated Upper Arlington's Jack Hughes; Cincinnati Country Day's Vishaal Nalagatla beat St. John's Jesuit's Dev Laungani; and St. Xavier's Peter Schulteis defeated Upper Arlington's Nick Gruss. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Watterson. They are coached by Ryan Schwieterman. They are Team Members. They are led by Chris Finissi, Jesse Pulsinelli, and Thomas Abrams.

It is starting to become somewhat apparent that the OTZ Pre-Season rankings may need adjusting - before I see St. Xavier again. Remember, you can vote, too. Click on Vote Results to see how others have voted and Sign-in to cast your own vote.

Today is a big match day with many high ranking teams and players competing against each other. Matches include: University School versus New Albany and St. Charles; Mason versus New Albany and St. Charles; St. Xavier versus Dublin Jerome and Centerville; Indian Hill versus Upper Arlington and Centerville; Sycamore (H) versus St John's Jesuit; Upper Arlington (A) versus Cincinnati Country Day; Turpin (H) versus Dublin Jerome; and Olentangy versus Ottawa Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches. OTZ will be at New Albany taking photos.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

The Ice Age Cometh | Covington Catholic Beats Indian Hill

Just as everyone was getting bored with perfect tennis weather, the rain, wind, cold temperatures, and snow hit Ohio yesterday. There was just one match recorded. In that match, Covington Catholic defeated Indian Hill.

Dublin Scioto
Dublin Scioto - Click to team page
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel defeated Covington Catholic's Anthony Bosch; Covington Catholic's Cook beat Indian Hill's Christiano Lima; and Indian Hill's Milan Bhandari defeated Covington Catholic's Alex Schneider. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Dublin Scioto. They are coached by Mike Wrigley. They are led by Joe Hill, Kunal Araya, and Shivam Patel.

To honor today's weather, the normally random OTZ marketing message will stay frozen on "OTZ has fresh - never frozen scores - unless it's boys season" until tomorrow.

Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus Canfield; Hawken (H) versus Bay; St. Xavier (H) versus Upper Arlington; Cincinnati Country Day (H) versus St John's Jesuit; and  Wyoming (A) versus Kings. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Dublin Jerome Beats Olentangy Orange

Once again - many teams beat the storms last night, but they will not beat the cold weather. The temperatures will drop throughout the day which could make things challenging for tonight. To keep everything in perspective, Toledo received eight inches of snow and Cleveland got four inches on April 9th last year.

There were 31 matches recorded yesterday from state-wide play. The breakdown of matches played by District was: Central - 22, Southwest - 7, and Northeast - 2. The close, 3-2 matches included: Jonathan Alder defeated Marysville; Olentangy beat Upper Arlington-B; Gahanna defeated Hilliard Bradley; Mason-B beat Turpin; and Fisher Catholic defeated Canal Winchester. In other prominent matches, Dublin Jerome beat Olentangy Orange; Wellington defeated Olentangy Liberty, St. Charles beat Bexley; and Columbus Academy defeated Lexington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results (using Line-up View).

OTZ Graphs
OTZ Graphs Explained - Click to see report
Among the top players, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated Gahanna's Colin Jordan; Turpin's Grant Wendel beat Mason-B's Vishnu Srinath; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur defeated Walnut Hills' Torcado Vaz; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka beat Upper Arlington-B's Josh Cole; Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence defeated Lexington's Luke Webster; St. Charles' Jack Dabek beat Bexley's Mark Nudelman; Badin's Noah Connaughton defeated Ross' Justin Bolin; Hawken's Stephanie Shulman beat Chagrin Falls' Connor Lewis; Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni defeated Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler; Olentangy Orange's Alex Heiden beat Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen; Watterson's Chris Finissi defeated Dublin Scioto's Joseph Hill; Westerville North's Daniel Mayotte beat Watkins Memorial's Braden Clear; and Wellington's Trevor Ball defeated Olentangy Liberty's Hoang Do. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OhioTennisZone strives to quickly provide information to help readers understand how teams perform. The Previous Day Match Results report is one of the most powerful reports that OTZ offers. This report currently offers the Line-up View to non-subscribers, but that will change this weekend. Sign-up to continue receiving access to the Line-up View. To better understand how to benefit from the graphs in this report, click OTZ How-To Analyze Graphs.

When the lightning storms move into central Ohio, OhioTennisZone's computer center goes off line until the bad weather passes. That means no photos from the Dublin Scioto versus Watterson match were processed last night.

Today's matches include: Hawken (A) versus Solon; Dublin Jerome (H) versus Columbus Academy; Mason (A) versus Lakota East; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Olentangy Orange; St John's Jesuit (H) versus Clay; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Hilliard Davidson; Whetstone (H) versus DeSales; Worthington Christian (A) versus Grandview; and Wyoming (A) versus Walnut Hills.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Solon Beats Westlake

Last night was the biggest night of the season as much of the state avoided the rain once again. There were 37 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 23, Southwest - 11, and Northeast - 3. Most of the matches were one-sided. The close, 3-2 matches included West Jefferson defeated Grandview and Amelia beat Batavia. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Westerville North
Westerville North - Click to team page
Among the top players, Solon's Vlad Rotnov defeated Westlake's Aris Jhaveri; Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino beat Pickerington North's Grant Schroeder; Turpin's Grant Wendel defeated Milford's Holden Owens; Indian Hill's Andrew Pregel beat Anderson's William Sultan; Dublin Jerome's Ryan Worthen defeated Thomas Worthington's Kai Britz; Mason's Phillip Krayterman beat Lakota West's Garrett Lindsey; Hawken’s Stephanie Shulman defeated Orange’s David Miron; and Hawken's Michael Lee beat Orange's Santiago Bustamante. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Westerville North. They are coached by Robert Carlson. They are Team Members. They are led by Daniel Mayotte, Reese Nguyen, and Piergiorgio Penzo . The lighting conditions last night with the occasional sunshine and dark skies provided interesting photos. Three Westerville North photos were posted to Twitter. They will be online on OTZ later today.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Lexington; Hawken (H) versus Chagrin Falls; Dublin Jerome (A) versus Olentangy Orange; Olentangy Liberty (A) versus Wellington; St. Xavier (A) versus Walnut Hills; Turpin (A) versus Mason-B; and Wyoming (H) versus Princeton.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

New Albany Defeats St. Charles | HS Tennis Beats the Rain

There were numerous shortened matches but many teams throughout the state were still able to get their matches completed before the rain arrived. There were 21 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 1.The close, 3-2 matches included: Talawanda defeated Mariemont; Seven Hills beat Anderson; Hilliard Bradley defeated Olentangy Liberty; Watkins Memorial beat Hartley; New Albany defeated St. Charles; Wyoming beat St. Xavier-B; and Olentangy Orange defeated Thomas Worthington. In another prominent match, St. Xavier defeated Springboro. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Olentangy Orange
Olentangy Orange - Click to team page
Among the top players, Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai defeated Olentangy Liberty's Do; St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur beat Springboro's Jack Diehl; St. Charles' Jack Dabek defeated New Albany's Graeme Green; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps beat Thomas Worthington's Luke Bobay; Badin's Noah Connaughton defeated Archbishop Alter's Cody White; Wyoming's Joseph Kelly beat St. Xavier-B's Quinn Corcoran; Wellington's Trevor Ball defeated Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni; and St. Charles' Evan Yakubov beat New Albany's Benjamin Yan. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Olentangy Orange. They are coached by Matthew Rutherford. They are Team Members. They are led by Jonathan Zhuravel, Jordan Phelps, and Alex Heiden.

Today's matches include: St John's Jesuit (H) versus Lima Senior; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Pickerington North; St. Xavier (A) versus LaSalle; Watterson (A) versus Ready; Turpin (H) versus Milford; Westerville North (H) versus Marysville; Worthington Christian (H) versus London; and Dublin Jerome (A) versus Thomas Worthington.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

OTZ Top Players | OTZ Puppy Name

Now that many teams are back from spring break, the near perfect weather from last week comes to an abrupt end. The forecast for Columbus calls for rain each day until Friday. Cleveland may have snow on Friday.

Paul Gota
The OhioTennisZone Top Players and Watch List is starting to change ever so slowly. There are currently 21 players on the Top Players Report and 15 on the Watch List. By the end of the season, the Top Players report will include between 30 to 35 players. Note that it is not about a player's record that places him on one of these lists, it is how well he plays against other highly ranked players. While OTZ monitors both TennisRecruiting.net and Universal Tennis Ratings (especially before the season starts), the OTZ rankings will be based on high school play. This year, University School's Paul Gota starts out with the OTZ top ranking. Last year's starter and finisher at the OTZ number one spot was Joey Thomas. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Before any player advances to the Top report, he will start out on the Watch List.

OTZ PuppyPuppy Name
OTZ Puppy
Click Photo for Name

The OTZ puppy name is now official. The winning name received 51% of the 37 votes. The Mrs. OTZ Electoral College also concurred with the voters. Thanks to everyone who voted via Twitter. To see the name, click on the name-tag photo in the amazing, laser, name-tag creating machine. (Is this a great country or what?)

Matches expected to be rained out today include: New Albany (H) versus St. Charles; Upper Arlington (A) versus Olentangy; Olentangy Liberty (A) versus Hilliard Bradley; Thomas Worthington (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Westerville North (H) versus Groveport; and Wyoming (H) versus St. Xavier-B.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

COUP UNSUCCESSFUL - OTZ GRAPHICS DEPARTMENT NOW Not the Winner

COLUMBUS, OH (OTZ) After an increasing number of angry customer calls, the OTZ Grammar Police, Data Department, and Writers sprang into action against the OTZ Graphics Department. Using unauthorized force, the OTZ Grammar Police brutally ended the coup by the Graphics Department, and the OTZ Data Department restored the service as it was before. [Editor's Note: To be completely honest, the OTZ Grammar Police is always authorized to use unauthorized force.]

OTZ Grammar PoliceOTZ Building
OTZ Grammar Police
Building Entry Point

Preparations to end the coup started early in the day as the OTZ Grammar Police assembled its forces. At 11:01 pm they forced a window open on the fourth floor to take the OTZ Graphics department by surprise in the break room. (Absolutely no one was surprised that they were in the break room.) After that, the Data Department, armed with Excel spreadsheets and computer mice, worked their magic to remove the irritating emojis and to restore numbers to OTZ.. Click on the images above to view preparations and the building entry point.

To learn more about the what the OTZ Graphics Department did, make sure you read yesterday's blog entry.

Now yesterday's results (with numbers)...

Most of the matches were played in Northwest Ohio since St. John's Jesuit invited St. Xavier and St. Ignatius over to play. St. Xavier defeated St. Ignatius and St. John's Jesuit; and St. Ignatius beat St. John's Jesuit. Watch for St. Ignatius to get into the OTZ Top Ten Teams list soon. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Among the top players, St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur defeated St. Ignatius' Josh Hsia and St. John’s Jesuit's Alan Fahoury; St. Ignatius' Josh Hsia beat St. John's Jesuit's Alan Fahoury; St. Xavier's Max DeCurtins defeated St. Ignatius' Andrew Siciliano and St. John’s Jesuit's Dev Laungani; and St. John's Jesuit's Dev Laungani beat St. Ignatius' Arjun Brahmbhatt. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

Total Revamp of OhioTennisZone Should Make Everyone Happy!

Numbers are hard and losing isn't very much fun. Sound familiar?

The entire graphics team of OhioTennisZone feels your pain and has been working overtime to solve this problem. Beginning today, OhioTennisZone will eliminate most numbers and use emojis to indicate scores rather than using those confusing numbers that no one really understands. [Editor's note: Today's update was written by the OhioTennisZone.com's Graphics Division. This group feels as if they were wrongly treated in an article that was written about this time last year.]

Winner
Winner
Not the Winner
Not the
Winner

Since the word "losing" has negative connotations, from now on OhioTennisZone will use the term, "not the winner". Wins will be reflected by the symbol on the top. The person(s) who was not the winner will be indicated by the symbol on the bottom.

Most people are familiar with the symbol associated with winning but not the "not the winner" symbol. Rather than use an unside down smile to depict this player, the graphics team felt strongly that the symbol should reflect a person who may have still won the match had it used a different type of scoring system (i.e. Division I college tennis). The graphics team has worked past 2:00pm on more than one Friday and has spent even more time thinking about it to come up with these exciting new symbols.

There was only one match recorded yesterday. It was Cincinnati Country Day Happy! versus Walnut Hills Not as Happy. Click on each team to see the individual results.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Walsh Jesuit; St John's Jesuit (H) versus St. Ignatius; and St. Xavier (A) versus St. Ignatius.

Happy holiday.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Upper Arlington Beats Bexley

Yesterday was expected to be a wash-out but instead that may happen today. There were 19 matches recorded from state-wide play. Central and Southwest tied with nine recorded entries. The close, 3-2 matches included: Finneytown defeated Harrison; Lakota East defeated Centerville (from Wednesday); and La Salle defeated Northwest. In another significant match, Upper Arlington defeated Bexley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Wyoming
Wyoming - Click to team page

Among the top players, Upper Arlington's Jack Zelezny defeated Bexley's Mark Nudelman; Hilliard Bradley's Mitchell Thai beat Thomas Worthington's Kai Britz; Sycamore's Noah Stern defeated Lakota East's Chris Holden; Centerville's Josh Giambattista beat Lakota East's Chris Holden; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps defeated Big Walnut's Jared Deel; Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni beat Lancaster's Braeden Kennedy; and Kettering Fairmont's Murad Nawaz defeated Moeller's Max Berky. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Had to shut down the computer early last night because of thunderstorms in the area. Hopefully photos from last night's Upper Arlington versus Bexley match can be processed later today. Arrgh. I am hearing more thunder as I wrap up today's blog entry...

Today's featured team is Wyoming. They are coached by Tony Brock. They are Team Members. They are led by George Arenas, Adam Behrman, and Joseph Kelly.

Today's matches include: St. Xavier (A) versus St John's Jesuit; Turpin (A) versus Sycamore-B; and Whetstone (H) versus Ready.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Hilliard Davidson Beats Pick. North | Covington Catholic Defeats St. X

The season is s l o w l y starting to ramp up. There were 20 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 7, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - Bueller. The close, 3-2 matches included: Covington Catholic (Kentucky) defeated St. Xavier; Thomas Worthington beat Olentangy Liberty; Oak Hills defeated La Salle; Wellington beat Hilliard Darby; St. Xavier-B defeated Lakota West; and Badin beat Northwest; To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Turpin
Turpin - Click to team page
Among the top players, St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur defeated Covington Catholic's Anthony Bosch; Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni beat Pickerington North's Grant Schroeder; Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Lancaster's Braeden Kennedy; Olentangy Orange's Jordan Phelps beat Worthington Kilbourne's Gordon Liu; Wellington’s Trevor Ball defeated Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler; Covington Catholic's Maxwell Cook beat St. Xavier's Max DeCurtins; and St. Xavier's Peter Schulteis defeated Covington Catholic's Alex Schneider. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Turpin. They are coached by Kate Rodgers. They are valued Team Members. They are led by Grant Wendel and Ethan Caruso.

Today's matches include: Sycamore (H) versus Lakota East; Upper Arlington (H) versus Bexley; Mason (H) versus Oak Hills; Olentangy Orange (H) versus Big Walnut; Thomas Worthington (A) versus Hilliard Bradley; Beechcroft (A) versus South (Columbus); and Gahanna (H) versus Westerville South. It could be damp today.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Wellington Beats Thomas Worthington | Moeller Defeats Lakota West

Thankfully before we get too spoiled, it appears that Mother Nature will soak us again next week - when teams return from spring break. The breakdown of matches played by District was: Central - 6, Southwest - 5, Northwest - 1, and Northeast - nada. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Hilliard Darby; Elder beat Oak Hills; Colerain defeated Northwest; and Moeller beat Lakota West. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Thomas Worthington
Thomas Worthington - Click to team page
Among the top players, Olentangy's Stu Brdicka defeated Pickerington North's Grant Schroeder; Hilliard Davidson's Chris Codogni beat Gahanna's Jordan; Hilliard Darby's Thomas Ohler defeated Big Walnut's Becker; and Olentangy's Alex Konstan beat Pickerington North's Christian Keen. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Thomas Worthington. They are coached by Andrew Sinclair. They are led by Kai Britz and Jun-sung Park.

I was at the Wellington versus Thomas Worthington match last night taking photos. Those photos will be posted later today.

Today's matches include: St. Xavier (A) versus Covington Catholic (Kentucky); Centerville (A) versus Lakota East; Olentangy (A) versus Lancaster; and Thomas Worthington (H) versus Olentangy Liberty.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

 

TUESDAY,

Centerville Beats Troy | St. Edward Defeats Avon

The weather was perfect again yesterday - just like it always is during boys season.. With many schools on spring break, the number of matches this week will be lower than normal. The close, 3-2 matches included: Centennial defeated Beechcroft; Pickerington Central beat Chillicothe; Centerville defeated Troy; and Badin beat Harrison. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

OTCA Draws
OTCA Draws - Click to go to draw

Among the top players, Centerville's Josh Giambattista defeated Troy's Shane Essick; Milford's Holden Owens beat Elder's Rosen; and Pickerington Central Layton Mathias defeated Chillicothe's Max Krieger. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OTZ plans to keep the OTCA Tournament Draws updated this season as the matches are played. It can, however, be difficult to determine if a match is a regular season or an OTCA tournament match. Please submit a Feedback or send an email if an OTCA tournament match was played. The Pickerington versus Chillicothe match listed above was the first OTCA contest recorded. Quick access to the draws is available at the top of this web page.

In the OTZ puppy naming poll, Zoey has a wide lead over Lizzy, 51% to 19%.

Today's matches include: Thomas Worthington (A) versus Wellington.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

It's Time to Vote

OhioTennisZone.com lost its favorite assistant, Trixie, a year ago. Trixie was not only in charge of employee morale, but she also sniffed out software bugs and she encouraged me to respond to email messages.

OTZ Puppy
OTZ Puppy - Click to enlarge
OTZ is bringing on a new assistant but Mrs. OTZ and I need assistance with a name for a girl puppy. You can help by voting on Twitter. The final names we are considering include: Carly, Ella, Lizzy, and Zoey.

Please note that Mrs. OTZ is an electoral college of one. She has final say since I had naming privileges for Trixie (which was the name of my grandfather's doggy).

Just as Trixie was, our new puppy is a golden-doodle, which is half golden retriever and half standard poodle.

Please go to Twitter to vote.

Many teams are still on spring break. One match that is scheduled for today is Centerville (H) versus Troy.

The weather conditions for taking photos were almost perfect on Friday and Saturday. Sign-in and view the most recently added photos by clicking Most Recently Added Photos.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SUNDAY,

St. Xavier 3-0

The CliffsNotes' version of St. Xavier's weekend was: They came. They saw. They conquered. They ate pizza. Or as they'd say in Latin class, "Veni, vidi, vici, pizza". St. Xavier's first two matches against New Albany and St. Charles were not quality matches, but Columbus Academy not only gave them a good match but also graciously fed St. Xavier pizza.

Columbus Academy
Columbus Academy - Click to team page

Competitive matches from yesterday include: Anderson defeated Loveland and Brecksville beat Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Among the top players, St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur defeated St. Charles' Evan Yakubov and Columbus Academy's Austin Lawrence. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Jeff Warstler. They are OhioTennisZone.com Team Members. They are led by Austin Lawrence, Eric Min, and Michael Qi.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

SATURDAY,

And Away We Go.. | St. Xavier Blanks New Albany

It was windy yesterday but the weather was warm enough so that no one was talking about the wind chill. The three matches recorded were: DeSales defeated Hamilton Township; Thomas Worthington beat Centennial; and OTZ #7 St. Xavier defeated #2 New Albany. To view the performance graphs of the matches, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

St. Xavier
St. Xavier - Click to team page

Will New Albany be able to bounce back from this loss? Yeah. They had several players missing due to spring break and a high level USTA tournament. (Robert Cash is playing in the Easter Bowl and so is Mason's Saiprakash Goli).

Among the top players, St. Xavier's Ronit Hiryur defeated New Albany's Graeme Green. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is St. Xavier. They are coached by Russ King. They are Team Members.

Today's matches include two more heavy-weight battles. St. Xavier is making the most out of their road trip to Columbus by playing both OTZ #6 St. Charles (at 9:00am) and OTZ #6 D2 Columbus Academy (at 1:00pm). St. Charles will be playing at the Columbus School for Girls (CSG) site on Cassidy Avenue. The CSG site is the best place for a dual match in central Ohio so come out and watch. OTZ will be at both matches today.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

It's time. Match play begins today.

Matches begin today and to everyone's amazement, the weather will be accommodating. To kick things off, OTZ #7 St. Xavier travels north to play #2 New Albany. Action begins at 4:30.

OTZ Launch Control
This is what's great about high school tennis. The best teams do not hide from each other. They schedule other great teams early in the season so they can assess the players that they have. Or in other words, they do the complete and total opposite of what Ohio State Men's Basketball does.

Everything is ready to go at OhioTennisZone and the OTZ data center (see photo) is ready to begin receiving scores..

OTZ will be at the New Albany versus St. Xavier match today to take team and action photos.

Other items of interest...

Please contact OTZ via Feedback or via email if you have any questions.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

Improved Team Report

Charts Charts Charts + data data data = Charts data Charts data Charts data

Charts by themselves often do not provide enough detailed information. Data all by itself can't hold the attention of short-attention span (hey, I'm talking to you) people.

OTZ Player Profiles
Over the summer, OTZ modified the Team Reports so that readers can quickly shift back and forth between the "performance charts by court" for each match and the line-ups for each of those matches. It is a really fast way to evaluate teams and determine where each of the top players are in a team's line-up.

Referring to the graphic, click on Line-up View (circled in red) under View Mode and watch with pure, total amazement as the line-ups magically appear. As you scroll down the page, also note that information for the previous year is also presented in the same way.

Use this feature at least three times a day and you'll get at least a 10 in the ACT math section. (Your performance may vary.)

Please contact OTZ via Feedback or via email if you have any questions.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Quick Access to OTZ Player Profiles

As stated before, OhioTennisZone is not about maximizing page views by forcing fans to click on zillions of pages to obtain information. Rather, OTZ wants users to be able to quickly obtain the high school tennis information they need (so they can get back to doing homework..).

OTZ Player Profiles
Another new feature is the ability to view Player Profiles from the top page. It is a fast way to review the results of any player with a Profile.

Look for this offering in the right navigation bar.

To easily identify a player, his/her last name, first name, and school name (or a portion there of) is listed.

If you are a paying member and you want a Player Profile, but one is not setup for you, please contact OTZ via Feedback or email.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Your Vote Matters (sort of) - Top Ten Teams

There have been many OhioTennisZone changes since the girls tennis season ended during the fall. One OTZ objective was to allow tennis fans to share more of their opinions. One common debate item is the rankings for the Top 10 teams.

OTZ Top Ten Team Voting
What could possibly be better than the OhioTennisZone team rankings? Perhaps yours. It is, however, important to mention that no teams have beaten higher ranked teams since the OTZ rankings were released at the end of February / early March..

Everyone can see all of the votes submitted by selecting Vote Results or by clicking on the image to the right. For those who want to share their opinion, sign-in first and then click on "Vote for your Top Ten Teams" on the results page.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY, MARCH 20

Columbus City League - GCTA Grant Recipient

Indoor tennis practice can get to be expensive, but thanks to a generous grant from the Greater Columbus Tennis Association (GCTA), the Columbus City Schools received six indoor sessions this winter. The program ran from late January to early March and it was held at Olympic Indoor on Indianola Avenue.

Columbus City League
Columbus City League Clinic- Click to enlarge

Both boys and girls attended these clinics. The number of players ranged from 20 to 34 during the program's six week duration. Overall, 42 different players participated. Schools who had players attending included: Beechcroft, Centennial, Eastmoor Academy, Northland, Whetstone, West, Columbus Academy High School (CAHS), and Metro. Click on the picture above to view the players in more detail.

Xavier's Amina IsmailOSU's Andrea Ballinger
The program was run again this year by Karen Eldredge. Eldredge (shown on the far left in the picture above) is a tennis enthusiast and mother to a Whetstone / Columbus Metro graduate.

City League coaches who assisted included: Bruce Duffner (West), Daphne Hess (Beechcroft), Bucky Walters (Whetstone), and Patrick Harsch (Whetstone JV). Daniel Bischoff, Beechcroft grad and current Otterbein player, also assisted.

BGSU's Emily Witt

Olympic Indoor pros who participated included Bob Gordon and Naveen Das.

The GCTA provides grants to many deserving recipients. This grant totaled $1,675. For more information about grants, click on GCTA.net or submit a Feedback to OhioTennisZone.

Please let OhioTennisZone know if other Ohio cities offer similar programs.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Clinic

The Ohio Tennis Coaches' Association Clinic and meetings took place on Sunday, February 26 and Monday, February 27 at the Dublin Marriott. There were presentations, drill sessions, and awards.

Lexington's Ron Schaub Mt. Notre Dame's Niehaus
Lex's Ron Schaub - Click to enlarge
MND's Niehaus - Click to enlarge
OSU's Melissa Schaub Denison's Hawley/Brown
OSU's Melissa Schaub
Denison's Hawley/Brown
Case Western's Todd Wojtkowski Chris Johnson
Case's Todd Wojtkowski
Magnificat's Chris Johnson

The presenters included Ohio State Coach Melissa Schaub (OHSAA State Singles Champ - 2001) with Mount Notre Dame's Sandy Niehaus (Singles Champion - 2010), Gabriella De Santis, Miho Kowase, and Ferny Angeles Paz; Case Western Coach Todd Wojtkowski (State Doubles 4th Place - 2001); and Denison Coach Peter Burling with SJJ's Kevin Brown (State Doubles Finalist - 2014) and Archbishop Alter's Lauren Hawley (State Doubles Champion - 2014).

Also presenting were Magnificat's Chris Johnson, St. Francis DeSales' Mark Faber, Hathaway Brown's Greg Aten, Canton Central Catholic's Jim Thomas, Shaker Heights' Al Slawson, and Guy Parks.

Congratulations to Lexington's Ron Schaub for being named to the Ohio Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame. Click to read a nice article by Mansfield News Journal's Jon Spencer about Coach Schaub's induction.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

OTZ Pre-Season Division II Top Ten Teams

The OTZ Division II Top Ten Teams list is listed below. This list is more difficult to create because there is less information for many of the teams.

In comparison to previous years, D2 is much more up in the air this year. Teams do not have the depth they have had in previous years. D2 also does not travel as well as the D1 teams so there are less opportunities to compare teams from different areas of the state.

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten D2
Boys Tennis Teams
Pre-Season - 3/1/2017
Division II
1. Indian Hill◄TEAM
2. Seven Hills
3. Hawken◄TEAM
4. Cincinnati Country Day◄TEAM
5. Wellington School◄TEAM
6. Columbus Academy◄TEAM
7. Ottawa Hills
8. Miami Valley
9. Wyoming◄TEAM
10. Granville
Other: Bexley◄TEAM

Please refer to the table to the right for the OTZ Top Ten. Note that there is additional detail for players with high-lighted links. Teams with the green "team" designation will include information about all of their players (or soon will have).

Indian Hill lost Alex Warstler to graduation, who is now playing collegiately for Marquette. Andrew Pregel will be back at #1 singles. Other contributors include Pablo Guzman, Milan Bhandari, and Christiano Lima.

Seven Hills returns Nicholas Williams, who has had his share of bad District draws. Quinn Shim and Curtin Sun also return. They lost Jacob Stavsky and Zach Sorscher to graduation.

Hawken should be the top team from the Northeast District. Ryan Leizman returns and so does Michael Lee and Josef Horwath. They lost Maddox McGrae and Devish Modi to graduation. They pick up Arartik Marway and Stephanie Shulman.

Cincinnati Country Day lacks the depth of previous years. CCD returns state singles champion, Kevin Yu, and Vishaal Nalagatla.

Columbus' Wellington School returns state finalist Connor Biernat. Kolapo Dairo is also back and so is Adam Sorrels. Wellington picks up TennisRecruiting.net #3 freshman, Trevor Ball.

Columbus Academy returns Austin Lawrence, Eric Min, Sid Menon and Drew Haffer. They lost Jacob Wareti (Ohio State) and Hirsh Hede to graduation.

Ottawa Hills should repeat as the OTCA Final Four team from the Northwest. They return Tyler Gargas, Rahul Bais, and James Schwann.

Miami Valley will have a strong 1-2 punch with Colton Morehart and Michael Perevozchikov returning.

Wyoming returns Joseph Kelly, Adam Behrman, George Arenas, and Kyle Demers. They lost Chris Murray to graduation.

Granville returns most of their team including: John Purnode, Raleigh Conway, Jack Bain, and Jackson Terry. They lost Logan Evan to graduation.

Other: Bexley returns Mark Nudelman, Josh Meyer, Christian Roddy, and Leo Schottenstein. They lost Shia Saar to graduation, and Fynn Sieckmann was a foreign exchange student.

Were any teams or players left out of the discussion? If so, please state your case in a Feedback message.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

OTZ Pre-Season Division I Top Ten Teams

It is time for the OTZ Pre-Season Division I Top Ten Teams list. Sycamore was the champion for the last three years, but they will have a difficult time rererepeating. The boys will feature three extremely strong teams at the top of the list and then the ability level falls after that.

To help insure the accuracy of this list, it is important that teams play their appropriate roles. If a team is higher on the list than your team, then please lose. Just do the reverse if your team is listed higher. Again, as long as everyone simply cooperates, this list won't have to change at all this season..

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten D1
Boys Tennis Teams
Pre-Season
- 2/23/2017
Division I
1. University School◄TEAM
2. New Albany◄TEAM
3. Mason◄TEAM
4. Upper Arlington◄TEAM
5. Sycamore◄TEAM
6. St. Charles◄TEAM
7. St. Xavier◄TEAM
8. Solon◄TEAM
9. St. John's Jesuit ◄TEAM
10. Dublin Jerome
Other: Olentangy Orange◄TEAM, Dublin Coffman◄TEAM
Note that there is additional detail for players with high-lighted links. Teams with the green "team" designation will include information about all of their players (or they soon will have).

University School is the OTZ Pre-Season #1. They return Paul Gota, Tyler (Colgate) and Drew Krantz (Bucknell), and David Buchinsky (Washington University at St. Louis). Gota will start the year as the #1 OTZ player after winning the Midwest Level 1 this winter. University also picks up freshmen, Charles Norman and Charles Joranko. Both freshmen are TRN 3-stars.

New Albany will have a super strong 1, 2, 3 with Robert Cash, Joel Jose, and Graeme Green. They also pick up senior Alexandra Cash. New Albany has a great schedule to prepare its players for post-season play. They lack the depth of University School, but if they win at 1-2-3, that's all they need...

Mason had a strong team last year, and they return Niraj Komatineni, Pranav Viswanathan, Vishnu Srinath, Charlie MacKenzie, and Phillip Krayterman. Shashank Reddy is also returning to Mason. They are expected to pick up this year's best Ohio freshman, Saiprakash Goli. They lost Sean Reid to graduation.

Now things get more complicated. Upper Arlington gets the nod with their strong 1-2-3 in singles. They return: Jack Zelezny, Jack Hughes, and Josh Cole. They lost Eric Hunter to graduation. They pick up freshman Will Reynolds.

Last year's champion, Sycamore, starts at #5. Noah Stern (3x State Doubles Qualifier), Regis Liou, Nathan Zhang, and Alex Karev return. If they get to the Final Four, you can count on them to win the close matches because they will bring every single one of their vocal, energetic students to the match to support their team. They lost Alex Taylor (Williams) to graduation.

St. Charles was strong last year and they return most of their players. Their team includes: Evan Yakubov, Jack Dabek, and Vinh Thai. St. Charles lost Sam Sullivan (Butler) to graduation. They pick up freshman Milan Gonela.

St. Xavier lost Andrew Niehaus (Northern Kentucky) and Waqas Tanveer to graduation, but they return several core players including: Peter Schulteis, Joe Beischel, and Max DeCurtins. They pick up freshman, Ronit Hiryur, who is the #2 freshman in the state per TRN.

Solon essentially returns their entire squad from last year. This includes: Vlad Rotnov, Luke Qin, and Kavi Jain along with their doubles teams. They have also arranged a tough schedule.

St. John's Jesuit lost Rajeev Laungani (Case Western) and Ryan Issa to graduation, but this team always finds a way to win. They return Alan Fahoury, Dev Laungani, Akhil Katragadda, and Ben Carter.

Dublin Jerome returns Ryan Worthen and Noah Schneider at first and second singles. They pick up freshman Anish Patel.

Others for consideration: Olentangy Orange, Dublin Coffman

Were any teams left out of the discussion? If so, please state your case in a Feedback message.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

College Tennis Commitments

Many Ohio high school players have identified where they intend to play college tennis. Others are still finalizing their choices, especially for NCAA Division 3 teams. The current OTZ list of players is posted below.

OhioTennisZone.com
College Tennis Commitments (alphabetical by player)
Player High School / College
Claudia Althans Gilmour / Villinova
Austin Barr Kenston / Williams
David Buchinsky University School / Wash. Univ@St. Louis
Nicole Cardwell Westerville Central / Case Western
Alexandra Cash New Albany / Carnegie Mellon
Noah Connaughton Badin / Dayton
Jared Deel Big Walnut / Otterbein
Emily Dunbar Cloverleaf / Richmond
Janelle Ghanem Columbus Academy / Miami
Lauren Gillinov Hathaway Brown / Yale
Paul Gota University School / Notre Dame
Josh Hsia St. Ignatius / Case Western
Amanda Huser Mason / Cincinnati
Aris Jhaveri Westlake / Case Western
Kyra Jung Upper Arlington / Seattle
Anjali Kashyap Orange / Johns Hopkins
Elizabeth Kong Mason / Wellesley
Adam Krueger Bay Village / Vassar
Marissa Madison CSG / Babson
Jillian Milano Carroll / Wright State
Daniel Mayotte Westerville North / Mt. Vernon Nazarene
Emily Neal Dublin Jerome / Butler
Ally Persky Hathaway Brown / Wash. Univ@St. Louis
Kelly Pleiman Chaminade-Julienne / Dayton
Kayla Pukys Louisville / Kenyon
Anna Reynolds Upper Arlington / Wright State
Olivia Rohrbacher Perkins / Penn State
Molly Sandberg Hudson / Cornell
Makayla Schaefer Olentangy Liberty / West Liberty
Sabine Worthoff Mount Notre Dame / Ohio Northern
Bryan Yoshino Dublin Coffman / Kenyon

There are 21 girls on the list and ten boys.

High schools with more than one player with a college commitment include: Hathaway Brown, Mason, and Upper Arlington.

Please send a Feedback or email if you are aware of changes to this list.

This list will continue to evolve as more information becomes available.

This information was sourced by OhioTennisZone, TennisRecruiting.net, JJ Huddle, and ThisWeekNews.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

Coach Changes for 2017

There are always coaching changes occurring. Below is a list of the new coaches of which OhioTennisZone is aware. Please send a Feedback or email if you are aware of other changes. It would also be very helpful if you included the new coach's email address and telephone number.

OhioTennisZone.com
Tennis Coach Changes (alphabetical by school)
Coach School / Gender
Zack King Bay Village - Boys
Wade Ward Indian Hill - Boys
Jason Woods St. Ursula - Girls
Will Thieman Upper Arlington - Boys
Ryan Schwieterman Watterson - Boys

This list will continue to evolve as OTZ becomes aware of additional changes.

Coach members may view the coach contact information by Signing In and then by clicking on > Coaches > List of Ohio Coaches.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

MONDAY,

OhioTennisZone.com Top Photos of 2016

The OTZ camera performed almost 20,000 shutter clicks last year. From those 20K clicks, these 46 photos were among my favorites.

The majority of these photos are from Ohio high school tennis events, but there are also numerous photos taken during the Western & Southern Open, USTA National B16-B18 Championships, Ohio State Men's and Women's matches, and numerous USTA events.

Hope these bring back some fun tennis memories of 2016.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

TUESDAY,

USTA Winter Nationals

Ohio has its share of players in the USTA Winter National Tournaments this week. The boys and girls 16-18 tournament is located in Scotsdale, Arizona and the boys and girls 12-14's are in Tucson, Arizona.

Robert Cash Zoey Weil
Robert Cash - Click to enlarge
Zoey Weil - Click to enlarge
Boys included in the B16-18 include: Wellington's Connor Biernat, New Albany's Robert Cash, Mason's Saiprakash Goli, and University School's Paul Gota. Cash is a fourth seed in singles and a first seed in doubles.

Girls included in the G16-18 include: Gilmour Academy's Carly Cohen, Orange's Emily Dunbar, Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch, and Centennial's Zoey Weil.

Elizabeth Fahmeier and Magnificat's Olivia Rondini are in the G14's.

To follow all of the action in the BG16-18, click on this link. To view the players in the BG12-14, click here.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

ATP Challenger at OSU Indoor Courts

Another ATP Challenger is underway at Ohio State's Indoor Courts and it features past, current, and future Ohio State Men players. This morning's matches include John McNally (#979) and Peter Kobelt (#425) playing against Henri Laaksonen (#139) and Mitchell Krueger (#219), respectively.

Taylor Fritz John McNally
Taylor Fritz - Click to enlarge
John McNally - Click to enlarge

Other prominent U.S. players in the tournament include: Taylor Fritz (#77), Stefan Kozlov (#145), and Tennys Sandgren (#228).

For all of the information, including Order of Play (OOP). Click ATP Challenger Tour.

To make it easier for readers to follow OTZ Twitter postings, they are now included in the right-side navigation bar until the Boys Season begins.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

WEDNESDAY,

103 More OTZ Photos

There were 103 photos added last night from the Central Districts, Northeast Districts, States, and the OTCA tournament. Sign-in and then click to view at Most Recently Added Photos. OhioTennisZone.com now hosts over 230 photos from the Ohio High School Girls Tennis Season. I think it is a safe bet that OTZ now has more high school tennis photos than all Ohio newspapers combined.

Hayley Hirsch
Indian Hill's Hayley Hirsch - Click to enlarge

These photos have all been "databased". What this means to you is that you can go to a Team Page and view all of the photos for that team or you can go to a Player Profile for an individual player and view all of the photos for that player. It is a huge time saver and these Team Reports include photos from previous years.

All of the photos, except from States, can be purchased but I am awaiting word from the OHSAA on whether the OTZ States photos can also be sold. The OHSAA did not have their exclusive photographer taking action photos at States so OTZ is the only "States" solution for many. We'll see if the OHSAA will allow parents, players, schools, and grandparents to buy these OTZ photo memories or if they will continue to prohibit these sales.

As stated in an earlier post, the OHSAA regulates that OTZ cannot have more than four States photos on the same web page. Why not recognize five kids playing at States on the same web page? Or possibly maybe even six? This short video explains what would almost certainly happen.

I hope to completely wrap up the girls tennis season within another week. Check back every other day or so for another blog entry.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

FRIDAY,

Incoming Players: Boys & Girls | OTZ Top Coaches List (or lack thereof)

Fans and coaches like to see which players are on the horizon. This is especially helpful for the coaches because it helps with scheduling. For the boys this should not be a difficult task because many of these boys are already in high school. The girls list is always in flux until after the season starts. Both of these lists were obtained using TennisRecruiting.net.

OhioTennisZone.com
Top Freshmen Boys (alphabetical)
Player City / School
Trevor Ball Westerville / Wellington
Arjun Brahmbhatt Westlake / St. Ignatius
Osuke Fujita Dublin / Dublin Jerome
Saiprakash Goli Cincinnati / Mason
Ronit Hiryur West Chester / St. Xavier
Charles Joranko Shaker Heights / University School
Charles Norman Aurora / University School
Anish Patel Dublin / Dublin Jerome
Chukwudumebi Smarty Broadview Heights / Brecksville

The boys list is too easy to do this year because it is too short. These lists normally include 15-20 players who are in the nation's top 500, but if this criterium was applied to the boys this year, it would only contain six kids. Instead, the top 10 boys in Ohio are listed. This list is alphabetized.

With numerous strong players already returning, University School may be the team to beat in Division I boys this season.

The 14 players on the girls list are in the TennisRecruiting.net's Top 500 players. Again, this list is very much in flux and it may not contain all of the incoming freshmen players since many girls start school early. If you are aware of other skilled players who are going to be freshmen this year, please submit a Feedback.

OhioTennisZone.com
Top Incoming Freshmen Girls (alphabetical)
Player / TRN City / School
Madeline Atway * * * * * Powell / Olentangy Liberty
Nina Dhaliwal * * West Chester / Ursuline Academy
Arya Dudipala * * * Dublin / Dublin Jerome
Elizabeth Fahrmeier * * * * Cincinnati / Summit Country Day
Ella Hazelbaker * * * Columbus / Upper Arlington
Nataly Kader * * * * Mason / Mason
Hannah Kassaie * * * * Highland Heights
Jamie Kim * * * * * Mason / Mason
Bella Kirby * * * Cincinnati / St. Ursula Academy
Annie Kruse * * Mason
Elizabeth Pendergast * * * Cincinnati / St. Ursula Academy
Sydni Ratliff Blue Chip Gahanna / Columbus Academy
Danielle Schoenly * * * * Powell / Olentangy Liberty
Soniya Yalamanchili * * * * Centerville

Incoming players, who are likely to be OhioTennisZone.com members because their teams are OTZ Team Members, have their links to TennisRecruiting.net included.

As for other matters, the OhioTennisZone.com list of Top Coaches will not be created this season. The main criterium used for this list was third set player performance with the idea being that coaches could significantly impact three set matches. Why three set matches? The reasons include: the competition is of similar ability; three-setters take place near the end of the match when the coach is not occupied with all five matches (hopefully); and the coach has had time to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents and advise his or her players on the best strategy. The new (great) continuous coaching rule now largely enables the best coaches to coach throughout a match.

Photos are still being processed.

OTZ uses only fresh, never frozen scores (unless it's boys season)

THURSDAY,

OhioTennisZone.com's All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team

Congratulations to this year's OhioTennisZone.com's All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team. This year's recipients are certainly a worthy group of players with several of the seniors going to D1 college tennis programs.

OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio
Girls Tennis Team

Division I - Singles


Molly
Sandberg
Hudson

Kelli
Niehaus
Mt. Notre Dame

Emily
Thomas
Princeton
   

Division II - Singles


Emily
Dunbar
Cloverleaf
   

Division I - Doubles


Hannah
Cianciola
Canfield

Sydney
Cianciola
Canfield

Division II - Doubles


Claudia
Althans
Gilmour Academy

The OTZ list is a bit different than the OTCA All-Ohio team. The OTZ looks at a player's entire season and has included worthy players in the past who did not qualify for States because of unfortunate District draws. OTZ also believes that the OTCA list is too mechanical in its approach by granting honors only based on the round in which the player reached at States.

Note that players with the yellow PP tennis balls next to their names have Player Profiles and that more information is available for them by clicking on their names. Click to sign-up to get your own Player Profile.

At some point, OTZ may consider adding players to an Honorable Mention list. There are two players who would have achieved this honor this season.

Today is photo processing day for Districts, States, and the OTCA tournament. Watch for those photos beginning tomorrow.

OTZ will soon list next year's top upcoming freshmen. The purpose of this list is to not only recognize the players but to also help coaches understand which teams should be included in their schedules next fall.

Chagrin Valley Today's Tony Lange was at States and wrote this article. It includes OTZ photos.

WEDNESDAY,

Videos of Championship Points

It is time for the OHSAA championship point videos. Somehow the points were spaced in such a way that OTZ was able to capture all four championship points on video this season. I'm not sure if that has ever happened. In three of the four matches, the point prior to the championship point was also captured. For best results, use HD (High Definition) and expand to full screen mode.

Division I Singles:

Hudson's Molly Sandberg defeated Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk.

Division 1 Doubles:

Canfield's Hannah and Sydney Cianciola defeated Green's Maria and Anne Zivick.

Division II Singles:

Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated her sister, Nicole.

Division II Doubles:

Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky and Catherine Areklett defeated Gilmour Academy's Claudia Althans and Carly Cohen.

TUESDAY,

OhioTennisZone.com Usage Issue

Usage of the OhioTennisZone.com continues to grow thoughout the state and beyond. Today's entry looks at where the usage came from and what the readers liked to access on OTZ. Most of the information was gathered using Google Analytics and Twitter. The time frame was from August 7 to October 24.

Ohio Usage
Ohio OTZ Usage - Click to enlarge

As you would expect, Ohio generated the most usage. Michigan was second. (Click to view the Michigan usage map.) Within Ohio, the Central District usage remained the strongest area, followed by the Northeast, and the Southwest. Those areas of the state where there are fewer dots mean that there is little interest in Ohio high school tennis. (See usage map.)

In the metro areas, Columbus led the way, followed by Cleveland and Cincinnati. After that, things get interesting. The Detroit, MI area, which includes Ann Arbor, has more OTZ usage than the Toledo area, even though there are obviously no Ohio tennis players residing in Michigan. I keep wondering... What's not happening in Northwest Ohio? The Northwest Ohio coaches and indoor clubs need to step it up for the betterment of Ohio High School Tennis. The top nine metro areas are listed in the table below.

The top six team pages viewed were: 1) Magnificat, 2) Dublin Jerome, 3) Hathaway Brown, 4) Olentangy Liberty, and 5-tie) Indian Hill and Pickerington North. These were among the strongest teams in the state and there was state-wide interest in their performance.

OhioTennisZone.com
% Sessions in Top Metro Areas
Metro Areas % of Sessions
1. Columbus 37%
2. Cleveland-Akron 20%
3. Cincinnati 17%
4. Detroit, MI 4.4%
5. Toledo, OH 3.3%
6. Dayton, OH 2.5%
7. Boston, MA 1.7%
8. Youngstown, OH 1.3%
9. Chicago, IL 1.2%

The top five Player Profiles viewed were (in alphabetized order): Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala, Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov, Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk, Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio, and Centennial's Zoey Weil. These Player Profiles remain the perfect way for fans and college coaches to follow players' high school match activity. The wise tennis parents understand that these Profiles are the most cost effective ways to promote their players during (and after) the high school season. When you think about it, a Player Profile is less than the cost of a tennis clinic.

The top five OhioTennisZone.com Tweets were: 1) Re-tweet to vote for Magnificat's Charlotte as OhioTennisZone.com's #1 Tennis Fan Dog. 2) #OHSAA Sectional Draw information is now available. Click on OhioTennisZone.com for the Central District. 3) Re-tweet to vote for Dublin Jerome's Charlie as OhioTennisZone.com's #1 Tennis Fan Dog. 4) OhioTennisZone.com's Pre-Season Top 10 Tennis Team Rankings for D1; and 5) Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison at the Bishop Watterson Invitational. Note that the links take readers to the OhioTennisZone Tweets.

In the "Why did I run for senior class president a zillion years ago?" category, I'm heavily involved with my Miami Trace high school reunion this weekend so I have had to pivot from high school tennis. I get to go back into tennis later today.

MONDAY,

OTCA Championships - Magnificat Wins D1 | Hathaway Brown Gets D2

At the beginning of the season, there were four teams that were heads and pony tails above the others, and that proved to be the case on Sunday. Hathaway Brown was expected to win and they did, but Indian Hill has a terrific team that returns its top three singles players. Even though OTZ had Mason above Magnificat all season in the rankings, Magnificat's victory yesterday was not at all unexpected after their showing on Friday and Saturday at States. Magnificat returns its top three singles players and Mason loses three valuable seniors, but Mason is expected to re-load.

Magnificat
Magnificat - Click to team page
Hathaway Brown
Hathaway Brown - Click to team page

In the battle for the third places, Dublin Jerome defeated Perrysburg in Division I. In Division II, Toledo Central Catholic beat Columbus School for Girls. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. (This report was "opened up" so that everyone can view it, but the report looks odd because no teams finished all of their courts.)

Many of the matches involving the top players did not finish to completion, but those that did include: Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Mason's Ananya Aggarwal and Perrysburg's Carter; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Mason's Amanda Huser; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal beat Perrysburg's Carter; and Magnificat's Olivia Rondini defeated Mason's Sanjana Reddy. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

For those D2 tennis mothers who have quietly approached me hoping that Hathaway Brown will some day have an opportunity to play Division I teams in the post-season, the OHSAA does perform another head count this year. At the last count, HB was at 292 girls and the current cut-off point is 307. Both of those numbers will likely change this year.

OhioTennisZone.com
Keys to District High School Tennis Success
Event Northeast Result
OTZ Fan Dog
OHSAA D1 Singles
OHSAA D2 Singles
OHSAA D1 Doubles
OHSAA D2 Doubles
OTCA D1 Team
OTCA D2 Team

Ok. Fine. The Northeast District won absolutely everything in tennis over the weekend. But... While the Northeast did get it done on the courts, they failed miserably in the OTZ Fan Dog contest getting only a second and a third place. This year's winner, Dublin Jerome's Charlie, humbly stayed home yesterday rather than run a victory lap around the other doggies. Charlie's youngest sister graduates this year so Charlie will not be a repeat. The Southwest did not have an entry this year, but Mason introduced Larry yesterday who looks to be an immediate front-runner. For the parents who are not yet on Twitter to vote, you might have just time enough time before next season's voting begins to figure it out.

Photos will be processed soon so that you can have a memorable keepsake of your favorite daughter. Please consider purchasing a bunch of them.

If the Northeast does celebrate with fireworks, let's hope they stay away from that river..

SUNDAY,

Northeast District Wins Everything

Yesterday was a big day for the Northeast District and their dominance may continue for one more day at the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Tournament in Reynoldsburg. The Northeast captured every championship and the runner-ups were also Northeast players. To make things even more dire for the rest of the state, all but one of these Northeast players (Gilmour Academy's Claudia Althans) will be back next year. Should the rest of the state just punt and just play pickleball* instead? Probably not, because these things tend to run in cycles. Still though, next year looks great for the Northeast.

Hudson's Sandberg Cianciola Sisters
Hudson's Sandberg - Click to enlarge
Canfield's Cianciola's - Click to enlarge
Lauren Gillinov Persky / Areklett
HB's Lauren Gillinov - Click to enlarge
HB's Persky | Areklett - Click to enlarge
Turpin's Fisher Gilmour's Althans
Turpin's Fisher - Click to enlarge
Gilmour's Althans - Click to enlarge

The four State Championship matches were as follows; Hudson's Molly Sandberg defeated Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk for the Division I singles crown. Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov became a 3x State Singles Champion in D2 by beating her sister, Nicole; Canfield’s Hannah and Sydney Cianciola defeated Green’s Maria and Anne Zivick for the Division I championship; and Hathaway Brown’s Ally Persky and Catherine Areklett beat Gilmour Academy’s Claudia Althans and Carly Cohen for the D2 Dubs Championship.

I did not get quite as many photos as I wanted to yesterday because my focus on Saturday is to always get videos of the championship points. I was four out of four on that. More photos will be posted online soon but the shadows were bad on several of the courts.

Alert readers will notice that several photos that recognize Ohio's great female tennis athletes have been blocked from viewing on this web page. That is because there is an OHSAA rule that prohibits more than four State photos from appearing on a single web page. OTZ's stated goal is "Recognizing those who play and coach high school tennis" so unfortunately this OHSAA rule gets in the way. Readers may still see the photo by clicking on it, but it is an unsightly, clunky, awkward approach, and many readers will not jump through this hoop. When considering that high school tennis gets very little coverage from other forms of media, this is a rule that should have been changed years ago. While this rule is selectively enforced by the OHSAA, it is enforced against OhioTennisZone.com.

There have been a few questions about purchasing OTZ States photos, but I have not been able to do that in the past because the OHSAA has an exclusive relationship with another vendor. Unfortunately, that vendor did not come to the tennis tournament. Stay tuned..

The OTCA Tournament begins at 9am for Division 2 in Reynoldsburg. Division I will follow. I'm late. See you there.

* Pickleball, no. Platform tennis? Well, yeah.

SATURDAY,

Northeast Ohio Dominates at States

Following the old adage, "sharing is for others", Northeast Ohio dominated the number of semi-final State spots for Saturday. They have 12, followed by Southwest with three, Central with one, and Southeast/East and Northwest with none. To make NE's dominance even more convincing, they won all of their quarterfinal matches in two sets except for one that was against another Northeast team (in the night match).

OHSAA Under Lights
North Canton Hoover - Click to enlarge
The day's weather did not start out well but the rain ended about 8:15am and play started at approximately 11:20am. The grounds crew did a great job preparing the courts to play. It was cold, windy, and cloudy for most of the day.

The last match of the day was the first OHSAA tennis match played under the lights. That match wrapped up at about 7pm with North Canton Hoover's Hallie Hunt - Alessa Koinoglou beating Walsh Jesuit's Caroline Dickinson - Megan Hissong.

The OhioTennisZone.com/draws worked out well and were enjoyed by the fans. It has taken a long time to accomplish this, but OTZ now includes the photos of all of the State participants. If there are any names associated with the wrong pictures, please let me know or legally change the name of your daughter to match the photo (preferred). Draw usage hit an all time high and exceeded a previous boys' season high by 11%.

There are three sister combos remaining in doubles and two sisters competing in singles.

In today's newspapers, the Columbus Dispatch prepared this article. Even though Northeast Ohio had an ok kinda day, there was no article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The Final Four in each draw are:

D1 Singles:
Centennial's Zoey Weil, Hudson's Molly Sandberg, Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk, and Turpin's Caitlin Fisher.

D2 Singles:
Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman, Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar, Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov and Nicole Gillinov.

Kelly Pleiman Megan Hissong
CJ's Pleiman - Click to enlarge
Walsh's Hissong - Click to enlarge
D1 Doubles:
Canfield's Hannah and Sydney Cianciola, Green's Maria and Anne Zivick, Magnificat's Ana Lopez - Molly Bauer, and North Canton Hoover's Hallie Hunt - Alessa Koinoglou.

D2 Doubles:
Gilmour Academy's Claudia Althans - Carly Cohen, Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky - Catherine Areklett, Indian Hill's Gracey and Hayley Hirsch, and Orange's Michelle Tokman - Anjali Kashyap.

Best of luck today to my favorite players! (Based on the latest internet technologies, this sentence only appears when you are reading it..)

FRIDAY,

Good Luck at States

This will be a quick update as I prepare to leave for States. Look for @OhioTennisZone on Twitter or the OHSAA web site for any weather-related updates. The weather is expected to clear.

Remember to use: ohiotenniszone.com/draws

Magnificat
Magnificat - Click to team page

Today's featured team is Magnificat. They are coached by Christopher Johnson. They are led by: Anna Roggenburk, Alexandra Vesikallio, Olivia Rondini, Ana Lopez, and Molly Bauer. They are Team Members.

There were three newspaper that included articles about States. Click to read the article about the Central District by Columbus Dispatch's Steve Blackledge. Here's an article about the Northwest District from Matt Thompson of the Toledo Blade. Canton Repository's Joe Scalzo prepared this article for the Canton-area teams. The Cleveland Plain Dealer normally prepares a nice, states preview article, but there is no sign of it yet.

If you recall from the OTZ coverage on the Western & Southern, the grass parking lots at the Lindner Family Tennis Center can be a problem if there is too much rain. There was an absurd amount of rain (7 inches) during the W&S, and we have had no where near that amount over the last two days, but still be careful where you park.

Best of luck to everyone at States.

THURSDAY,

Tomorrow

It is time for the OTZ State / OTCA Tournament Preview video. Hope everyone enjoys it and shares it with friends and family. The video/slideshow includes almost 80 OTZ action photos of the players competing in the State and OTCA tournaments. For best results, view the video in full screen, high definition (HD) mode. If you are in a quiet office environment, crank up the volume so that your co-workers will be encouraged to stop by and watch it.

Rather than jinx the State tournament by stating that the rain is expected to end by tonight, nothing about the weather will be mentioned.

Dual match play rarely takes place between Districts and States but Dublin Jerome and Columbus School for Girls wanted to stay sharp for Sunday's matches. Jerome won the match 5-0. Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal,  Erin Zhao, and Jiaqi Liu defeated Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison, Stephanie Presper, and Rosie Gliatis, respectively.

Click to view the OTZ Boys State Preview video from last season. In this video, Mrs. OTZ has an exciting cameo appearance.

OTZ does not benefit monetarily from the ads included in either video. The ads are used by Google to repay the musical artists.

Content from earlier in the season will be temporally removed later today. This will allow the top OTZ page to load faster while everyone is viewing it via their mobile devices at States.

WEDNESDAY,

Two More Days

It appears that we are finally going to return to fall weather. We were very fortunate with the weather for Sectionals and Districts and hopefully that will continue to be the case all of the way through the OTCA Tournament on Sunday.

Central D2 Qualifiers
Central D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
Northeast D2 Qualifiers
Northeast D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
Southwest D1 Qualifiers
Southwest D1 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
Southwest D2 Qualifiers
Southwest D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
Things are happening fast and furious behind the scenes at OTZ. It was a late night, but the OTZ States / OTCA Preview Video is almost ready to roll. After a bit more tweaking, it should be ready later tonight or tomorrow morning. The purpose of this video is to recognize our athletes who play Ohio High School Girls Tennis. I am not aware of other entity that does anything like this to promote high school tennis in their state. Please share it with classmates, friends, and family. I think you'll agree that the music choice for the video was "spot-on".

The OTZ State Draws now include the first round court assignment for the singles players. The Lindner Family Tennis Center is a big place and this should aid in getting the older fans and relatives to the courts in plenty of time. You'll notice that the court assignments do not go smoothly from "top to bottom" with the draws, and the reason for this is because the OHSAA wants to enable coaches who have more than one player in the draw to see them.

Special thanks to Lisa Gillinov and Mike Reid who provided photos of the State Qualfiers. Lisa provided the photo of the D2 Northeast Qualifiers and Mike took the photos of the Southwest D1 and D2 qualifiers. For those of you who are OTZ members, please look for me at States. You get a complementary 5x7 photo courtesy of OhioTennisZone.com.

TUESDAY,

Magnificat Beats Walsh Jesuit | OTZ Online Draws Available

Magnificat secured the OTCA final Final Four spot by finally defeating Walsh Jesuit 5-0 yesterday. The OTZ OTCA Draws are updated to reflect this. This year in the OTCA tournament, the Central District teams will first play the Southwest and the Northwest District teams will play the Northeast teams. If the teams simply cooperate with the OTZ Top Ten Teams list, this means that the final matches, Mason versus Magnificat and Hathaway Brown versus Indian Hill, will be for the championships. The Division 2 matches will go onto the courts first.

OTZ Online Draws:

OTZ Draws
OTZ Online Draws - Click to team page
OhioTennisZone.com offers enhanced online state draws which include player photos, links to the Player Profiles, and soon, the upcoming court assignments. It is safe to say that these draws provide more recognition to Ohio high school tennis players than any other high school sport has for its players (in Ohio or anywhere else in the solar system). These draws will be updated throughout the day on Friday / Saturday. For quick access, remember: ohiotenniszone.com/draws

Make sure that you setup your smartphone prior to the tournament and that you share this link with other family members and friends. It is also helpful to save your password in your smartphone so that you can easily check out the action photos for many of the players (as indicated by the "camera" graphic).

Also note that a very readable and enlargeable site map is included in the right navigational bar. You will not even need your reading glasses to view it.

OTZ Draw Analysis:

Even though this tournament should be seeded. The draws are reasonable when considering how strong the competition is this year. The analysis follows:

Division I Singles: In the first quarter, Centennial's Zoey Weil should get to the semi-finals. It is disappointing that either Hudson's Molly Sandberg or Princeton's Emily Thomas will not make it to Saturday. They are slated to play each other in the second round. Last year, they had a very competitive match in the semi-finals. In the third quarter, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala and Turpin's Caitlyn Fisher will face each other in the first round. This would have made a great second round match. The fourth quarter is really competitive. Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk and Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell face off in the first round and the winner will likely face Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus.

Division I Doubles: In the first quarter, Mason's Isabel Cepeda - Amanda Huser and Magnificat's Molly Bauer - Ana Lopez are headed for a showdown. The Green Zivick sisters should win in the second quarter. The third quarter is a complete guess. The fourth quarter is really tough with Ursuline Academy's Gabriella O`Connor - Ellie Foster duo and Canfield's Cianciola sisters.

Division II Singles: Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar should get to Saturday in the first quarter. Carroll's Jillian Milano and Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov should face each other in the second quarter. The third quarter is the toughest of the four with Perkin's Olivia Rohrbacher potentially colliding with Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov in the second round. In the fourth quarter, it is disappointing to see that Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman will face Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch in the first round.

Division II Doubles: The key to this draw is to avoid all Northeast Ohio teams. The non-NE teams that could interfere with an all NE semi-final are: the Indian Hill Hirsch sisters and Toledo Central Catholic's Maverick Delp and Sophia Spinazze.

MONDAY,

Awaiting State Draws | Updated OTZ State Rankings

We are now officially in "draw watch" mode. [Draws now available - Click here.] The draws are expected first thing this morning, but there are a few moving parts, such as when the OHSAA received the District results. Last year, the Southeast/East did not complete their Districts in time so that delayed things. For diehard tennis fans, it is always fun to print out the draws immediately after they are released just to see how much they change in subsequent releases. Hopefully there will be no re-do's this year.

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
October 17, 2016
Division IDivision II
1. Mason - 2 State Spots ◄TEAM OTCA Hathaway Brown - 5 State Spots ◄TEAM OTCA
2. Magnificat - 3 ◄TEAM OTCA Indian Hill - 4 ◄TEAM OTCA
3. Dublin Jerome ◄TEAM OTCAOrange - 1
4. Pickerington North - 1Columbus School For Girls - 2 ◄TEAM OTCA
5. Olentangy Liberty - 1 ◄TEAMColumbus Academy - 2 ◄TEAM
6. Dublin Coffman ◄TEAMLaurel ◄TEAM
7. Upper Arlington - 2 ◄TEAMChaminade-Julienne - 1
8. Walsh Jesuit - 2Seven Hills - 2
9. Ursuline Academy - 1 ◄TEAM Toledo Central Catholic - 2 OTCA
10. Mount Notre Dame - 1Lexington - 2
Hon. Men.: Sycamore - 1, North Canton Hoover - 1, Perrysburg - 2, Springboro Archbishop Alter
◄TEAM - Those teams with Team Memberships display all of the results for their players.

Another updated OTZ State Ranking is now available. The number of spots that each team received for States and the OTCA Final Four participants are also provided. Magnificat plays Walsh Jesuit for the Northeast OTCA Final Four spot tonight.

Note that Hathaway Brown qualified all seven of their players for States in Division II. This is rare but it also happened with the Columbus Academy boys team in 2009. The OHSAA then yanked two of the four State spots from the Central/Southeast/East District combination in Division II and gave the Southeast/East their own designated spots the next season. (It is unknown if there was a correlation.) This caused the Division II draws to be nonsensical because you simply cannot have five #1 and five #2 seeds. Since there are substantial differences in talent from district to district, these draws only make matters worse. This year, everyone will want to avoid players from the Northeast and the Southwest. So... Players who deserve to be in the State Final Four matches on Saturday will not be because of the way in which the draws are done. The top four to six players / teams in Division II should be seeded.

SUNDAY,

Dublin Jerome's Charlie Wins the OTZ #1 Tennis Fan Dog Contest

Look down at your feet and remember, because this is where you were when you first heard that Dublin Jerome' Charlie won the OhioTennisZone.com's #1 Top Fan Dog Award for 2016. This is epic victory.

Dublin Jerome's Charlie
Dublin Jerome's Charlie - Click to enlarge
Charlie started out with a huge lead early in the week but was overcome on the last day by Magnificat's Charlotte. Then it happened. Just as Cleveland was crushed by "The Catch" in the 1954 World Series, "The Shot" by Jordan in the 1989 NBA Playoffs, "The Fumble" in the 1988 AFC Championship game, and "The Drive" in the 1987 AFC Championship, there is now "The Re-tweet" during the OTZ #1 Tennis Fan Dog contest. The re-tweets came piling in - probably from Russia - for friendly fluffy little Charlie who cujo'd The Championship from the Cleveland-area's Charlotte in the final 45 minutes.

In fact, OTZ had spent considerable mental resources cleverly writing how Magnificat's Charlotte came from behind to beat Charlie on the last day. Thankfully, unlike the Chicago Tribune when it had incorrectly announced that Dewey had won the presidency in 1948, OTZ thoughtfully waited until all of the results were carefully counted.

On the bright side, Magnificat's Charlotte handed Hathaway Brown's Maverick, their cross-town rival, a devastating defeat that will tarnish what was probably going to be an ok tennis season for them.

OTZ would like to commend all the dogs, their owners, and their teams for good sportsmanship because without good sportsmanship, there wouldn't be good sportsmanship.

There were 170 re-tweets in this contest which far exceeds the 68 from last year's contest when Hathaway Brown's Elle won. The final tally was: Dublin Jerome's Charlie - 56, Magnificat's Charlotte - 53, Hathaway Brown's Maverick - 19, Watterson's Coco - 17, Dublin Coffman's Brisket - 14, New Albany's Dolce - 8, and Watterson's Gus - 3.

The number of Twitter impressions generated from the Charlotte tweet was the second highest OTZ tweet of all time.

As an unbiased media official, OTZ did not cast a vote in the contest. Not to give anyone any ideas for next year's contest but OTZ was also not bribed in any manner. Hello? Marco? Sound check. Do you hear me now?

Congratulations to all contestants who participated - even Gus.

SUNDAY,

District Seeding Rounds Completed

The weather continued to be perfect for yet another day as the District seeding rounds were played throughout the state. The full district results are online on OTZ for the Central, Northeast, and Southwest Districts. A few more results will be added later today for the players residing in the Northwest and Southeast who are OTZ members.

Central District Qualifiers
Central District State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge

Central:
Centennial's Zoey Weil defeated Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell and Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala beat Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; and Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison beat Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman.

Northwest:
Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar and teammate and little sister, Nicole Gillinov; Hudson's Molly Sandberg beat Massillon Jackson's Emily Thomas and Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk defeated Westlake's Emily Peeler; Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov beat Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch; and Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar defeated Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch.

Southwest:
Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus defeated Turpin's Caitlin Fisher and Princeton's Emily Thomas; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman beat Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn and Carroll's Jillian Milano; Carroll's Jillian Milano defeated Indian Hill's Saskia Gobonya; and Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn beat Indian Hill's Saskia Gobonya.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

In the OTZ #1 Top Fan Dog Contest, Dublin Jerome's Charlie is holding onto a precarious lead over Magnificat's Charlotte. The winner will be named at 6pm today.

SATURDAY,

Northeast Districts Results

It was a perfect weather day in Akron yesterday for the Northeast Division II Districts. While the Central District had a bevy of three-set matches, many of the NE D2 matches were rather one-sided. All parts of the state will have the District seeding rounds today.

Michelle Tokman
Orange's Michelle Tokman - Click to enlarge

Matches among the top Northeast Ohio players include:

Division I:
Hudson's Molly Sandberg defeated Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Solon's Alexis Ratner; Westlake's Emma Peeler defeated Louisville's Kayla Pukys; and Massillon Jackson's Emily Thomas beat defeated Solon's Maggie Yang.

Division II:
Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated Chagrin Falls' Ali Mazzola and Ursuline’s Lexi Tsudis; Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov beat Geneva's Varckette and Lakeview's Laura Garvin; Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar defeated Orange's Blessing Nwaozuzu; and Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Sofia DiCillo.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Northeast District does a really nice job of recognizing their District players. Reaching the Districts is a big deal and it is nice to see this level of recognition for the kids.

Wait.. What? Dublin Jerome had the OTZ #1 Top Fan Dog contest all wrapped up and now Magnificat's Charlotte is not only close to Jerome's Charlie but has blown past Hathaway Brown's Maverick. This was not what was supposed to happen. Of course, this is why the Fan Dogs suit up and compete rather than by going with what the experts think will happen. The Cleveland-area has been starved for major sports championships and now they are on the precipice of their second championship in the same year. The OTZ / OHSFDA (Ohio High School Fan Dog Association) champion will be awarded at 6pm ET on Sunday. Still haven't received the $500 Fan Dog entry fee from everyone yet. Please get it into me by 5:55pm.

I will be at the Central District seeding round today. In fact, today's entry will be tweaked later today because I'm dashing off to these matches now.

Ok. I was kidding about the entry fee - unless you've already written the check.

FRIDAY,

District Results

This will be a really quick update today since I have to get on the road early to get to the Northeast D2 Districts in Akron. All of the results for the Central District and some of the results for the Southwest are online. OTZ will review the online draws for the other Districts and will get many of those results online.

Erin Storrer
Orange's Erin Storrer - Click to enlarge

Central District:

Centennial's Zoey Weil defeated Dublin Jerome's Jiaqi Liu and Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala beat Thomas Worthington's Sarina Xie and Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell defeated Upper Arlington's Wendy Shi and Watterson's Claire Ghidotti; Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke beat Dublin Jerome’s Erin Zhao and Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman defeated Jonathan Alder's Holland and Wellington's Isabella Vegas; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison beat Columbus Academy's Himaja Reddy and Bexley's Haley Wilson; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds defeated Pickerington North's Rhyan Cook; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti beat Olentangy's Kathleen Jones; and Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan defeated Westerville Central’s Alexandria Shaw.

Southwest District:

Princeton's Emily Thomas defeated Milford's Amanda Reinhart; Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus beat Miamisburg's Carley Sickinger; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated Springboro's Ally Garofoli; Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole beat Springboro's Anke Patel; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman defeated Madison's Maddie Porter; Carroll's Jillian Milano beat Summit Country Day's Kathryn Adam; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn defeated Archbishop Alter's Amanda Showalter; and Indian Hill's Saskia Gobonya beat Chaminade-Julienne's Brianna Douglas.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

As for the OTZ #1 Top Fan Dog Contest, Dublin Jerome's Charlie now has a slim lead over Magnificat's Charlotte for the #1 spot. Watterson's Coco is making a strong move upward. Again sorry, quick update today. The totals were updated in the right navigational bar.

THURSDAY,

Districts | Hathaway Brown Beats Orange in OTCA

It's time for Districts. Not that you are Under Pressure or anything but this is for a spot at States.

Hathaway Brown earned the OTCA Northeast D2 Final Four berth yesterday by beating Orange 3-0. Magnificat plays Walsh Jesuit on Monday.

Columbus Academy
Columbus Academy - Click to team page
The OTZ Top Players were rearranged yesterday. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Tommy Haddow. They are led by Georgia Tuckerman and Himaja Reddy. They are Team Members.

It's now Day 2 in the OTZ #1 Top Fan Dog Contest. Dublin Jerome's still leads the field with Charlie. In a valiant attempt at redemption, Jerome apparently created a web site to justify their pronunciation of Celtics. Seriously though - nice try - really. When it appeared that Hathaway Brown's tennis season was going off the rails, the HB peeps came out to support Maverick. They will still probably end up as the first loser behind Jerome. Magnificat's Charlotte is doing well but they are still in a familiar place - behind Hathaway Brown. Even though Charlotte would most likely rip a bacon cheeseburger out of your hand along with a couple of fingers, she really does look nice in her photo. The Ohio High School Athletic Association has even included Charlotte's adorable photo in their OHSAA Top Tweet area. Brisket went from "no where" to fourth as his people came through late in the day yesterday. Even though OTZ still does not allow betting on high school tennis, the smart money is on Brisket to come through when (if) that GIF file starts getting circulated. New Albany's Dolce is sweet but she needs a bit more Cujo in her step if she is going to end up in the top half. Watterson's decision to field both Gus and Coco may have backfired because it has essentially split the votes between both contestants. Had just one of the doggies entered the contest, it would have still been last, but it wouldn't have been last by that far. The apparent cat lovers in the Southwest and Northwest Districts don't have a dog in this fight so it will be interesting to see for whom they cast their votes. Refer to the right navigational bar for the number of re-tweets.

Good luck at Districts. Hope you get that States spot.

Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da

WEDNESDAY,

Dublin Jerome Beats Olentangy Liberty

Dublin Jerome secured the Central Final Four Division I berth by defeating Olentangy Liberty 3-1 yesterday. In another prominent match, Pickerington North beat New Albany. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Solon
NE D2 2015 State Qualifiers - Click to team page

Among the top players, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated New Albany's Elizabeth Hancock; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal beat Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke;  Dublin Jerome's Erin Zhao defeated Olentangy Liberty's Makayla Schaefer; and Pickerington North’s Rhyan Cook beat New Albany’s Emma Waite. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Start looking for your camera because OTZ is going to post the group photos of the State Qualifiers again this year. It's best to take this photo immediately before the Distict seeding round. It needs to be a good, high-resolution photo because OTZ will retrieve some of the individual photos for use in the OTZ State Draws. OTZ will add the names of the State Qualifiers so please provide those as well. Make sure that the doubles teammates stand together. Click State Qualifier photos to view all of the previous qualifiers. If you scroll down far enough, you'll find the two, simply adorable OTZ children.

The OTZ Tennis Fan Dog contest is underway. As is sometimes the case, those who lack skills in one area, excel in another. While Dublin Jerome does not have the foggiest idea how to pronounce Celtics, they do know how to use Twitter. Their Charlie leads decisively with 26 re-tweets. New Albany's Dolce Di Lorenzo is a sweet second with six. Hathaway Brown was expected to have a good tennis season, but it's not turning out that way now. HB's Maverick is getting destroyed by his crosstown rival, Magnificat's Charlotte, by the score of five to zero. Poor little Brisket does a great job of playing dead, but the little guy may not recover this time when he realizes that he has no re-tweets - not even a like. Watterson's Gus' self esteem was already destroyed after wearing the "cone of shame" so he is probably unfazed after receiving his single "like". Watterson's Coco has nothing to bark about but she is doing slightly better than Gus with one re-tweet. Don't retreat yet because it's not too late to re-tweet. [Ok - that was awful.] Voting will go on for a few days.

TUESDAY,

Magnificat Beats North Canton Hoover | Hathaway Brown Defeats Laurel

The weather continues to hold as the season winds down. While the main emphasis now is finishing the OTCA Tournament, there are still a few teams keeping their teams sharp for the district tournament. There were eight matches recorded from state-wide play. The matches included: Magnificat defeated North Canton Hoover in an OTCA semifinal; Hathaway Brown beat Laurel in an OTCA semifinal; Dublin Coffman defeated Columbus Academy; Dublin Coffman beat Columbus Academy; Columbus School for Girls defeated Olentangy Liberty; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin beat St. Joseph Academy; and Springboro defeated Carroll. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Magnificat's Charlotte Dublin Coffman's Brisket
Magnificat's Charlotte - Click to enlarge
Coffman's Brisket - Click to enlarge
Watterson's Gus Hathaway Brown's Maverick
Watterson's Gus - Click to enlarge
H. Brown's Maverick - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated Laurel's Amanda Shao; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat North Canton Hoover's Alyssa Koinoglou; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke;  Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman beat Dublin Coffman's Katherine Wang;  Centennial's Zoey Weil defeated Whetstone's Arielle Swinehart; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio beat North Canton Hoover's Hallie Hunt; and Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov defeated Laurel's Katie Chen. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The OTZ Top Fan dog contest begins tonight on Twitter. Below are the rest of the contestants:

BrisketCharlotte [Bauer] - Charlotte is this political season's real October surprise. If her pedigree is to be believed, she is slated for big things in the official doggy circles. Special credit to Magnificat for presenting Charlotte in the most appealing manner to OTZ fans. Still though - is her head tilt too perfect? Was wire used?

Brisket [Hunderpfund] - Brisket is a dog's dog. He scales mountains. He does great tricks. (See animated GIF to the right.) He represents Dublin Coffman. [Today's fun fact - the GIF image format was developed by CompuServe and it is pronounced JIF.]

Gus [Ghidotti] - Is the lone contestant from last year. Last year, Gus attempted to win the sympathy vote by wearing a "cone of shame". That didn't work. Special credit to Gus though for helping to personally train numerous OSU veterinarian students on surgical techniques. He is the second Bishop Watterson entry. [More fun facts - Gus is pronounced with a hard "G" sound and Celtic is pronounced with an "s" sound..]

Maverick [Persky] - Hathaway Brown has dominated on the tennis courts this season. Will they win the OTZ Top Fan Dog contest, too? Hathaway Brown won the award last year with its entry, Elle. Will Maverick allow HB to repeat?

The Cincinnati Enquirer posted an article written by Mark Schmetzer about the Southwest's upcoming district tournament.

The Central District will determine its OTCA D1 Final Four team today when Dublin Jerome faces Olentangy Liberty.

MONDAY,

District Draws | OTZ Top Fan Dog Contest

Today is Draw Day, and it started yesterday with the Northeast District releasing its draws first. Central released its Division I draws late last night. Watch for more draws to be posted soon. [Update @11:15: All of the draws are now available above.]

This will be a busy week. Normally OTZ travels to the Southwest draw on Thursday, Central on Friday, and Central again on Saturday. Central switched its District tournament to Thursday so the travel schedule is now: Central on Thursday, Northeast District on Friday, and Central again on Saturday.

Watterson's Coco
Watterson's Coco - Click to enlarge
Watterson's Coco
Jerome's Charlie - Click to enlarge
New Albany's Dolce
New Albany's Dolce - Click to enlarge
The entries to the OTZ Top Fan Dog contest is now officially closed with the last second entry of Magnificat's Charlotte during last night's Presidential debate. The voting will begin on Tuesday night. The televised debate among the dogs was canceled. As a valued member of the media, OTZ will provide largely made-up introductions about each of the candidates over the next two days. Today, please meet Coco, Charlie, and Dolce.

Coco [Weil] - Coco comes close but always stays an arms length away from every single one of the OTZ employees. While you can't criticize her intelligence on this, it blatantly violates the "man's best friend" law. Bacon may help. She not only barks to support her teammates -- she also just barks. She is one of the two Watterson contestants.

Charlie [Gomez] - Charlie appears to get along with other dogs despite only barking in French. Charlie represents Dublin Jerome. Charlie is the only one who can pronounce "Celtics" correctly.

Dolce [I think you can figure this out] - Dolce means "sweet" in Italian. That's not only a nice name, but it also now means that OTZ and its fan base now knows one Italian word. Dolce Di Lorenzo is a New Albany fan. For the correct pronunciation, click here.

The voting will occur via Twitter. OTZ will Tweet each of the contestants on Tuesday night. The dog who receives the most re-tweets wins. For those kids who are not yet on Twitter, please get your most lenient and unaware parent's approval before you sign up. Twitter can be time-consuming. For parents who have yet to sign-up for Twitter, it is probably too late. You won't figure it out until December (of 2017). Voting will take place over several days.

The list of the doggies in the right navigational bar are currently in alphabetical order, but this will change to "vote rank" once the voting begins. May the best dog win.

SUNDAY, - UPDATE: 11:50PM

District Draws

The Northeast wins the "First District to Release Its Draws" contest. Click "NE" above to access the draws. (These are on the same web page as the Sectional draws.)

The Central District D1 draws are here.

 

Ready for Districts

The Sectionals were completed in cooler and breezy conditions yesterday. Now it is time for the highly anticipated District draws. These draws will be linked to in the table above as they become available. The Central District draws are typically available first thing on Monday morning.

Sarah Jonesco
Watterson's Sarah Jonesco - Click to enlarge

The best players were all engaged in good matches. Of the matches that were included in the newspapers, Princeton's Emily Thomas defeated St. Ursula Academy's Caroline Waddell and Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus; Centennial's Zoey Weil beat Pickerington North's Rhyan Cook and Cassie Alcala; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman defeated Archbishop Alter's Amanda Showalter and Carroll's Jillian Milano; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal beat teammate, Jiaqi Liu, and Olentangy's Kathleen Jones; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell defeated Big Walnut's Macie Kercsmar and Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds beat Thomas Worthington’s Sarina Xie and Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated teammate, Rosie Gliatis, and Wellington's Isabella Vegas; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman beat teammates, Deeksha Bathini and Himaja Reddy; Miamisburg’s Carley Sickinger defeated Springboro’s Reka Patel; Cincinnati Country Day’s Mia Masterson beat Cincinnati Christian Hills Academy’s Anna Abunku; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti defeated Pickerington North's Rhyan Cook; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan beat Upper Arlington's Wendy Shi; and Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Dublin Jerome's Erin Zhao.

It is time to make a few changes to the OTZ Top Players and Watchlists. Watch for a few changes in another day or so. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Photos taken at the Reynoldsburg Sectional will be posted later today at the Most Recently Added Photos area.

SATURDAY,

Sectional Seeding Rounds

Sectionals will continue with the seeding round today under cooler and breezy weather conditions. These matches will help determine the draws for Districts next week.

The Sectional Draws are now included at the top of this page. Some Sectionals update their draws as they go while others do not. These draws will be replaced with the District draws as soon as they become available.

Pickerington North
Pickerington North - Click to team page

The Centerville Sectional results were included in the Cincinnati Enquirer today and those scores are now online.

Among the top players, Sprinboro's Reka Patel defeated Bellbrook's Abigail Schultz; Lakota West's Nicole Sturgeon beat Sadhvi Venkatramani; and Miamisburg's Carley Sickinger defeated Lakota East's Schrad. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Pickerington North. They are coached by Brian Hoff. They are led by Cassie Alcala and Rhyan Cook.

When it is breezy at our house, that means the conditions are close to unplayable at Hilliard Davidson. When it's windy at our house... Uh oh - It's windy. I'll be going to Reynoldsburg this morning for a D1 Sectional where Cassie Alcala and Centennial's Zoey Weil are both playing.

FRIDAY,

Sectional Results Available

The bad news is that the Sectional results from the newspapers are now online, far earlier than expected. Why bad? Unlike as in previous years, the Dispatch did not include the early round matches in the newspaper today. While that saved OTZ several hours of data input, it would have been better for high school tennis to have all of the results included. It is another sign of the times. The Dayton Daily News eliminated box scores this season and the Plain Dealer has only a fraction of the scores that they used to have. Of the three papers to which OTZ subscribes, the Columbus Dispatch remains the best with its box score coverage. The Cincinnati Enquirer does the best job in providing news coverage to high school tennis (but the Columbus Dispatch's ThisWeekNews papers provide solid local coverage). Update @ 11:30am: The Dispatch eventually posted the results online. Now I'm going back into the update process to include these results. This is less much fun than it sounds. Update @ 4:30pm: The Central District Sectional results are now online.

Courtney Pea
Eastmoor's Courtney Pea - Click to enlarge

If paying coaches would like to have all of their teams' results online, please use the format as described yesterday and send only those results that are not currently online. Sending matches that are already online will create duplicate scores.

There were not many competitive early-round matches yesterday. A few to note include: Centennial's Zoey Weil defeated Watterson's Gabby Kappel; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala beat New Albany's Emma Waite; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti defeated New Albany's Alexandra Vitellas; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds beat Whetstone's Arielle Swinehart; Dublin Jerome's Jiaqi Liu defeated Dublin Scioto's Hrunya Ravindran; Thomas Worthington's Sarina Xie beat Dublin Coffman's Maria Sadek; Unioto's Sylvia Gray defeated Wheelersburg's Sommer; and Columbus School For Girls' Rosie Gliatis beat Worthington Christian's Amanda Mayotte. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Another reason why Sectionals are fun is because every team gets to participate. While OTZ attends far (far, far) more matches than any other media source, I still do not get to see that many teams play. More photos will be added today of players from teams that I normally do not get to watch.

THURSDAY,

CSG Beats Columbus Academy for OTCA Final Four | Liberty Defeats Coffman

Overture, curtains, lights. This is it. It is time for the Sectionals for most of the state. We are going to have a perfect weather day with a gentle breeze of less than 50mph at Central District's Hilliard Davidson. Best of luck to everyone

There were a combination of important dual matches and Sectional tournament matches yesterday. The dual matches included: Columbus School for Girls defeated Columbus Academy to earn the Central D2 OTCA berth; Olentangy Liberty beat Dublin Coffman in the Central D1 semifinal; Indian Hill defeated Springboro; and Olentangy beat Watterson. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Mariemont
Mariemont - Click to team page
Among the top players, Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer beat Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Watterson's Claire Ghidotti; and Columbus Academy's Himaja Reddy beat Columbus School for Girls' Stephanie Presper. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Mariemont. They are coached by Doug Spreen. They are led by Grace Haffner.

Tomorrow is the biggest day of the year for entering scores into the OTZ system. Normally the goal is to get the data portion of the update done by 8:00am and the verbal portion done by 9:00am. Tomorrow the goal is to eventually finish the update at some point tomorrow eventually at some point, hopefully. Because of the massive number of results, there are two ways in which the results will be recorded in OhioTennisZone. One - the results appear in the Dispatch, Enquirer, or Plain Dealer. Two - a paying OTZ coach member or a paying parent member provides OTZ with the results in exactly the following format. Note the specific locations of the dashes, parentheses, spaces, and periods.

S.Williams-V.Williams (Westerville East) def. Sharapova-Davis (Northern South) 6-4, 6-2

Kerber (West Germany) def. Potter (Hogwarts) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4

Best of luck to everyone (especially the paying OTZ members).

WEDNESDAY,

Mason in OTCA Final Four | Perrysburg Beats Notre Dame Academy

Twas the day before Sectionals for most of the State. Northeast Ohio started their Sectionals yesterday, and everyone else begins tomorrow. There were 17 dual matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 8, Southwest - 7, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Summit Country Day defeated Milford; Harrison beat Little Miami; Ross defeated Madison; Mount Vernon beat Westerville North; Delaware Hayes defeated River Valley; and Olentangy beat Hilliard Davidson. In other notable matches, Mason defeated Ursuline Academy to earn the Southwest District D1 Final Four berth; Perrysburg defeated Notre Dame Academy; Columbus School for Girls beat New Albany; Upper Arlington defeated Watterson; and Indian Hill beat Mount Notre Dame. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Upper Arlington
Upper Arlington - Click to team page
Among the top players, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Dublin Scioto's Hrunya Ravindran; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn beat Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti defeated Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated New Albany's Elizabeth Hancock; Mason's Ananya Aggarwal beat Ursuline Academy's Lynn Ahrens; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Hilliard Davidson's Ally Woodyard; Perrysburg's Emma Carter beat Notre Dame Academy’s Bella Yazji; Walnut Hill’s Lilly O’Toole defeated Sycamore's Harsitha Kalaiarasan; and Mason's Amanda Huser beat Ursuline Academy's Rashmi Rege. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Upper Arlington. They are coached by Shaun Stamps. They are led by Anna Marie Reynolds, Evelyn Holman, and Ashley Weeks. They are Team Members.

OTZ will include the Sectional results from the Dispatch, Plain Dealer, and Enquirer, plus any Sectional results that paying coaches and parents provide.

The OTZ Fan Dog contest will start very soon. OTZ is awaiting one more entry from a team that amazingly thinks it has a chance to win. To view the six dogs that are currently in the contest, please refer to the right navigation bar.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman versus Olentangy Liberty (OTCA Semi); Columbus School For Girls (A) versus Columbus Academy (OTCA Final); Columbus Academy (H) versus Pickerington Central; and Wellington (A) versus Worthington Kilbourne.

TUESDAY,

Indian Hill in OTCA Final Four | Dublin Jerome Beats Pickerington North

The tennis was as great as the weather. While the quantity of matches is declining, the quality is increasing. There were 17 matches recorded from state-wide play and half were 3-2 matches. The breakdown by District was: Central - 10, Southwest - 5, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 0. The close, 3-2 matches included: St. Ursula Academy defeated Turpin; East Clinton beat Blanchester; Watkins Memorial defeated Thomas Worthington; Olmsted Falls beat Parma; Oak Hills defeated Mother of Mercy; Dublin Jerome beat Pickerington North; Hilliard Bradley defeated Lancaster; Worthington Christian beat Hartley; and Central Crossing defeated Ready. Other notable matches included: Indian Hill defeated Seven Hills to earn a spot in the OTZ Final Four and Whetstone beat Eastmoor Academy to win the Columbus City League Championship. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Watkins Memorial
Watkins Memorial - Click to team page
Among the top players, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman beat Centerville's Nadja Marin; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated St. Ursula Academy's Caroline Waddell; Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch beat Seven Hills' Alana Saggar; Thomas Worthington's Sarina Xie defeated Watkins Memorial's Kelli Wright; and Pickerington North’s Rhyan Cook beat Dublin Jerome's Erin Zhao. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Watkins Memorial. They are coached by Shawn Walter.

Today's matches include: Mason (A) versus Ursuline Academy; Columbus School for Girls (A) versus New Albany; St Joseph Academy (A) versus Hawken; Watkins Memorial (H) versus Worthington Kilbourne; Worthington Christian (H) versus Thomas Worthington; DeSales (H) versus Eastmoor Academy; and Westerville North (H) versus Mount Vernon.

MONDAY,

Lexington Wins Ohio Cardinal Conference Tournament | Start of Sectionals

Thankfully the weather has improved because this is a huge week for Ohio high school tennis. Teams need to finish Sectionals and catch-up on (or finish) OTCA Tournament play. Much of the state begins Sectionals on Thursday but Northeast Ohio will get an early start by playing some of their Sectionals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lexington
Lexington - Click to team page

Lexington won the Ohio Cardinal Conference tournament. This is their 15th consecutive year of winning this tournament.

The OTCA released its first State Poll. The order for Division I is: 1. Mason, 2. Magnificat, 3. Dublin Jerome, 4. Pickerington North, 5. Dublin Coffman, 6. Upper Arlington, 7. Ursuline Academy, 8. Olentangy Liberty, 9. North Canton Hoover, and 10. Perrysburg. For Division II, the order is: 1. Hathaway Brown, 2. Indian Hill, 3. Orange, 4. Columbus Academy , 5. Seven Hills, 6. Laurel, 7. Chaminade-Julienne, 8. Toledo Central Catholic, 9. Archbishop Alter, and 10. Columbus School For Girls. The OTZ Ranking is listed in the left navigation bar.

Today's featured team is Lexington. They are coached by Ron Schwab.

The OTZ Fan Dog contest is almost ready to roll. The current contestants are listed in the right navigation bar. If you think your dog is worthy, email a picture to OTZ along with a sentence or two of your dog's greatest attributes (or simply make something up).

OhioTennisZone finally updated the Ohio Capital Conference league information with the correct teams. Normally by the time that it's updated on OhioTennisZone, that means that it is time for the conference to switch the schools around again.

Today's matches include: Indian Hill (H) versus Seven Hills; Dublin Jerome (H) versus Pickerington North; St Joseph Academy (A) versus Avon; Thomas Worthington (H) versus Watkins Memorial; Grove City (H) versus Grandview; Hartley (A) versus Worthington Christian; DeSales (A) versus Dublin Scioto; and Lancaster (H) versus Hilliard Bradley.

SUNDAY,

Mason Wins the Greater Miami Conference Tournament

It looks like the low pressure weather system that has been swirling frequent precipitation on Ohio is finally moving east. Hopefully we'll have a good weather week for Sectionals because it is extremely difficult to move the large number of first round matches indoors.

Himaja Reddy
Col. Academy's Himaja Reddy - Click to enlarge
There were only two matches recorded from state-wide play. St. Ursula Academy defeated Walnut Hills and Watkins Memorial beat DeSales.

In tournament play, Mason won the Greater Metro Conference Tournament and Sycamore was the runner-up.

Among the top players, Princeton's Emily Thomas defeated Mason's Ananya Aggarwal; Mason's Amanda Huser beat Lakota East's Paige Silverberg; Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole defeated St. Ursula Academy's Caroline Waddell; and Mason's Sanjana Reddy eat Sycamore's Kaitlyn Jiang. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

SATURDAY,

OTZ Fan Dog Contest

Since there were no match results reported from yesterday, it's time to get serious about the OTZ Fan Dog Contest. Numerous coaches and players have touted the unique ways in which their dog is special so it's time to gather the contestants and get the voting underway. Please email the best photo of your doggy and include a sentence or two about their finest furry attributes.

Shaker Heights
Hathaway Brown's - Click to enlarge
Even though they were all somewhat good dogs, last year's winner was Hathaway Brown's Elle. Olentangy Liberty's Noah was second, followed by Watterson's Gus and Upper Arlington's Fergy.

Here's a bonus picture of Gus doing his Gus impersonation.

Most of the voting will be done via Twitter. Based on the number of contestants, there may need to be direct match-ups between dogs rather than a fun, fluffy, free-for-all vote. It is also uncertain if there might need to be an OTZ Electorial College to insure that the correct contestant wins. As an esteemed member of the media, you can count on OTZ to provide nonunbiased coverage of the contest.

I understand that there are a few "cat people" who would like more attention paid to their pets. If you would like to have a Fan Cat Contest, that's great! All you need to do is to create your own web site.

For those who want to enter, please get those photos into OTZ by Monday at midnight.

Hopefully there will be a few matches and tournaments today. Those that are played will likely need to take place indoors.

FRIDAY,

Turpin Beats Summit Country Day

Several districts played their matches earlier than required for the OTCA Tournament. After this rather dismal week, they can be happy they did. There were only six matches recorded from state-wide play. There were five matches played in the Southwest District and one in Central. The close, 3-2 matches were: Grandview defeated Central Crossing and Turpin beat Summit Country Day. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

New Albany
New Albany - Click to team page
Among the top players, Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated Summit Country Day's Kathryn Adam and Mariemont's Grace Haffner defeated Finneytown's Rochelle Parsons. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is New Albany. They are coached by Marc Thomas. They are led by Taylor Selby, Christina Vitellas , and Valentina DiLorenzo. They are Team Members.

There is just one match scheduled for today - Columbus Academy (H) versus Columbus School For Girls.

 

THURSDAY,

Picture Day

It was almost a state-wide rainout so rather than look at scores today, check out the 33 new photos that were added to the Most Recently Added Photos area. The OTZ's Top Ten Girls Photos were also revised. Login first to view all of the photos.

Emily Neal
Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal - Click to enlarge

The teams reporting scores included: Laurel defeated Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; Seton beat Taylor; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Hawken; Chardon beat Harvey; Wyoming defeated Deer Park; and Washington CH beat Unioto. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Among the top players, Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky defeated Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Sofia DiCillo; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Irene Norman beat Hawken’s Savannah Harper; Unioto's Sylvia Gray defeated Washington CH’s Hall; and Laurel's Victoria Vasquez beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Mary Mahaffee. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

I am way behind on the photo orders. I'll get caught-up soonish.

Today's matches include: Columbus School for Girls (A) versus Bexley; Hathaway Brown (A) versus Hawken; Laurel (A) versus Bay; New Albany (H) versus Watterson; Worthington Christian (A) versus Westerville North, and Our Lady Of The Elms (A) versus Woodridge.

WEDNESDAY,

Hathaway Brown Beats Canfield | Indian Hill Defeats Chaminade-Julienne

The season marches on and the OTCA Tournament Draw has been updated to reflect the most recent matches. There were 30 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 10, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 0. The close, 3-2 matches included: Watterson defeated Columbus Academy; Dublin Scioto beat Olentangy; New Albany defeated Olentangy Orange; Thomas Worthington beat Marysville; and Brush defeated Cleveland Heights. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Watterson
Watterson - Click to team page
Among the top players, Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated Canfield’s Hannah Cianciola; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman beat Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk defeated Westlake's Emily Peeler; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti defeated beat Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated Milford's Amanda Reinhart; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones beat Dublin Scioto's Hrunya Ravindran; Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky defeated Canfield’s Sydney Cianciola; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn beat Chaminade-Julienne's Brianna Douglas; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Westlake's Ashley Michelich; and Magnificat's Olivia Rondini beat Westlake's Demi Jhaveri. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Watterson. They are coached by Susan Weil. They are led by Claire Ghidotti, Haley Rague, and Gabby Kappel. They are Team Members.

In an attempt to better understand the Plain Dealer score-entering process, I entered Hathaway Brown's match last night against Canfield using their system. I also entered a previous match against Magnificat. Both appear on the Plain Dealer web site and last night's match appeared in today's Plain Dealer. As soon as I get comfortable with this system, I'll write up documentation. On the bright side, since all things are relative, it makes the OTZ score-entering process look rather easy to do. Hopefully we can get more tennis teams and players recognized by getting more scores into that newspaper.

Some Sectional Draws have still not been posted. Refer to Monday's entry for more information.

The top page of OTZ was reduced in size yesterday. This page should now load about twice as fast as before.

Today's matches include: Our Lady Of The Elms (A) versus North Canton Hoover; St Joseph Academy (H) versus Rocky River;  Magnificat (H) versus Green (Uniontown); and Columbus Academy (A) versus Wellington.

TUESDAY,

Columbus School for Grrls Beat Olentangy Liberty

After a long stretch of dry weather, a few matches were rained out yesterday. There were 15 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Southwest - 11, Central - 4, Northeast - 0, and Northwest - 0. In one of the closest matches this season, Columbus School for Girls defeated Olentangy Liberty, 3-2. CSG won 52 games to Liberty's 51, and there were two 3-setters. In other 3-2 matches, Fairfield beat Ross; Wellington defeated Jonathan Alder; DeSales beat Reynoldsburg; Sycamore defeated Turpin; Amelia beat Felicity; and Oak Hills defeated Taylor. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Columbus School For Girls
Columbus School For Girls - Click to team page
Among the top players, Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated Sycamore’s Harsitha Kalaiarasan; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn beat Lakota East’s Clare Holtmeier; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; and Indian Hill's Hayley Hirsch beat Lakota East’s Grace Silverberg. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Columbus School for Girls. They are coached by Sean Delaney. They are led by Marissa Madison, Ally Kennedy, and Grace Weiler. CSG is a Team Member.

The Sectional Draw information is coming in slower than anticipated. The Northwest District now has their draws posted. Southwest has most of theirs online. Hopefully more will be posted today. The draw information will be updated in yesterday's OTZ posting.

Today's matches include: Laurel (H) versus Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; Magnificat (A) versus Westlake; and New Albany (H) versus Olentangy Orange.

MONDAY, (Last updated: 9/28 @ 7:45am)

Sectional Draws Available

The Sectional Draw information was first made available for the Central District on OTZ on Sunday night. The other draws will be posted as they become available throughout the day on Monday. Note that this entry will look incomplete and disjointed throughout most of the day as the draws are slowly accumulated. Fans and players care the most about who the top players are who are competing in singles and doubles so this entry will reflect that interest. Those players with OTZ Player Profiles are indicated in bolded, blue font. Click on a profile for additional information about the player.

OHSAA Sectional Draws
Central: Division 1 | Division 2
Northeast: Partial D1 D2 Draws
Northwest: All Draws
Southwest: All Draws | Dayton D1|D2
Southeast:

Central

Singles: The following top Central District D1 players are competing in singles: Cassie Alcala, Zoey Weil, Claire Ghidotti, Kathleen Jones, Emily Neal, Nethra Thenappan, Anna Reynolds, and Nicole Cardwell. In D2 the top two singles players are: Georgia Tuckerman and Marissa Madison. Central gets four spots for Division I and two spots for Division II.

Doubles: The #1 seeds in D1 are: Jerome's Neha Dudipala | Reagan Resor; Liberty's Alexis Steer | Cellini Ko; New Albany's Taylor Selby | Christina Vitellas; and Upper Arlington's Ashley Weeks | Masha Manilchuk. In D2 the #1's are: Columbus Academy's Jacinta Crestanello | Sarah Wexner and Columbus School for Girls' Ally Kennedy | Grace Weiler.

Northeast

Singles: The following OTZ top Northeast District D1 players are competing in singles: Molly Sandberg, Anna Roggenburk, Alexandra Vesikallio, and Emma Peeler.

Doubles: The top contenders in D1 are: Magnificat's Molly Bauer | Ana Lopez; and Westlake's Demi Jhaveri | Ashley Michelich. In D2, Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky | Catherine Areklett; HB's Isabella Daverio | Rebecca Wolf; Elm's Stefanie Wyszkowski | Emily Axtell; Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky | Victoria Vasquez.

Southwest

Singles: The OTZ Top players competing in D1 singles are: Emily Thomas, Kelli Niehaus, Amanda Reinhart, Caitlin Fisher, Ananya Aggarwal, and Carley Sickinger. In D2 the top singles players are: Jillian Milano, Kelly Pleiman, and Amanda Showalter.

Doubles: The top contenders in D1 are: Mason's Amanda Huser | Isabel Cepeda; Ursuline Academy's Gabriella O`Connor | Ellie Foster; Mason's Nicole Reid | Sneha Kandi; and Springboro's Talbot | McGarvey. In D2 the #1's are: Chaminade-Julienne's Alexis Robinson | Olivia Boch.

Notice

The "top" OhioTennisZone page includes a substantial amount of information going all of the way back to the end of last year's girls season. Unfortunately, it is now taking the top page too much time to load. To enable it to load faster, much of this page will be reduced tonight. If you want to check out last year's OTZ All-Ohio players, please do it now!

Tonight's matches include: Columbus School for Girls (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Dublin Jerome; Hathaway Brown (H) versus Massillon Jackson; Olentangy (H) versus Watterson; and St Joseph Academy (A) versus Beaumont. Since Dublin has become an interconnected web of roundabouts, hopefully it is possible for Dublin Jerome to get to Dublin Coffman, play their match, and return to their homes after the 200 mile round trip before Sectionals begin.

SUNDAY,

Sectional Draw Day | Magnificat Beats UA and Olentangy Liberty

Today is the day for the Sectional Draw. The OTZ Top Players / Watch Lists were updated to assist coaches with Sectional seeding. (See below.)

In tournament play, Mason won the Flight A group of the GCTCA and Indian Hill was second. In Flight B, Turpin was first and Loveland was second. Westerville Central won the Kim Shepherd Doubles Classic at Hilliard Davidson. Hilliard Davidson was the runner-run.

In dual match play, Magnificat defeated both Upper Arlington and Olentangy Liberty.

Shaker Heights
Top Players / Watch Lists - Click to view report
Among the top players, Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus defeated Mason's Ananya Aggarwal; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds and Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn defeated Mason's Amanda Huser; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher beat Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; Milford's Amanda Reinhart beat Summit Country Day's Kathryn Adam; and Magnificat's Olivia Rondini defeated Olentangy Liberty's Cecelia Ko.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Top Players and Watch Lists have been significantly updated in preparation for today's draws. New additions to the Top Players List are: Centennial's Zoey Weil, Milford's Amanda Reinhart, Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn, Olentangy's Kathleen Jones, Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal, Dubin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan, Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds, and Westlake's Emma Peeler. There are now 32 players on the Top Players List. The breakdowns by District are: Northeast - 12, Southwest - 12, Central - 7, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the lists in one report, click here.

The plan is to get the Central District Sectional draws online by 6:30pm. From a timing standpoint, the Southwest draws are normally second to come online, followed by the Northeast. The Northwest draws normally take a few days to be posted and the Southeast (which receives two spots for States) does not even bother to post theirs. If you are curious how the Central District Sectional draw process works, refer to the September 19th OTZ blog entry. As an additional resource for the Northeast Ohio coaches, please click here.

SATURDAY,

Sectional Draws Tomorrow | Laurel Beats Shaker Heights

The Sectional Draws are tomorrow. Not to underrate this experience, but there are few things in life that match the stress and the pressure associated with the Sectional Draws. Absolutely everything depends on it. Everything. This video carefully portrays the pressure that a coach could feel if he/she is unprepared for these draws.

Whetstone
Whetstone - Click to team page
There was just one lonely dual match reported. Laurel defeated Shaker Heights. There were also a few matches reported from the GCTCA Tournament.

Among the top players, Milford's Amanda Reinhart defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Mia Masterson and Laurel's Ria Desai beat Shaker Heights’ Lizzy Cole. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Whetstone. They are coached by Bucky Walters.

Magnificat invades central Ohio today to play Olentangy Liberty and Upper Arlington. After playing warm weather platform tennis, I'll see you at Liberty.

FRIDAY,

Magnificat Beats Hudson | Dublin Jerome Defeats Columbus Academy

The weather was perfect for the GCTCA Tournament in Mason. The tournament continues on Saturday.

There were 32 dual matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 20, Northeast - 7, Southwest - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Hilliard Darby; Teays Valley beat Hartley; Centerville defeated Beavercreek; Bloom-Carroll beat Newark; Grandview defeated Worthington Kilbourne; and Olentangy defeated Worthington Christian. Other prominent matches included: Magnificat defeated Hudson; Chaminade-Julienne beat Watterson; and Dublin Jerome defeated Columbus Academy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Carolyn Haney
Ursuline Academy's Carolyn Haney - Click to team page
Among the top players, Hudson's Molly Sandberg defeated Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk; Mount Notre Dame’s Kelli Niehaus beat Sycamore’s Kalaiarasan; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman defeated Watterson's Claire Ghidotti; Mason's Ananya Aggarwal beat Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated defeated Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal beat Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman;  Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn defeated Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Mason's Amanda Huser beat Ursuline Academy's Gracie Estes; and Dublin Jerome's Erin Zhao defeated Columbus Academy's Himaja Reddy. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The sun was a bit too harsh to get great photos yesterday at the tournament, and by the time that it started to soften, I had to dash off for a meeting. There will be more photos posted later today.

The Player Profiles that have not yet been setup will be done today. If your daughter's profile is not posted, please submit a Feedback or send me an email.

There is just one match in the OTZ scheduling system today. Laurel (A) plays Shaker Heights.

THURSDAY,

GCTCA Tournament | Chaminade-Julienne Beats Upper Arlington

The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Coaches' Classic Tennis Tournament is as big as its name and it takes place today and Saturday. This is a great tournament that combines teams of similar ability. It is a great way to get the players quality matches prior to the Sectional Draw, and it is also very helpful for coaches as they evaluate players for Sectional Draw seeding.

There were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 13, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Lakota West defeated Lakota East; Westerville Central beat Dublin Scioto; Mason-B defeated Sycamore-B; Chaminade-Julienne beat Upper Arlington; Reynoldsburg defeated Westerville North; Mason beat Turpin; and Columbus Academy defeated Olentangy. Other significant matches included: Columbus School for Girls defeated Pickerington Central; Perrysburg beat Toledo St. Ursula Academy; and Dublin Jerome defeated New Albany. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Dublin Jerome
Dublin Jerome - Click to team page
Among the top players, Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman defeated Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher beat Mason's Ananya Aggarwal; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Avon's Julie Lorincz; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal beat New Albany’s Taylor Selby; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison beat Pickerington Central's Maddie Bechert; Milford's Amanda Reinhart defeated Loveland's Peyton Geers; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell beat Dublin Scioto's Hrunya Ravindran; Perrysburg’s Emma Carter defeated Toledo St. Ursula Academy’s Gracie Almester; and Turpin's Savannah Allen beat Mason's Amanda Huser. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Dublin Jerome. They are coached by Ken Berlin. Jerome is led by Emily Neal, Reagan Resor, and Erin Zhao. They are Team Members.

Dual matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Hudson; Upper Arlington (H) versus Watterson; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Hilliard Davidson (A) versus Pickerington Central; Our Lady Of The Elms (A) versus Avon; St Joseph Academy (A) versus Walsh Jesuit; and Norton (H) versus Copley.

See you at the GCTCA Coaches' Classic Tennis Tournament - Flight A group. If you want an action photo of your daughter, please send me an email or Feedback.

WEDNESDAY,

Hathaway Brown Beats Magnificat | Orange Defeats Laurel

The perfect weather is getting boring but not the tennis. Today's headline could be a paragraph with numerous OTZ Top Ten teams competing against each other. There were 38 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 18, Southwest - 14, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Teays Valley defeated Reynoldsburg; Clermont Northeastern beat Blanchester; Medina defeated St. Joseph Academy; Carroll beat Preble Shawnee; Northwest defeated Roger Bacon; Columbus Academy beat Columbus School for Girls; Ross defeated Monroe; and Hilliard Darby beat Grandview. In other prominent matches, Hathaway Brown defeated Magnificat; Orange beat Laurel; Ursuline Academy defeated St. Ursula Academy; and Indian Hill beat Olentangy Liberty. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
September 21, 2016
Division IDivision II
1. Mason ◄TEAMHathaway Brown ◄TEAM
2. Magnificat ◄TEAMIndian Hill ◄TEAM
3. Dublin Jerome ◄TEAMColumbus Academy ◄TEAM
4. Pickerington NorthOrange
5. Dublin Coffman ◄TEAMLaurel ◄TEAM
6. Upper Arlington ◄TEAMColumbus School For Girls ◄TEAM
7. North Canton HooverSeven Hills
8. Olentangy Liberty ◄TEAMChaminade-Julienne
9. Mount Notre Dame Toledo Central Catholic
10. Ursuline Academy ◄TEAMSummit Country Day
Hon. Men.: Sycamore, Walsh Jesuit, Perrysburg, Springboro  
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership

With so many of the top teams playing, there were quite a few great match-ups. Hathaway Brown's Lauren Gillinov defeated Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk; Orange's Alissa Nakamoto beat Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky; Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison beat Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster defeated St. Ursula Academy’s Caroline Waddell; Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov beat Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; Orange’s Anjali Kashyap beat Laurel's Victoria Vasquez; and Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch defeated Magnificat's Olivia Rondini. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There are always questions about how the OTZ Top Ten rankings are done. Because the Division I rankings (other than the Top 2) are especially confusing this season, another more sophisticated tool was introduced to assist me.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Olentangy; Magnificat (H) versus Avon; Upper Arlington (A) versus Chaminade-Julienne; New Albany (H) versus Dublin Jerome; and Columbus School for Girls (H) versus Pickerington Central.

TUESDAY,

Mason > Mount Notre Dame | Coffman > New Albany | Ursuline Academy > Springboro

Unlike during the boys season, the girls coaches are really hustling to get the OTCA matches finished. This is likely also a function of the girls coaches knowing that questionable weather is ahead and the boys coaches having to endure poor weather at the beginning of the season. The OTZ OTCA Draws are updated with the most recent results.

There were 24 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 8, Northeast -5, and Northwest - 0. The close, 3-2 matches included: Watkins Memorial defeated Big Walnut; Delaware Hayes beat Hartley; Summit Country Day defeated Wyoming; Marysville defeated Reynoldsburg; Thomas Worthington beat Wellington; Ursuline Academy defeated Springboro (OTCA); Dublin Coffman beat New Albany (OTCA); and Cloverleaf defeated Norton. In another OTCA semi-final match: Mason defeated Mount Notre Dame. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Our Lady Of The Elms
Our Lady Of The Elms - Click to team page
Among the top players, Centennial's Zoey Weil defeated Whetstone's Atyana Adams; Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus beat Mason's Ananya Aggarwal; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan defeated New Albany's Taylor Selby; Springboro’s Patel beat Ursuline Academy’s Lynn Ahrens; and Mason's Amanda Huser defeated Mount Notre Dame's Sabina Worthoff; Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Our Lady Of The Elms. They are coached by Walter Jacoby. They are Team Members. They are led by Stefanie Wyszkowski , Natalie Kirk, and Victoria Robinson. With the Plain Dealer having problems, more Northeast Ohio coaches are joining OTZ.

There were five new photos added to OTZ's Most Recently Added Photos area since Friday. [Half] expect this to be updated in a more timely manner going forward. You can prove to OhioTennisZone that you really, truly love your daughter by purchasing an OTZ photo of her. Use this photo to beat your friends in Facebook by posting a great OTZ digital photo of your daughter. To completely slam dunk your golf-parent friends, also include a link to her OTZ Player Profile from your Facebook posting.

The weather looks great in Mason on Thursday for the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Classic Tournament. See you there.

There are several bigger than huge matches tonight. Today's matches include: Hathaway Brown (H) versus Magnificat; Columbus Academy (H) versus Columbus School For Girls; Laurel (A) versus Orange; New Albany (H) versus Hilliard Davidson; Perrysburg (A) versus Sylvania Northview; and St Joseph Academy (A) versus Medina.

MONDAY,

Sectional Draw Week

This is the last week of matches before the Sectional Draw. It takes place on Sunday at 2pm - even for Northwest Ohio*. If you aren't feeling the pressure of the Sectional Draw yet, then you should be. Many diligent coaches are now carefully reviewing the OTZ online results to insure that everything is correct for their players. They are also researching other players who may be competing against their players for seeding positions.

If you are not familiar with the Sectional Draws, here is how the Central District Division I draw works:

During draw week:

At the meeting:

Season-to-DateNote that the Coaches' Season-to-Date report (see right) is the best way to review all of the matches to-date for each player. Sign-in to view.

* There were several draws when Northwest Ohio just did not feel like conducting their draws at the designated time as the rest of the State did. They did it after everyone else. The problem is that this could have given NW Ohio an advantage because they could find out which players were playing singles and doubles. For example, if some of the state's best players decided to play "doubles", then NW Ohio players could have chosen to play singles. The net effect is that OTZ could not post the Central District Sectional Draw information until after NW Ohio finished their draws. It was irritating and time-consuming, and it prevented everyone else from enjoying the "who is playing who" frenzy after the draws take place.

Also.. If you have not yet paid for your OTZ membership, please do so. I know and the NSA knows when you access the OTZ. Likewise, if you have paid and there is no Player Profile setup for your daughter, please let me know. I am in the final stages of getting these setup.

There are numerous good matches tonight. They include: Mason (H) versus Mount Notre Dame; Magnificat (A) versus Hudson; New Albany (A) versus Dublin Coffman; Our Lady Of The Elms (H) versus Green (Uniontown); St Joseph Academy (A) versus Avon; and Laurel (H) versus Hawken.

SUNDAY,

Magnificat - Lexington Champ | Jerome & Liberty Beat Ursuline Academy

Many conferences and teams were still able to finish their tournaments and dual matches yesterday, but several matches were moved indoors. In tournament and conference play, Magnificat won the eight team Lexington Invitational. Columbus Academy won the Mid-State League Ohio Tournament. Wellington won its own tournament.

There were two dual matches recorded. Olentangy Liberty and Dublin Jerome defeated Ursuline Academy. The Jerome versus Ursuline match included three, 3-setters. Click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Centerville
Centerville - Click to team page
Among the top players, Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal defeated Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer beat Ursuline Academy's Rashmi Rege; and Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman defeated Worthington Christian's Julia Byers. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long.

The Lexington food was as great as normal. I had considered spelling out, not just OTZ, but OhioTennisZone.com with the donuts, but didn't. Instead, I just ate them.

SATURDAY,

North Canton Hoover Beats St. Joseph Academy

Today looks wet at the Lexington tournament but I'll see you there to get team photos and hopefully a few action photos. Of course, the food is as good as the tennis matches.

There were six matches recorded from state-wide play yesterday. They were: Centerville defeated Lexington; Fairfield beat Hamilton; North Canton Hoover defeated St. Joseph Academy; Mason beat Seven Hills; Dublin Jerome defeated Gahanna; Hathaway Brown beat Laurel; and Perrysburg defeated Maumee Valley Country Day. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Hilliard Darby
Hilliard Darby - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Ananya Aggarwal defeated Seven Hills’ Lauren Saggar; Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch beat Laurel's Amanda Shao; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal defeated Gahanna's Kristen Zink; Perrysburg’s Gemma Smith beat Maumee Country Valley’s Caesar; North Canton Hoover’s Hallie Hunt defeated St. Joseph Academy’s Hannah Schuette;  Centerville's Ashley Amiri beat Lexington’s Jordyn Traxler; Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky defeated Laurel's Katie Chen; and Hathaway Brown's Catherine Areklett beat Laurel's Abby Knetig. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Elysium Tennis is having a platform tennis introductory session tomorrow from 12:30-4:30. If you are curious about the sport, check out the link.

Enough is enough with the OTZ photo area. The "four images at a time" was waay too frustrating so changes were made to show ten photos at a time. These changes were made to the Most Recently Added Photos and to Top Girls Photos. There was an irritating, non-technical reason why only four photos were able to be seen at a time. Hopefully that issue will not resurface.

Today's featured team is Hilliard Darby. They are coached by Erika Little. They are Team Members.

FRIDAY,

Picture Day | Academy > UA | Mt. Notre Dame > Ursuline Academy

Since it is harder to stay focused at work / school on Friday's, OTZ readers have a reason to spend that unfocused time online on OhioTennisZone. Today is picture day. Read more below.

There were 35 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 16, Southwest - 13, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Columbus Academy defeated Upper Arlington (winning 51% of the games); Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy beat Kenston; St. Joseph Academy defeated Mayfield; Canal Winchester beat Hamilton Township; Jonathan Alder defeated Galion; Upper Arlington-B beat Worthington Christian (with four, 3-setters); Westerville North defeated Newark; Centennial beat Village Academy; Mother of Mercy defeated Seton; and Mount Notre Dame beat Ursuline Academy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Avon
Top Photos - Click to view

Among the top players, Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus defeated Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Centennial's Zoey Weil beat Village Academy’s Nicole Santoso; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Gahanna's Kristen Zink; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds beat Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Irene Norman defeated Kenston's Camden Spencer; Clay's Madison Arquette beat Notre Dame Academy’s Yagzi; Lakota West’s Nicole Sturgeon defeated Sycamore Sarah Wittenbaum; Solon’s Maggie Yang beat Avon’s Julie Lorincz; Unioto's Sylvia Gray defeated Logan Elm’s Williard; and Thomas Worthington’s Sarina Xie beat Pickerington Central’s Maddie Bechert. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Hope you enjoy the 64 new photos that were just added this morning. Going forward, hopefully I can add more photos a bit sooner after the matches take place. It does take a huge amount of time to take and prepare these photos for viewing. As always, photo purchases are welcome. Very welcome. Please note that you may only view the photos on OhioTennisZone.com. Unless they have been purchased, they cannot be Tweeted, placed on Facebook Instagram, or TennisRecruiting.net, etc. The prices of these photos are very reasonable if you like your daughter (at least some of the time). You do need to become a member to view many of photos. Click to see how to Buy a Photo. Make your financial planner proud by taking advantage of the "more you buy - the more you save" pricing. Click to view OTZ's Most Recently Added Photos. Click to view OTZ's Top Girls Photos (so far) and the Top Boys Photos.

The OTZ Top Ten Team Rankings for Division I need to be adjusted with dynamite. Thankfully, I do feel comfortable with the top two teams.

Today's matches include: Columbus School for Girls (A) versus Reynoldsburg and
Perrysburg (A) versus Dublin Jerome.

THURSDAY,

Dublin Coffman Beats Olentangy Liberty | Pickerington North Defeats Watterson

The rain was somewhat disruptive last night depending on whether your match was under a rain cloud. There were 27 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 10, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The were a large number of close, 3-2 matches. They included: Hilliard Bradley defeated Pickerington Central; Hillsboro beat Blanchester; Westlake defeated Laurel; Dublin Coffman beat Olentangy Liberty; Mason-B defeated Springboro; Bexley beat Gahanna; Hamilton defeated Middletown; Pickerington North beat Watterson; Hamilton defeated Northwest; Perrysburg beat Ottawa Hills; Ross defeated Edgewood; Granville beat Worthington Kilbourne; Western Reserve Academy defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; and Hilliard Darby beat Marysville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Wellington
Wellington - Click to team page

Among the top players, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Watterson's Claire Ghidotti; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Massillon Jackson's Emily Thomas; Westlake's Emily Peeler defeated Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan beat Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Irene Norman defeated Western Reserve Academy's Mackenzie Deeter; Dublin Jerome's Reagan Resor beat Hilliard Davidson’s Ally Woodyard; Ottawa Hills’ Libbey Rhegness defeated Perrysburg’s Emma Carter; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio beat Massillon Jackson's Lindsay Reese; Laurel's Victoria Vasquez defeated Westlake’s Michelich; Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke beat Dublin Coffman’s Katherine Wang;  and Perrysburg’s Gemma Smith defeated Ottawa Hill’s Rowan. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Wellington. They are coached by Rebecca Hinze. They are Team Members. They are led by Isabella Vegas and Neelu Paleti.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Upper Arlington; Hathaway Brown (A) versus Laurel; Norton (A) versus Cloverleaf; Our Lady Of The Elms (H) versus Gilmour Academy; St Joseph Academy (A) versus Mayfield; and Wellington (H) versus Olentangy Orange.

WEDNESDAY,

Watterson Beats Columbus School for Girls | Magnificat Defeats Walsh Jesuit

It was another great night for tennis. There were 42 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 23, Southwest - 15, Northeast - 3, and Northwest - 1. There were not many close, 3-2 matches, but they included: Wyoming defeated Cincinnati Country Day; Miami Valley defeated Carroll; Hartley defeated DeSales; Teays Valley defeated Bloom-Carroll; Eastmoor Academy defeated Ready. Other prominent matches included: Watterson defeated Columbus School for Girls; Solon defeated Shaker Heights; and Magnificat defeated Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Worthington Christian
Worthington Christian - Click to team page
Among the top players, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Hilliard Davidson's Ally Woodyard;  Magnificat’s Alexandra Vesikallio beat Walsh Jesuit’s Paige Carmichael; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal defeated Olentangy Orange's Erin Storrer; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti beat Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell defeated Hilliard Darby's Sydney Bright; Princeton’s Ashley Thomas beat Sycamore’s Sarah Wittenbaum; and Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk defeated Walsh Jesuit’s Gabriella Costantini. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Worthington Christian. They are coached by Stefanie Mayotte.

I had to go out of town for a family emergency on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Somehow, that's put me about two weeks behind. I hope to respond to Feedbacks and emails today. On a positive note, it is now possible to update OTZ from the road.

Tonight's matches include: Dublin Jerome (A) versus Hilliard Davidson; Magnificat (A) versus Massillon Jackson; Perrysburg (H) versus Ottawa Hills; St Joseph Academy (A) versus North Canton Hoover; and Watterson (H) versus Pickerington North.

TUESDAY,

Pickerington North Beats Upper Arlington | Columbus Academy Defeats New Albany

It was another perfect weather tennis night. Things may get dicey tomorrow. There were 34 matches recorded from state-wide play, and there were also numerous close matches. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 14, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 0. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hamilton defeated Fenwick; Delaware Hayes beat Westerville North; West Geauga defeated Hawken; Ursuline Academy beat Turpin; Lakota East defeated St. Ursula Academy; Loveland beat Sycamore-B; Pickerington North defeated Upper Arlington; Western Brown beat Blanchester; Big Walnut defeated Marion Harding; and Milford beat McNicholas. In other prominent matches: Columbus Academy defeated New Albany; Seven Hills defeated Walnut Hills; and Sycamore defeated Chaminade-Julienne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

XXXXX
Pickerington North's Cassie Alcasa - Click to team page
Among the top players, Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Upper Arlington's Evelyn Holman; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher beat Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman defeated Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Walnut Hill’s Lilly O`Toole beat Seven Hills’ Lauren Saggar; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan defeated Dublin Scioto’s Hrunya Ravindran;  Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell beat Olentangy's Kathleen Jones; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman defeated New Albany’s Taylor Selby; and Lakota East’s Clare Holtmeier beat St. Ursula Academy’s Caroline Waddell. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

As soon as I distributed the new OTZ Top Ten Teams Rankings, I just did not feel great about the 8th-Honorable Mention rankings in Division I. Again, part of the problem is that fewer coaches are reporting scores. Look for another list soon.

Matches tonight include: Magnificat (H) versus Walsh Jesuit; Columbus Academy (H) versus Bexley; Columbus School for Girls (A) versus Watterson; Granville (A) versus Worthington Christian; Laurel (A) versus Westlake; Our Lady Of The Elms (H) versus Hathaway Brown; Perrysburg (H) versus Bowling Green; and Norton (A) versus Field.

MONDAY,

OTZ Top Ten Teams | Magnificat Beats Notre Dame Academy

It has been almost a month since the last OTZ Top Ten Teams ranking. Another ranking list is posted today. There are four schools which are significantly stronger than the rest. They are: Hathaway Brown, Mason, Magnificat, and Indian Hill, and Hathaway Brown is an order of magnitude better than the other three. While it is clear who the leaders are in Division I in the Northeast and Southwest, it is completely unclear who the leader is in the Central District. It is a toss-up between Dublin Jerome, Pickerington North, Dublin Coffman, and Upper Arlington. Pickerington North plays UA tonight.

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
September 12, 2016
Division IDivision II
1. Mason ◄TEAMHathaway Brown ◄TEAM
2. Magnificat ◄TEAMIndian Hill ◄TEAM
3. Dublin Jerome ◄TEAMColumbus Academy ◄TEAM
4. Ursuline Academy ◄TEAMOrange
5. Pickerington NorthLaurel ◄TEAM
6. Dublin Coffman ◄TEAMColumbus School For Girls ◄TEAM
7. Upper Arlington ◄TEAMSeven Hills
8. SycamoreChaminade-Julienne
9. St. Joseph Academy Toledo Central Catholic
10. Walsh JesuitSummit Country Day
Hon. Men.: North Canton Hoover, Olentangy Liberty ◄TEAM, Perrysburg, Springboro  
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership
The Matrix Report is the best way to compare team performance. It is a premium report so sign-in first to view. Note that it is also important to see what line-ups were used in key matches. Also note that many schools in the Northeast are no longer reporting scores so it is difficult to make comparisons this year.

There were two matches reported yesterday which took place on Saturday. Magnificat defeated Notre Dame Academy and Toledo St. Ursula Academy. Click to view the performance graphs at Previous Day Match Results.

Among the top players, Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Notre Dame Academy's Bella Yajzi and Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat St. Ursula Academy’s Gracie Almester. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Tonight's matches include: Upper Arlington (H) versus Pickerington North; St Joseph Academy (H) versus Magnificat; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Dublin Scioto; Columbus Academy (A) versus New Albany; Norton (H) versus Crestwood; Watterson (H) versus Wellington; and Worthington Christian (H) versus Bloom-Carroll.

SUNDAY,

Hathaway Brown > Dublin Jerome > Hudson

When there wasn't torrential rain, there was tennis. There were four dual match results and one tournament entered for yesterday. They were (in order of competitiveness): Laurel defeated Gilmour Academy; Dublin Jerome beat Hudson;   Walsh Jesuit defeated Perrysburg; and Hathaway Brown beat Dublin Jerome.   Click to view the performance graphs at Previous Day Match Results.

Gahanna won the Reynoldsburg Doubles Tournament. Watkins Memorial was second.

Sarina Xie
Thomas Worthington - Click for team page
Among the top players, Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov and Hudson's Molly Sandberg defeated Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal; Gilmour Academy's Claudia Althans defeated Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky; Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch beat Dublin Jerome's Erin Zhao; and Gilmour Academy's Carly Cohen defeated Laurel's Victoria Vasquez. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Thomas Worthington. They are coached by Andrew Sinclair.

Watch for updated OTZ Top Ten Teams lists tonight (which likely means tomorrow).

SATURDAY,

Mason Beats Sycamore

The Mason versus Archbishop Moeller [had incorrectly stated Colerain earlier] football game was postponed because of a bomb threat, but the tennis match between Mason and Sycamore was played at Sycamore. There were seven matches recorded from state-wide play. They were (in order of competitiveness): Willoughby South defeated Brush; Olentangy Liberty beat OlentangyMason defeated Sycamore; Magnificat beat Solon;  Seven Hills defeated Tippecanoe; DeSales beat Ready; and Mariemont defeated Northwest. Click to view the performance graphs at Previous Day Match Results.

Sarina Xie
Thomas Worthington's Xie - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Ananya Aggarwal defeated Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Anna Roggenburk beat Solon's Maggie Yang; Kathleen Jones defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; and Alexandra Vesikallio beat Solon's Alexis Ratner. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Matches today include: Magnificat versus Notre Dame Academy and St. Ursula Academy; and Perrysburg versus Walsh Jesuit.

FRIDAY,

Dublin Coffman Beats Upper Arlington | CCD Defeats SCD

Rain hampered play in parts of the state. There were 36 matches recorded state-wide and the breakdowns by Districts were: Central - 18, Southwest - 16, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: CCD defeated SCD in the battle of the acronyms; Goshen beat Little Miami; St. Ursula Academy-B defeated Anderson; Dublin Coffman beat Upper Arlington; Eastmoor Academy defeated Hamilton Township; Turpin beat Seven Hills; and Central Crossing defeated Westland. There were several internal suburb squabbles: Hilliard Bradley defeated Hilliard Darby; Dublin Jerome defeated Dublin Scioto; Thomas Worthington defeated Worthington Kilbourne; and Westerville Central defeated Westerville South. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Hilliard Davidson
Hilliard Davidson - Click to go to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Ananya Aggarwal defeated Princeton’s Ashley Thomas; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan beat Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal defeated Dublin Scioto's Hrunya Ravindran; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher beat Seven Hills' Lauren Saggar; Summit Country Day’s Kathyrn Adam defeated Cincinnati Country Day’s Mia Masterson; Pickerington Central’s Maddie Bechert beat Gahanna’s Kristen Zink; and Dublin Coffman’s Katherine Wang defeated Upper Arlington’s Upper Arlington's Evelyn Holman.

Today's featured team is Hilliard Davidson. They are coached by Steve DeDent. They are led by Grace Wilson and Ally Woodyard. Hilliard Davidson is a Team Member.

The bigger than huge match tonight is Mason versus Sycamore in the OTCA Tournament. Other matches include: Laurel (A) versus Gilmour Academy and Magnificat (H) versus Solon.

THURSDAY,

Dublin Coffman Beats Chaminade-Julienne | Jerome Defeats Pick Central

It was another busy night, plus we are now starting to see some engagement from the Cleveland-area coaches. Maybe the tennis players (and their parents, aunt, uncles, and grandparents) like seeing their names in the newspaper just like the football players after all? There were 43 matches recorded from state-wide play. The Southwest District led the way with 21 matches. Central was second with 16, the Northeast had 5, and the Northwest - 1.

Dual Tennis Matches Reported (Girls)
District 2014 (full year) 2016 (partial year) % of 2014
Central 457 224 49%
Northeast 351 70 20%
Southwest 372 204 55%

Looking at the number of dual matches reported from a more historical perspective (see table to the right), Northeast Ohio is waaay off the pace from 2014. Central has typically led the way in the number of scores reported via the Columbus Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer's Southwest scores were second. Now the Southwest is growing because more schools from the Dayton area are reporting scores directly into OTZ. Based on 2014 scores, Ohio girls tennis is roughly half way done with the season, but Northeast Ohio has only reported 20% of its scores. C'mon Northeast coaches, you can do it, and the kids and parents expect and deserve to see their names in the Plain Dealer.

The close, 3-2 matches included: St. Ursula Academy defeated Sycamore; Blanchester beat Western Brown; Turpin defeated Miamisburg; Whetstone beat Grove City; Olentangy Orange defeated Watterson; Anderson beat Seton; Dublin Coffman defeated Chaminade-Julienne; Geneva beat Hawken; Cincinnati Country Day defeated McNicholas; and Walnut Hills beat Lakota West. In OTCA matches, Dublin Jerome defeated Pickerington Central and Ursuline Academy beat Beavercreek. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Mason
Mason Tennis - Click to go to team page
Among the Top Players, Carroll's Jillian Milano defeated Seven Hills' Lauren Saggar; Mason's Ananya Aggarwal defeated Oak Hills' Sydney Jones; Chaminade-Julienne's Kelly Pleiman defeated Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated Miamisburg's Carly Sickinger; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal defeated Pickerington Central's Maddie Bechert; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Hilliard Bradley's Kristina Slyh; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer defeated Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti defeated Olentangy Orange's Kortney Reed; Archbishop Alter's Amanda Showalter defeated Centerville's Ashley Amiri; and Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn defeated Wyoming's Anya Kirsch, and St. Ursula Academy's Caroline Waddell beat Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Mason. They are coached by Mike Reid. They are led by Ananya Aggarwal and Amanda Huser. Mason is a Team Member.

There are some good match-ups tonight. In the "Which Columbus-area suburb is better in every way?" contest, it's Dublin Coffman (A) versus Upper Arlington. In the battle between Olentangy's, Olentangy Original  (A) plays Olentangy Liberty. The Worthington's play in Thomas Worthington (H) versus Worthington Kilbourne. Other matches include: New Albany (H) versus Columbus Academy; Norton (A) versus Field; Perrysburg (A) versus Anthony Wayne; and Reynoldsburg (H) versus Lancaster.

WEDNESDAY,

Indian Hill Beats Sycamore | Laurel Defeats Hudson

Just when we thought that the hot weather was over... There were 46 matches recorded from state-wide play. The Central District led the way with 23 matches, followed by Southwest with 14, Northeast with seven, and Northwest with two. Not that I'm happy about this, but there are now more Northeast scores coming via the OTZ Coach score input system for viewing on OhioTennisZone than what is in the Plain Dealer. The good news is that coaches now have an alternative to recognize their teams and players, but the bad news is that these scores are not viewed by a wider (but perhaps less interested) audience. (Many coaches have shunned the Plain Dealer because their score entry system is difficult to use.) The OTZ coach input system provides the Columbus Dispatch with about half of their scores. If anyone knows anyone at the Plain Dealer, OTZ is open to assisting them as well.

Laurel
Laurel Tennis - Click to go to team page
The close, 3-2 matches included: Parma defeated John Marshall; Brush beat Madison; Laurel defeated Hudson; Mount Notre Dame beat Seven Hills; New Richmond defeated Taylor; Whetstone beat DeSales; Dublin Scioto defeated Hilliard Bradley; Gahanna beat Lancaster; Olentangy Orange defeated Olentangy; and Bexley beat Wellington. In other significant matches, Indian Hill defeated Sycamore and Magnificat beat Western Reserve Academy. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Among the Top Players, Hudson's Molly Sandberg defeated Laurel's Rachel Buchinsky; Mount Notre Dame’s Kelli Niehaus beat Seven Hills’ Lauren Saggar; Turpin's Caitlin Fisher defeated Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole; Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch beat Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Western Reserve Academy's Mackenzie Deeter; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones beat Olentangy Orange's Erin Storrer; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer defeated Westerville Central’s Nicole Cardwell; Milford's Amanda Reinhart beat Mason-B's Prachi Lele; Indian Hill’s Morgan Coburn defeated Sycamore’s Harsitha Kalaiarasan; and Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Western Reserve Academy’s Alicia Ma.

Today's featured team is Laurel. They are coached by Walt Oden. They are led by Rachel Buchinsky and Victoria Vasquez. Laurel is a Team Member.

Tonight's matches include: Perrysburg (H) versus Notre Dame Academy; Watterson (A) versus Olentangy Orange; Hilliard Davidson (H) versus DeSales; Laurel (A) versus Poland Seminary; and Columbus Academy (A) versus Granville.

TUESDAY,

OhioTennisZone College Report

The OTZ College Report has been updated to include the new college freshmen. This report lists the Ohio players who competed in Ohio high school tennis and are now playing collegiately. Click away to follow their college careers.

OTZ College Report
College Report - Click to view
There were 17 freshmen added to the report this year and they are the second largest class. Sophomores have the most players with 26, followed by the juniors with 15 and seniors with 11.

New Albany High School has the largest number of players competing in college with eight, followed by Sycamore and Upper Arlington with five. Dublin Jerome, Mason, and St. John's Jesuit have four each.

The colleges with the most players are: Ohio State with six, Case Western and Denison with five, and Xavier with three.

There are 36 women and 33 men competing.

All of the players in the report now include their high school tennis Player Profile photos. There are also many players with OTZ action photos. Just sign-in first and then click on the camera graphic to view them.

Readers will also notice the Elysium Tennis and Olympic Indoor logos beside numerous players. Elysium and Olympic are both valued OhioTennisZone sponsors/advertisers and these logos indicate where these college players received their training as juniors. If you are a regular reader of this web site and your son or daughter is considering tennis, please always check with these clubs first. They support high school tennis via this web site.

If you are located in central Ohio, OhioTennisZone created a "Consumer Reports"-like club comparison to help readers review each club's attributes. These attributes are based on the needs of high school / junior players.

Most of the college players from Ohio were OhioTennisZone.com individual or team members. Those who were not, are not included in this report. If this report does not include your college player and you were/are a subscriber to OhioTennisZone, please submit a Feedback.

After following these kids throughout their high school years, it is fun to follow their progress in college. This report will make it easier to do so.

Now that Labor Day has passed, the girls tennis season can finally get really serious. Matches tonight include: Laurel (A) versus Hudson; DeSales (A) versus Whetstone; Olentangy Liberty (A) versus Westerville Central; Perrysburg (H) versus Springfield (Holland); Wellington (H) versus Bexley; Norton (A) versus Woodridge; and Columbus School for Girls (H) versus Granville.

SUNDAY,

US Open Juniors

There were no Ohio high school school tennis matches reported from yesterday, but there is still plenty of tennis action taking place in New York City for the US Open. There are four US Open Junior players from Ohio. They are: John and Caty McNally (Cincinnati), JJ Wolf (previously from Cincinnati Country Day), and Alexandra Sanford (previously from Olentangy Orange). John McNally is seeded 10th and Sanford is seeded 16th. Northeast Ohio's Dalayna Hewitt was beaten in a 3-setter in the final round of the Qualifiers.

Grandview Heights 2012
JJ Wolf - Click to enlarge

TennisRecruiting.net uses a forecasting model to predict the chance of a player reaching the next round. Click to view how the Ohio Boys and Girls will perform. (For Girls, click on Girls' Singles tab.)

To follow the action online, click to view the Boys and Girls US Open Junior draws.

Now that many of the colleges have updated their web sites, it is time for OTZ to update the College page. This is a difficult page to update because many schools completely change their web sites each year. Since it is so time-consuming, OTZ only includes those players who were paying OTZ members while they were in high school. Contact OTZ via Feedback if your player is not included on this page.

Is there a match that your daughter or team has played that is not included online on OTZ? Today and tomorrow are great catch-up days for OTZ. This is also a perfect opportunity for coaches to try OTZ's score reporting tool.

OTZ is unaware of any matches or tournaments scheduled for today.

SATURDAY,

Olentangy Liberty Beats Westerville North

Activity was light yesterday now that high school football is in full gear. Matches yesterday included: St. Ursula Academy-B defeated Taylor; Mason-B beat Walnut Hills; Olentangy Liberty defeated Westerville North; Mount Notre Dame beat Seton; and Medina defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Grandview Heights 2012
Westerville North - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus defeated Seton’s Schaelle and Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke beat Westerville North’s Hailee Sens. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Westerville North. They are coached by Robert Carlson.

An Alliance, Ohio engineering firm, Morgan Kinetic Structures, designed the US Open stadium roof. Click to read this Wall Street Journal article about the roof and their design engineer, Mark Sharamitaro.

OTZ is unaware of any dual matches or tournaments scheduled for today.

FRIDAY,

Mason Beats Sycamore | Price for OTZ Going-up

It was a beautiful night for tennis. There were 39 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 19, Southwest - 14, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Bexley defeated Worthington Christian; Fairfield beat Oak Hills; Watkins Memorial defeated Granville; Mason-B beat Sycamore-B; St. Joseph Academy defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; McNicholas beat Badin; Willoughby South defeated Beaumont; and Harrison beat Edgewood. In league play, Mason defeated Sycamore.

Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report. Note that the detailed, box scores in this report goes back behind the paywall today. To continue reading it, join OTZ.

Grandview Heights 2012
Hilliard Davidson's Grace Wilson - Click to enlarge
The cost for an OhioTennisZone membership will soon be going up so jump on board now to take advantage of the current price. They are currently: $20.95 for an individual membership, $29.95 for a coach membership, and $99 for a team membership. Many times when people or teams join, it is necessary for OTZ to add match scores that were excluded from the newspaper from earlier in the season. This is a painful process so I would rather get this out of the way now, rather than later. For those of you who signed up early in the season - thanks! To sign-up for OhioTennisZone, click here. Using PayPal is a great way to sign-up quickly. Operator is standing by...

Among the top players, Mason's Ananya Aggarwal defeated Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Laurel’s Rachel Buchinsky beat Western Reserve Academy’s MacKenzie Deeter; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated Wellington's Isabella Vegas; Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster beat St. Ursula Academy’s Caroline Waddell; Dublin Scioto’s Ravindran defeated Thomas Worthington’s Sarina Xie; Springboro’s Patel beat Turpin’s Caitlin Fisher; and Mason's Sanjana Reddy defeated Sycamore’s Harsitha Kalaiarasan. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

It looks like it will be a quiet tennis night with the upcoming holiday weekend.

THURSDAY,

Updated OTZ News Page | Perrysburg Beats Toledo St. Ursula

Rain impacted numerous matches yesterday. Only 18 matches were recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 8, Southwest - 7, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Canal Winchester beat Grandview; Centerville defeated Troy; New Richmond beat Goshen; and Perrysburg defeated Toledo St. Ursula Academy. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

OTZ Articles
OhioTennisZone Articles - Click for news

Among the top players, Toledo St. Ursula Academy’s Gracie Almester defeated Perrysburg’s Emma Carter; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn beat Summit Country Day’s Caroline Bristow; Centerville's Ashley Amiri defeated Troy’s Hannah Essick; Toledo St. Ursula Academy’s beat Perrysburg’s Gemma Smith; and Hilliard Davidson's Grace Wilson defeated Hilliard Bradley’s Sydney Bright. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OhioTennisZone looks for tennis season "kick-off" articles from around the state to link to from OTZ. These articles provide a quick overview of how teams are expected to do and typically include quotes from coaches. These articles are now included in "team pages" and they are also accumulated in the Ohio High School Tennis Articles page. Also included on this page is the popular, Behind the Scenes at OhioTennisZone.com, written in early April, and OTZ interviews with several of the top senior boys from last season. (OTZ is still trying to decide if it is sufficiently "caught up" to write articles about the top senior Ohio girls.)

Matches tonight include: Wellington (H) versus Columbus School For Girls; Norton (H) versus Ravenna; Bexley (A) versus Worthington Christian;  Laurel (A) versus Western Reserve Academy; Perrysburg (A) versus Sylvania Southview; and Thomas Worthington (H) versus Dublin Scioto.

WEDNESDAY,

Seven Hills Beats Summit Country Day

Yesterday was the biggest match day of the season with 50 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by district was: Southwest - 24, Central - 22, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - nada. The close, 3-2 matches included: Centerville defeated Bellbrook; Norton beat Cloverleaf; Watkins Memorial defeated Whetstone; Goshen beat Clermont Northeastern; Anderson defeated Milford; Bloom-Carroll beat Hamilton Township; and Seton defeated Mother of Mercy. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Bloom-Carroll
Bloom-Carroll - Click for team page

Among the top players, Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus defeated Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Cloverleaf's Emily Dunbar defeated Norton's Spencer Clark; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman beat Granville's Eleanor Male; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Thomas Worthington's Sarina Xie; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer beat Westerville South's Chloe Myers; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds defeated Hilliard Davidson's Ally Woodyard; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell beat Olentangy Orange's Erin Storrer; Summit Country Day’s Kathryn Adam beat Seven Hills’ Lauren Saggar; Bellbrook’s Andrea Szep defeated Centerville Ashley Amiri; and Walnut Hills’ Lilly O’Toole beat Loveland’s Peyton Geers. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Bloom-Carroll. They are coached by Rick Rowland.

Matches tonight include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Dublin Coffman; Canal Winchester (A) versus Grandview; DeSales (H) versus Buckeye Valley; Hilliard Davidson (H) versus Hilliard Darby; Pickerington Central (H) versus Watterson; Laurel (H) versus Archbishop Hoban; Norton (A) versus Wadsworth; and Perrysburg (H) versus St. Ursula Academy.

TUESDAY,

Bishop Watterson Beats New Albany

Yesterday was a slower tennis day as teams ramp up for more play during the week. Thee were 26 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 9, Northeast - 3; and Northwest -0. The close, 3-2 matches included: Sycamore-B defeated Summit Country Day; Mason-B beat Mount Notre Dame; Delaware Hayes defeated Mount Vernon; Pickerington Central beat Dublin Scioto; Watterson defeated New Albany; Northwest beat Deer Park; and Madeira defeated Badin. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

St. Francis DeSales
St. Francis DeSales - Click for team page
Among the top players, Milford's Amanda Reinhart defeated Seven Hills’ Lauren Sagger; Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal beat Hilliard Bradley's Kristina Slyh; Louisville’s Kayla Pukys defeated St. Joseph Academy’s Hannah Schuette; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti beat New Albany's Taylor Selby; Laurel’s Rachel Buchinsky defeated Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin’s Kate Lee; and Pickerington Central’s Maddie Bechert beat Dublin Scioto’s Hrunya Ravindran. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest Districts.

Today's featured team is Columbus' St. Francis DeSales. They are coached by Tom Snyder.

Matches tonight include: Columbus School for Girls (H) versus DeSales; Hilliard Davidson (H) versus Upper Arlington; Pickerington North (A) versus Thomas Worthington; and Norton (H) versus Cloverleaf.

MONDAY,

Graphs Tutorial | Top Players

Graphs graphs graphs Graphs GRAPHS. Graphs are good. OTZ likes graphs. There are always new OTZ readers coming on board so it is worthwhile to dig out an old(er) document that provides insight on how to best understand the Previous Day Match Results report and graphs within the team reports. Coaches will find it helpful to size up opposing teams, and parents can use the document to better understand why their daughter is playing on a specific court. The challenge for OTZ is when a player on court two is being considered for the Top Players / Watch list, but the player on court 1 is not.. If you think a team is not playing their line-up in the correct order, always feel free to submit a Feedback to share your thoughts.

Click to read the How-to for OTZ Graphs.

Graphs Tutorial
Graphs Tutorial - Click to read

Several players were added to the Top Players list. They are: Mason's Ananya Aggarwal, Hathaway Brown's Nicole Gillinov, Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch, and Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala. Again, this is a gradual process. Players gradually move up and down a few spots on these lists each week. Some players are on their way up and others are starting to descend. Unfortunately, girls who play courts 2 and 3 are at a disadvantage to the court 1 players on these lists because they do not get as many competitive matches with other high level players. Click to view the Top Players and Watch Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

It is also important to note that there is limited amount of information on some players because their coaches do not take the time to submit their results into the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Some teams always get their results into that paper, others do not. If you have any questions, contact your coach and/or your athletic director.

There are several conference changes that need to be made. In fact, since it is Monday, then that means that the Ohio Capital Conference has changed the divisions of its various teams.. One system on which OTZ relies, the OHSAA School Directory is out of commission as they incorporate their new ArbiterLIVE system. It is not a good time of the year to not have the School Directory available.

Matches tonight include: Watterson (H) versus New Albany; Bexley (H) versus Olentangy; Big Walnut (A) versus Worthington Christian; DeSales (A) versus Central Crossing; Norton (H) versus Southeast; Ready (H) versus Jonathan Alder; Wellington (A) versus Hartley; and Whetstone (H) versus Hilliard Darby.

For those who really like graphs and education analysis, the Gerber Analytics is the only web site in the solar system where readers can analyze private and public school academy performance based on the Ohio Graduation Test results. Click to read more about your school, the Top Academic Schools in the State (top ranked school - St. Charles Preparatory), and a Comparison of the Largest Metro School Districts (Cincinnati is best - by far - thanks to Walnut Hills). Note that this information was not updated last year because the state did not release the data in a timely manner. Questions? Submit a Feedback.

SUNDAY,

Mason Beats New Albany and Olentangy Liberty

There were several great dual matchups yesterday and numerous tournaments. In tournament play, Hathaway Brown won the Canfield Doubles Tournament, Columbus Academy won the Chaminade-Julienne Invite, and Whetstone won the Grandview Tournament.

In the dual matches, OTZ #8 Sycamore defeated OTZ #7 Dublin Coffman; Turpin beat Walnut Hills; OTZ #9 Perrysburg defeated Lexington; and OTZ #1 Mason beat New Albany and OTZ #6 Olentangy Liberty. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Ellie MacDowell
Liberty's Ellie MacDowell - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Mason's Ananya Aggarwal defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan beat Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Lexington's Sylvia Goldsmith defeated Perrysburg's Emma Carter; Mason's Amanda Huser beat Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; and Perrysburg's Gemma Smith defeated Lexington’s Mueller. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Conditions were great for taking photos yesterday at New Albany. There are several things on the to-do list and posting more photos online is one of them.

SATURDAY,

Sycamore Defeats Olentangy Liberty | Coffman Beats CSG

The stormy weather in southwest Ohio was a problem for many football teams but several tennis teams were able to complete their matches. Today's weather could be severe in northern Ohio, but the weather looks ok for the Canfield Doubles Tournament.

In one of the closest matches recorded, Sycamore defeated Olentangy Liberty, 3-2, in a match that included four, 3-setters. Sycamore is eighth and Liberty is sixth on the OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten. Other matches included: Oak Hills beat Springfield; Dublin Coffman defeated Columbus School for Girls; Goshen beat Norwood; Wyoming defeated St. Ursula Academy-B; and Norton beat Crestwood. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

It is still premature to update the OTZ Top Ten teams lists (see right navigation bar) because several teams have not yet played competitive matches.

JJ Wolf
JJ Wolf - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan defeated Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer beat Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; and Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke defeated Sycamore’s Harsitha Kalaiarasan. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Two Cincinnati juniors, John McNally (see photo) and JJ Wolf, are in the main draw of the US Open Doubles Tournament. They obtained this honor by winning the USTA B18 National Championships doubles tournament in Kalamazoo. JJ Wolf played high school tennis for Cincinnati Country Day his freshman year prior to moving on to high-level national and international tournaments. Click to read this Cincinnati Enquirer article by Adam Turer. The above OTZ photos were taken in Kalamazoo.

I will be at the New Albany versus Mason and Olentangy Liberty versus Mason matches today at the New Albany courts. The New Albany and Columbus School for Girls courts are the best Columbus-area courts to take photos. Contact me if you are interested in getting a picture of your daughter. Other matches today include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Sycamore and Perrysburg (H) versus Lexington.

FRIDAY,

Pickerington North Beats Pickerington Central

It was another brutally hot day yesterday. Out of the 38 matches recorded from statewide play, there were very few really competitive matches. The close, 3-2 matches included: Grandview defeated Hartley; Granville beat Bloom-Carroll; Pickerington North defeated Pickerington Central; Our Lady of the Elms beat Hawken; and Ross defeated Harrison. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Bishop Ready
Bishop Ready Tennis Team - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Carroll's Jillian Milano defeated Archbishop Alter's Amanda Showalter; Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch beat Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole; Mason’s Ananya Aggarwal defeated Lakota East’s Clare Holtmeier; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer beat Olentangy Orange's Erin Storrer; Gilmour Academy’s Claudia Althans defeated Laurel’s Rachel Buchinsky; Seven Hill’s Lauren Saggar beat Cincinnati Country Day’s Mia Masterson; and Columbus Academy’s Georgia Tuckerman defeated Worthington Christian’s Amanda Mayotte. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. The Top Players can share all of their match results with others (i.e. fans, college coaches, and relatives) by becoming OhioTennisZone members. Click to Sign-up.

Today's featured team of the day is Bishop Ready. Their coach is Dan Skuce.

The OTCA Draws are constantly being updated. Submit a Feedback if a recent match is not included.

Friday night football begins in earnest tonight so that starts to reduce the number of Friday night matches since many of the kids enjoy going to the games. Tonight's matches include: Columbus School for Girls (H) versus Dublin Coffman and Olentangy Liberty versus Sycamore.

THURSDAY,

Mason Beats Indian Hill

There were numerous exciting matches throughout the state. The headliner was OTZ D1 #1 Mason beating OTZ D2 #2 Indian Hill by the score of 3-2. That match included three 3-setters. In Columbus Academy's 3-2 win over Olentangy Orange, there were four 3-setters. Other 3-2 contests included: Mount Vernon defeated Reynoldsburg; Jonathan Alder beat Hilliard Darby; Walnut Hills defeated Princeton; Green beat Solon; Ross defeated Taylor; Teays Valley beat Newark; Bloom-Carroll defeated Grandview; Talawanda beat Hamilton; and Northwest defeated Finneytown. In another prominent match, Pickerington North defeated Columbus School for Girls. Overall, there were 40 matches recorded and the breakdown by District was: Southwest - 16, Central - 14, and Northeast - 6. As for Northwest Ohio, Marco? Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Among the top players, Mason's Ananya Aggarwal defeated Indian Hill’s Gracey Hirsch; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala beat Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison; Princeton's Emily Thomas defeated Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman beat Olentangy Orange's Erin Storrer; Milford's Amanda Reinhart defeated Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole; Mount Notre Dame's Kelli Niehaus beat Miamisburg's Carly Sickinger; Solon’s Maggie Yang defeated Green’s Maria Zivick; St. Joseph Academy’s Hannah Schuette beat Strongsville’s Paige Meyers; Indian Hill's Morgan Coburn defeated Mason's Amanda Huser; and Indian Hill’s Haley Hirsch beat Mason’s Sanjana Reddy. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Weird stuff happens on the Grandstand Court of the Lindner Family Tennis Center (home of W&S Open). During the "spin for serve" ritual between Carroll's Jillian Milano and McNicholas' Kay Daly at Districts last fall, the racquet spun and then landed on its side. Of course, I was bathing in the grease of a great Mr. McNasty sandwich so I had my camera safely tucked away. Just as I thought about grabbing the camera (about 10 second later), the racquet fell flat. Last Thursday, something equally strange happened. I'm taking photos of Angelic Kerber and I get a good photo of Kerber which I post on Twitter. See below.

Then, about a day later, Tennis.com posts a photo that is almost identical mine, but cropped differently. See Tweet.

My first thought was that someone stole my photo, photoshopped the background, and cropped it differently. (There is $10,000 fine to take a copyrighted photo). As I looked closely at the photo (mainly the arm band), I noticed differences which would have been difficult for anyone to "photoshop". What happened? The Tennis.com photographer and I must have been in the photo blind together and shot the photo at virtually the same instant. My photo of Kerber with the same cropping as Tennis.com is shown on the right. Not sure what the odds would be of this happening again, but I am going to spend more time on the grandstand court...

Speaking of photos, you do not have to be a pro and play in the Western & Southern Open to get an OTZ photo. Pro-level tennis photography is just a click away. If you like your daughter (most of the time) and she likes tennis, it only makes sense that you get a great photo of her playing tennis. Of course, you could hire and spend a gazillion dollars to get the photographer who takes your daughter's senior photos to come to the tennis courts, but it would be far better to spend three quarters of a gazillion dollars to get a photographer who does this all of the time at some of the nation's most prestigious tennis venues, including the USTA Boys National Championship, NCAA D1 tournaments, NCAA D3 National Championships, Pro Challenger Series, and of course, the Western & Southern Open. Just send a Feedback to request that I take your daughter's photo.

It is rivalry night with Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Pickerington North (H) versus Pickerington Central; and Westerville North (A) versus Westerville Central. Who will win in tennis and who has the nicest uniforms and parents?

WEDNESDAY,

Magnificat Defeats Orange | Pickerington North Beats Dublin Coffman

It was a busy night for tennis. The most matches of the season were played with 41 recorded from statewide play. The breakdown by District was Central - 21, Southwest - 15, and Northeast - 5. The close, 3-2 matches included: Turpin defeated Loveland; Jonathan Alder beat Marion Harding; Miamisburg defeated Centerville; Pickerington North beat Dublin Coffman; Granville defeated DeSales; Summit Country Day beat Cincinnati Country Day; and Magnificat defeated Orange. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Dublin Coffman
Olentangy - Click to team page

Among the top players, Orange's Alissa Nakamoto defeated Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones beat Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds; Orange's Alissa Nakamoto defeated Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones beat Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Miamisburg's Carley Sickinger beat Centerville's Ashley Amiri; Seven Hills’ Lauren Saggar defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy Anna Abunku; and Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Oranges’ Anjali Kashyap. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Olentangy. They are coached by Jeff Luxenburger. They are led by junior, Kathleen Jones.

Matches tonight include: Pickerington North (H) versus Columbus School For Girls; Columbus Academy (A) versus Olentangy Orange; Watkins Memorial (H) versus Canal Winchester; Westerville North (A) versus Ready; Bexley (H) versus Granville; and Bloom-Carroll (A) versus Grandview.

OTZ will be at the Westerville North versus Ready match. If you would like an OTZ action photo of your daughter from that match, please submit a Feedback.

TUESDAY,

Dublin Jerome Defeats Watterson in OTCA Play

There was more nice weather yesterday. There were 30 matches recorded and the breakdown by District was: Central - 14, Southwest - 13, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Lancaster defeated Watkins Memorial; Taylor beat Hamilton; Chardon defeated Willoughby South; Dublin Scioto beat Wellington; Granville defeated Big Walnut; Logan Elm beat Chillicothe; and Dublin Jerome defeated Watterson. The Lancaster match included two 3-setters, and Lancaster won 56 games while Watkins Memorial won 55 games - so yes - it was a close match. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Dublin Coffman
Dublin Coffman - Click to team page

Among the top players, Indian Hill's Gracey Hirsch defeated Turpin's Caitlin Fisher; Mount Notre Dame’s Kelli Niehaus beat Milford’s Amanda Reinhardt; Mason's Amanda Huser defeated St. Ursula Academy's Caroline Waddell; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti beat Dublin Jerome's Emily Neal; Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Hilliard Davidson's Grace Wilson; and Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster beat Centerville's Ashley Amiri. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Dublin Coffman. They are coached by Brett Hundertpfund. Hundertpfund is a Lexington high school tennis grad and a lethal badmitten player. Coffman's top two singles players are Nethra Thenappan and Katherine Wang. Dublin Coffman is an OTZ Team Member.

The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Columbus Dispatch's ThisWeekNews have prepared season kickoff articles on dozens of teams. Links to those articles will be available later today.

OhioTennisZone encountered system slowdowns yesterday. I spent quite a bit of time on the telephone with GoDaddy last night to try and figure out what the problem was. Please submit a Feedback if you encounter issues.

Matches tonight include: Pickerington North (H) versus Dublin Coffman; Worthington Christian (H) versus Grandview; Dublin Jerome (A) versus Thomas Worthington; Hilliard Davidson (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Westerville North (H) versus Marysville; and DeSales (A) versus Granville.

MONDAY,

More Schedules Added | Top Players & Watch Lists Updated

The fall weather is slowly starting to arrive. Hopefully this week will be full of happy sunshine and less humidity.

Francesca Di Lorenzo
OSU's Francesca Di Lorenzo - Click to enlarge

There was one more tournament reported from the weekend. Massillon Jackson won the St. Joseph Academy Invitational. Hudson was second.

The Top Players and Watch Lists were updated yesterday. This is a s-l-o-w process -- by design. The goal is to have the players where they should be on the lists by the time the Sectional draws take place on September 25 at 2pm. There were a few players added to the Watch Lists but no new players were added to the Top Players List. Note that many teams have not yet even played a match. A new ranking list will be sent to TennisRecruiting.net in about another week. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There are likely a few players who would be positioned differently on these lists if more high school results were included for them. OTZ already pays for subscriptions to three newspapers (Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Cincinnati Enquirer) for results and it works out well if your coach submits results to one of these newspapers. Schools outside of the coverage of these newspapers may still submit results via their coaches if the coach becomes an OTZ Coach Member. In some cases, OTZ also permits parents to submit scores for their daughters. Click to sign-up.

For those who are not weeks behind with homework yet, it might be time to find a new way to procrastinate. Twitter will be able to help. OhioTennisZone is online on Twitter with the handle of @OhioTennisZone. There is no "over tweeting" with point by point updates of first set tiebreaks. I probably average two a day during the season and 2-3 a week during the off-season. Readers will find a few more photos, announcements, and the popular, "Do You Nose Who This Is?", game. This is where OTZ takes a completely worthless and unusable photo and tries to garner some residual value from it. The guys liked this game -- still unsure about the girls. The OTZ Fan Dog contest is coming as well. By "Following" @OhioTennisZone, the tweets will come to you automatically. You do have to get your parents' approval before you get on Twitter. It's the law. (Many parents are also @OhioTennisZone Followers -- thanks kids, for helping them get online.)

There were approximately 450 scheduled matches entered over the weekend. Schedules are added by coaches and by OhioTennisZone. Some are also gathered from ThisWeekNews. Tonight's matches include: Watterson (H) versus Thomas Worthington; Granville (H) versus Big Walnut; and Upper Arlington (H) versus Hilliard Bradley.

After a great summer competing in professional matches, New Albany's and Ohio State's Francesca Di Lorenzo was granted a qualifier spot in the US Open. Di Lorenzo will be a sophomore at Ohio State. The above picture was taken at the Lexington ITF.

Coaches are to watch/read the OHSAA Tennis Coaches Online Rules Meeting by Tuesday, August 23 at 11:59pm. I watched it and it is well-done. It takes about 25 minutes. Don't have time? There is no choice. There is a $50 late fee.

SUNDAY,

Olentangy Liberty Wins Watterson Invitational

After a long week of rain in much of Ohio, it appears that things will finally start to dry out. The Western & Southern Open has had 6.5 inches of rain since last Saturday, but forecasts call for a 0% chance of rain in Cincinnati today.

Olentangy Liberty
Olentangy Liberty - Click to enlarge
Yesterday was largely a tournament day. Olentangy Liberty won the Bishop Watterson Invitational. There was a 3-way tie for second with Columbus Schools for Girls, Columbus Academy, and Dublin Coffman. Watkins Memorial led the way in the Licking County Championships and Granville was runner-up. Turpin won the Cincinnati Country Day Invitational and Walnut Hills as runner-up. Walsh Jesuit won the Pickerington Central Double Invitational with Ursuline Academy finishing second. Logon Elm won its own invitational and Athens was the runner-up.

In dual match contests, Oak Hills defeated Seton and Lancaster beat Whetstone. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results report.

Among the top players, Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison, Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman, and Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan to win Flight A of the Watterson Invite. Turpin's Caitlin Fisher beat Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole to finish first in the CCD tournament. In other matches, Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan defeated Watterson's Claire Ghidotti and New Albany’s Taylor Selby; Columbus Academy's Georgia Tuckerman defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer, and was leading New Albany’s Taylor Selby before the rain out. The Top Players and Watch Lists will be updated later today (honest).

Today's featured team is Olentangy Liberty. They are coached by Will Thieman. Liberty's top two singles players are Alexis Steer and Sidney Reineke. Liberty is an OhioTennisZone.com Team Member.

SATURDAY,

Ursuline Academy Beats Dublin Coffman

With the Watterson Invitational starting in a few minutes, this is a quick update. There were 12 matches recorded from yesterday. The close, 3-2 matches included: St. Joseph Academy defeated Avon Lake; Ursuline Academy beat Dublin Coffman; and Watterson defeated Notre Dame Academy. In OTCA Tournament play, Sycamore defeated Loveland and Olentangy beat Grove City. Click to view the improved Previous Day Match Results report.

Garbine Muguruza
At the W&S Open - Click to enlarge

Matches among the top players included: Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan defeated Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Watterson's Claire Ghidotti beat Notre Dame Academy's Bella Yajzi; St. Joseph’s Hannah Schuette defeated Avon Lake’s Hope Wilhelm; and Pickerington Central’s Maddie Bechert beat St. Ursula Academy’s Almsester. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Top Players and Watch Lists will be updated later today.

Watterson and Pickerington Central both have tournaments today. Dual matches include: Watkins Memorial (T) versus Granville and Whetstone (A) versus Lancaster.

FRIDAY,

Centerville Beats Lakota East

A late day storm brought more rain to the Western & Southern Open, but most Cincinnati-area matches had already completed. For those counting, the Lindner Family Tennis Center has received 5.88 inches since Saturday. Let's hope the State Girls tournament has better weather.

Last night was the first big night of matches with 35 matches recorded from state-wide play. The number of matches by District were: Southwest - 19, Central - 12, and the Northeast - 4. The close, 3-2 matches included: Thomas Worthington defeated Hilliard Bradley; Taylor beat Harrison; Centerville defeated Lakota East; Wellington beat Worthington Christian; St. Joseph Academy defeated Shaker Heights; Winton Woods beat Northwest; and Princeton defeated Wyoming. Click to view the amazingly improved Previous Day Match Results report.

Western & Southern Open
At the W&S Open Family Fun Area - Click to enlarge

Matches among the top players included: Milford's Amanda Reinhart defeated Turpin's Caitlin Fisher; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds beat Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell; Olentangy's Kathleen Jones defeated Dublin Coffman's Nethra Thenappan; Centerville's Ashley Amiri beat Lakota East’s Claire Holtmeier; Thomas Worthington's Sarina Xie defeated Hilliard Bradley’s Kristina Slyh; Unioto’s Sylvia Gray beat Gray Logan Elm's Jessica Willard; St. Joseph Academy’s Schuette defeated Shaker Heights’ Katrina Cassell; and Worthington Christian’s Julie Byers beat Wellington’s Isabella Vegas.

There have been a few questions about the Top Players and Watch Lists. There are normally about 30 ranked players on the Top Players List by the end of the season. Currently there are only 21 players on the list. The number of players on the unranked Watch Lists vary. Both lists are the same as they were at the end of last year, minus the seniors and players who chose not to play this year. I like to see who is playing on which court before I make many changes to the lists. Players who see their names appear in the "previous paragraph" means they have been duly noticed. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Matches tonight include: Perrysburg (T) versus Pickerington Central; Watkins Memorial (T) versus Granville; and Whetstone (A) versus Lancaster.

THURSDAY,

North Canton Hoover Defeats Olentangy Liberty

Thursday was finally a better weather day and 18 matches were recorded. There were five OTZ Top Ten teams in action. The close, 3-2 matches included: North Canton Hoover defeated Olentangy Liberty; Walnut Hills beat St. Ursula Academy; Lakota East defeated Loveland; Badin beat Madison; Sycamore defeated Miamisburg; and Gahanna beat Hilliard Darby. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results for the details. (More about this report below.)

Perrysburg
Previous Day Match Results - Click to go to report

There were numerous matches among the top players. They included: Pickerington North's Cassie Alcala defeated Olentangy's Kathleen Jones; Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer beat North Canton Hoover’s Alessa Koinoglou; Upper Arlington's Anna Reynolds defeated Lexington's Sylvia Goldsmith; Westerville Central's Nicole Cardwell beat Pickerington Central's Maddie Bechert; Miamisburg's Carley Sickinger defeated Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Walnut Hills' Lilly O`Toole beat St. Ursula Academy's Caroline Waddell; and North Canton Hoover's Hallie Hunt defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

A primary goal of OTZ is to quickly convey tennis information - not generate a large number page views. This is counter to most websites which want their users to mindlessly click page after page (after page) to acquire small pieces of information. For the past two seasons, OTZ has used a modified version of the Previous Day Match Results report to quickly summarize the previous day's matches. This enhanced version is now available to OTZ subscribers. This report allows readers to see the detailed, team match results of all of the reported matches in the state - on one page. Using the North Canton Hoover versus Olentangy Liberty match as an example, readers can quickly review the bar-chart graphic and then see detailed line-ups that each coach used. The big take-a-way from that match is that Alessa Koinoglou and Hallie Hunt are a solid 1-2, and that Hoover has strong doubles teams. Click on the pictures to zoom-in. While this report is for OTZ subscribers, it will be open for everyone to view over the next few days. Also note that numerous day's matches are available. Click to sign-up to OhioTennisZone.com

Updated schedules are slowly coming online. Matches tonight include: Watkins Memorial (A) versus Hartley and Worthington Christian (A) versus Wellington.

WEDNESDAY,

Wet Weather Continues | Magnificat Beats CSG

This weather is really starting to look like the boys season. The problem is that the boys expect this type of weather at the beginning of the season and they schedule accordingly. The girls, however, use this part of their calendar to schedule numerous matches before school starts. There were just a handful of recorded matches yesterday. Granville defeated Canal Winchester; Magnificat beat Columbus School for Girls; Perrysburg defeated Clay; and Hudson beat Lexington. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results for the details.

OhioTennisZone purchases subscriptions to three different newspapers to obtain scores: the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the Columbus Dispatch. To-date, there have been no (nada) scores reported by the Plain Dealer. Are Cleveland-area coaches not reporting scores, has the Plain Dealer stopped including tennis scores, or has the weather been too awful to play? Please enter a Feedback if you know the answer. Every single score is an advertisement for Ohio High School Girls Tennis so it is a big deal to get these results into the newspaper. While OTZ would rather get these scores from the newspapers, submit a Feedback to learn how to get scores directly into OhioTennisZone.com.

Perrysburg
Sycamore's Nathan Zhang - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Columbus School for Girls' Marissa Madison; Perrysburg’s Emma Carter beat Clay's Madison Arquette; Granville’s Eleanor Male defeated Canal Winchester’s Callie Tate; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Columbus School for Girls' Stephanie Presper; and Perrysburg's Gemma Smith defeated Clay’s Gallaher. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Western & Southern Open is the best value in the nation for professional tennis. The high quality of tennis and the low price is just outstanding. One person I spoke with yesterday said that he would rather come to the W&S Open from his home in Phoenix rather than go to Indian Wells (which is only four hours away for him). However, if you are planning to go to the tournament, please be very aware that the parking lot conditions are poor. Most of the parking is on a golf course (or what was a golf course) and it is very muddy. To get in front of the traffic, I ran out of there during the 3:45pm storm while everyone else was bunkered undercover so that my vehicle would have better footing. Plan on delays and park on high(er) ground. At some point, I would think they would have to bus people over from Kings Island. [1:19pm - Shuttles are now available from Kings Island to the Western & Southern Open.]

Updated schedules are slowly coming online. Matches tonight include: Bloom-Carroll (A) versus Central Crossing; Perrysburg (H) versus Maumee Valley Country Day; and Whetstone (H) versus Worthington Kilbourne.

TUESDAY,

Magnificat & Hathaway Brown Beat Ursuline Academy | Mason Defeats Notre Dame Academy

The weather continues to be wet and muggy. There were only 13 matches recorded from yesterday. The closest, 3-2 contests included: Big Walnut defeated Marysville; Newark beat Hamilton Township; Harrison defeated Hamilton; and Thomas Worthington beat Grove City. Matches among the state's best teams included: Magnificat defeated Ursuline Academy; Mason beat Notre Dame Academy; and Hathaway Brown defeated Ursuline Academy. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results for the details.

Perrysburg
Perrysburg - Click to enlarge

Among yesterday's top players, Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch defeated Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk beat Ursuline Academy's Ellie Foster; Mason’s Amanda Huser defeated Toledo Notre Dame’s Bella Yajzi; Perrysburg’s Emma Carter beat Findlay’s Savannah Hosey; Magnificat's Alexandra Vesikallio defeated Ursuline Academy's Gracie Estes; Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky beat Ursuline Academy's Gracie Estes; and Hathaway Brown's Catherine Areklett defeated Ursuline Academy's Rashmi Rege.

The Top Players lists have been updated to some degree. The players from last season have been removed but no new players have yet been added. As always, all new players start on the Watch List. Again, coach input on these lists is great. I will even accept input from parents / players who are not related to that player, but other than that, I'm good. Click to view the Top Players Lists from Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Perrysburg. They are coached by Julie Weider.

Updated schedules are slowly coming online. Matches tonight include: Bloom-Carroll (A) versus Circleville; Perrysburg (H) versus Clay (Oregon); Watkins Memorial (H) versus Wellington; and
Worthington Christian (A) versus London.

MONDAY,

Hathaway Brown Beats Mason

The two best teams in the state, OTZ D2 #1 Hathaway Brown and OTZ D1 #1 Mason, competed in a rare Sunday match yesterday. Hathaway Brown went back to Cleveland with a 5-0 win. The match was played indoors at the Court Yard Sportsplex in West Chester. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results for the details.

Daria Gavrilova
Daria Gavrilova at W&S Open- Click to enlarge

Among yesterday's top players, Hathaway Brown's top-three line-up of Lauren Gillinov, Nicole Gillinov, and Maddie Lynch defeated Mason's Ananya Aggarwal, Amanda Huser, and Sanjana Reddy, respectively.

Yesterday's match is another great reason to like Ohio high school tennis. The best teams go after each other at the beginning of the season. The best coaches don't hide and avoid phone calls, and they don't use the Ohio State Men's Basketball method of padding their schedule with weak, early-season opponents. After what I saw yesterday, both Hathaway Brown and Mason would beat OSU's opponents - in basketball.

Yesterday's high school day at Western & Southern Open was soggy. Today's photo of Daria Gavrilova was taken later in the day after the sun finally appeared for an extended period of time. There are always numerous high school players who volunteer as ballboys/girls. Click to view this photo of Charles Norman, who is an incoming freshman at northeast Ohio's University School.

SUNDAY,

Hathaway Brown & Watkins Memorial Win Dubs Tournaments | Magnificat Beats Sycamore

Despite the impending rain, many teams were able to finish their matches and tournaments. Hathaway Brown won the Columbus School for Girls Doubles Tournament and Watkins Memorial won the Warrior Doubles Classic. There were four dual matches recorded. Loveland defeated Bellbrook; Oak Hills beat Seton; and Mariemont defeated Harrison. In a match between two teams in the OTZ Top Ten, Magnificat defeated Sycamore. Click to view the Previous Day Match Results.

Grandview Heights 2012
Hathaway Brown - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Magnificat's Anna Roggenburk defeated Sycamore's Sarah Wittenbaum; Magnificat’s Alexandra Vesikallio beat Sycamore’s Harsitha Kalaiarasan; and Magnificat’s Olivia Rondini defeated Sycamore’s Kaitlyn Jiang. Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky and Catherine Areklett and Watkins Memorial's Kelli Wright and Madi Burris were Flight A Champions of their respective tournaments. The OTZ Top Players lists are still in work-in-progress mode. They should be updated tonight.

The plan for today is (was?) to go to the Hathaway Brown versus Mason match and then go to the Western & Southern Open High School Day. It is uncertain if the weather will cooperate. More of a concern is parking on the grass at the W&S. If you go, make sure that you park on high ground.

SATURDAY,

OTZ Post Pre-Season Division II Top Ten Teams | Hathaway Brown Beats Olentangy Liberty

And away we go... Matches got underway in hot and humid conditions yesterday. There were 15 matches recorded. The close, 3-2 matches included: Marion Harding defeated Marysville; Hilliard Davidson beat Hilliard Bradley; and Worthington Christian defeated DeSales. In a match between Ohio’s top teams, OTZ D2 #1 Hathaway Brown defeated OTZ D1 #6 Olentangy Liberty.

Among the top players, Hathaway Brown's Maddie Lynch defeated Olentangy Liberty's Alexis Steer; Centerville's Ashley Amiri beat Butler’s Madison Peyton; Hilliard Davidson’s Grace Wilson defeated Hilliard Bradley's Kristina Slyh; Worthington Christian’s Julie Byers beat DeSales’ Emily Garrick; Hathaway Brown's Ally Persky defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sidney Reineke; and Hathaway Brown’s Rebecca Wolf beat Olentangy Liberty’s Cellini Ko. The Top Players’ List are still influx and they include last year’s graduates.

Since the season has already started, it is time to list the OTZ Post Pre-Season State Top Ten Girls Teams for Division II. Hathaway Brown is head and shoulders (and a pony tail) above the rest of the state but let's play out the season anyway just to see what happens.

OhioTennisZone.com
Pre-Season State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
August 13, 2016
Division II
1. Hathaway Brown ◄TEAM
2. Indian Hill ◄TEAM
3. Columbus Academy ◄TEAM
4. Orange
5. Chaminade-Julienne
6. Columbus School For Girls◄TEAM
7.Toledo Central Catholic
8. Seven Hills
9. Laurel
10. Summit Country Day
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership
Hathaway Brown returns everyone from their State Championship team from last year and they pick up a strong freshman. Those returning include: 2x State Singles Champion Lauren Gillinov and 2x State Doubles Finalists Ally Persky and Catherine Areklett. Also back are Isabella Daverio, Maddie Lynch, Franny Murray, Megan Qiang, and Rebecca Wolf. Nicole Gillinov will be joining the team as a freshman. Just when it couldn't get any worse for the rest of the state, Elle, OTZ's #1 Tennis Fan Dog is also back. Is it time to switch to a fan cat? Would they win that, too?

Indian Hill is number two. Returning to the team are: Gracey Hirsch, Julia Yingling (who was injured last year), Amalia Guzman, and Sarah and Nina Price. Incoming freshmen include Morgan Coburn and Saskia Gobonya. State Doubles Champions, Caroline Anderson and Meredith Breda, graduated.

At number three, Columbus Academy returns most of their key contributors from last year including: Georgia Tuckerman, Janelle Ghanem, Maddie Tuckerman, Lexis Hughes, Sarah Wexner, Jacinta Crestanello, and Deeksha Bathini. They lost Makela Hughes to graduation.

Orange is number four. Returning players include: Alissa Nakamoto, Anjali Kashyap, and Marcela Mack. Incoming freshman Blessing Nwaozuzu should also be a contributor.

Chaminade-Julienne has a senior-laden team with strong players at number five. They include: Kelly Pleiman, Brianna Douglas, Olivia Boch, and Olivia Hoff.

Columbus School For Girls comes in at number six and they are going to put pressure on Columbus Academy this year in the Central District. They return their core team from last year, including: Marissa Madison, Ally Kennedy, Ella Fronk, Grace Weiler, Rosie Gliatis, Stephanie Presper, and Ayla Kazemi.

At number seven is Toledo Central Catholic. They are going to be a force in the Northwest District (and beyond). They return Maverick Delp, Sophia Spinazze, and Katherine Mattimoe. They pickup incoming freshman Ava McQuillin.

Seven Hills returns an experienced group of players at number eight. Laney and Lauren Saggar return and so do Natalie Choo and Piper Spooner. They lost Nicole Tiao to graduation.

Laurel is back in the top ten at number nine with another Buchinsky. Rachel Buchinsky and Victoria Vasquez will join the team as incoming freshman. They lost Ellen Hata to graduation.

Summit Country Day is number ten. They return Kathryn Adams, Amy Poffenberger, Amalia Nichifor, and Caroline Bristow.

Please send OTZ a Feedback or an email if you are aware of roster changes. Were any teams left-out of the discussion? If so, please state your case in a Feedback message.

FRIDAY,

OTZ Pre-Season Division I Top Ten Teams

It is time (actually past time) for the OTZ Pre-Season Division I Top Ten Teams list. The list was delayed this year as players waited to determine if they were playing high school tennis. Last year, OTZ predicted both the D1 and D2 champions, but the D1 list is more difficult to determine this year. There are two teams that really stand out -- Mason and Magnificat. It is a toss up for many of the other teams, especially in the Central District. Please send OTZ a Feedback or an email if you are aware of roster changes.

OhioTennisZone.com
Pre-Season State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
August 12, 2016
Division I
1. Mason ◄TEAM
2. Magnificat ◄TEAM
3. Ursuline Academy ◄TEAM
4. Dublin Jerome ◄TEAM
5. Upper Arlington ◄TEAM
6. Olentangy Liberty ◄TEAM
7. Dublin Coffman ◄TEAM
8. Sycamore
9. Perrysburg
10. Green
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership
The number one OTZ pre-season team is Mason. Mason returns a veteran squad of Amanda Huser, Lizzy Kong, Nicole Reid, Sneha Kandi, and Isabel Cepeda. Mason also picks up three strong freshmen players: Ananya Aqqarwal, Emma Kruse, and Sanjana Reddy.

Magnificat is number two. They return Alexandra Vesikallio, Anna Roggenburk, Molly Bauer, Nikita Zuber, and Emily Pallaki. They lost last year's #3 player, Tess Moran, to graduation. Magnificat picks up freshman Olivia Rondini.

At number three, Ursuline Academy returns most of their key contributors from last year including: Gabriella O`Connor, Ellie Foster, Kiran Desai, Gracie Estes, Carolyn Haney, and Ellie Foster. They lost Jenny Duma to graduation.

Dublin Jerome was last year's State Team Champion. This year, they start at number four. They lost the number one player in the Central District, Ellee Bullock, to graduation, as well as Stephanie George and Courtney Go. They return Emily Neal, Erin Zhao, Charlotte Berman, Neha Dudipala, and Natalia Gomez. They will pick up freshman Reagan Resor. Junior Vicki Chang is not playing this year.

Upper Arlington comes in at number five. Anna Reynolds, Ashley Weeks, Claire Combs, Evelyn Holman, Masha Manilchuk, and Nicole Holman are returning. Kyra Jung and Paige Kompa will not return to the team this year. Olivia Kompa, and her sister, Paige, were State Doubles Champions last year. Olivia Kompa graduated.

At number six is Olentangy Liberty. Liberty returns Alexis Steer, Sidney Reineke, Cecelia Ko, and Makayla Schaefer. Liberty lost Alexia Meyer, Anna Delaney, and Lizzie Radkiewicz to graduation.

This could be a breakout year for Dublin Coffman at number seven. They return an experience squad of Nethra Thenappan, Nari Johnson, Victoria Fan, Skylar Moore, Maria Sadek, Meredith Ainsworth. Coffman lost Ashley Tan and Jessica Flynn to graduation.

At number eight, Sycamore lost Alexandra Abele and Maggie Skwara to graduation. Abele was last year's State Singles Finalist. Returning players include: Katlyn Jiang, Sarah Wittenbaum, and Helen Sotropa.

Perrysburg is ninth and they replace Toledo Notre Dame Academy as the dominent D1 team in the Northwest District. Perrysburg returns all of its varsity players including Belen Balibrea, Nora Abdul-Aziz, Gemma Smith, Caitlyn Schankula, and Emma Carter.

The final Top Ten team is Green. They are double Zivicked, returning Anne and Maria Zivick. Also returning are Mackenzie Cavalier, Emily Capeta, and Sophie Kestner.

Were any teams left-out of the discussion? If so, please state your case in a Feedback message.

TUESDAY,

OTCA Tournament Draws Now Available

The Ohio Tennis Coaches' Association tournament draws are now listed on OhioTennisZone.com. Click to view the OTZ OTCA Draws. The advantages to the OTZ draws are: it is very easy to navigate from District to District using the navigational links; links to many of the teams are provided; there are photos of many teams; and those teams which are OTZ Team Members are identified.

OTCA Draws
OTCA Draws - Click to proceed
The goal for this season is to keep the OTZ draws updated, and yes, you can help. Please send a Feedback after your match (win or lose) and provide the score. It's so easy, even parents can do it. (If you know my email address (for Scott Gerber), that also works.)

This year, there are 132 teams participating in the tournament out of the nearly 400 teams in high school tennis. Last year, there were 134 teams. The breakdown of the number of teams per District are: Central - 22, Northeast - 46, Northwest - 27, and Southwest - 37. In the fascinating but unfortunate category, Southeast / East Ohio got three spots for States last spring, but only one team (Marietta) is participating in this season's OTCA tournament.

Hopefully coaches will adhere to the "Play By" dates. During the boys season, some teams waited until the last week of the season to finish their OTCA matches. For players who competed in States and the OTCA tournament, that led to a grueling week of tennis. The OTCA Final Four Tournament will take place after States on Sunday, October 23.

The link to the tournament will remain at the top of this page throughout the season.

MONDAY,

Welcome to the OHSAA Girls High School Season | USTA National Championships

The season officially starts today as teams from around the state start their practices and tryouts.

This is an awkward time of the year for OhioTennisZone because the site includes information on the 2016 graduates and no new results. From an analysis standpoint, it is worthwhile to include the graduates a few more days to better understand how they affected last year's teams. The graduates will be removed soon after the the Pre-Season OTZ Top Ten Teams are listed.

Zoey Weil
Centennial's Zoey Weil - Click to enlarge
Speaking of the top teams... Some players are still on the fence on whether they are playing high school tennis. A few of these players will determine if their teams are good or great. Please. Just. Decide. Already.

The USTA National Championships begin at the end of the week for the boys and the girls. It is an enormous honor to get into these tournaments. It is an even bigger honor to win the tournament because the 18's champions get a spot in the US Open main draw and in the US Open Juniors. The 16's champions receive a spot in the US Open Juniors tournament.

The Boys Championship, commonly referred to as the 'Zoo because it is held each year in Kalamazoo, Michigan, includes several Ohio players. The B18 players are: John McNally, Jeffrey (JJ) Wolf, Joey Thomas (Massillon Jackson), Nico Mostardi (Kenston), and Austin Barr (Kenston). Danny (DJ) Thomas, Robert Cash (New Albany), and Niraj Komatineni (Mason) are playing in the B16's. To follow their progress, click on ustaboys.com.

The Girls Championships don't have a cool name, but it is in San Diego. Players from Ohio in the G18's include: Alexandra Sanford, Emily Dunbar (Orange), Lauren Gillinov (Hathaway Brown), Molly Sandberg (Hudson), Dalayna Hewitt, and Caty McNally. The G16 girls include: Carly Cohen, Maddie Lynch (Hathaway Brown), Anna Roggenburk (Magnificat), Peyton Stearns, and Zoey Weil (Centennial). Click on www.ustagirlsnationals.com to follow the action.

OHSAA match play begins on August 12.

 

Disclaimer: All opinions and commentary expressed by Gerber Analytics, LLC are solely Gerber Analytics, LLC's and they do not reflect the opinions of advertisers presented on the Gerber Analytics, LLC website.

While care is used in entering and maintaining the tennis-related data, errors will occur. These errors could originate from Gerber Analytics, LLC or from one of the providers of the data. If you identify an error, please contact Gerber Analytics, LLC via a Feedback message or ask your high school coach to contact Gerber Analytics, LLC in order to have the error corrected.

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