Ohio High School Tennis
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2025
Olentangy Orange Beats Olentangy Liberty | OTZ Photo Friday
It was yet another perfect weather day. Many teams have now gotten caught up from the poor weather earlier in the season. In the biggest match of the evening, Olentangy Orange defeated Olentangy Liberty. The close, 3-2 matches included: Newark defeated Reynoldsburg; Jonathan Alder beat Bellefontaine; Gahanna defeated Pickerington North; Green beat Copley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the OTZ-Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Hill. Davidson's Danny Bordjadze - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand defeated Olentangy Orange's Luke Rutherford; New Albany's Jackson Clements defeated Westerville Central's Isaac Choo; Olentangy's Gavin Cheung defeated Olentangy Berlin's Zach Heister; and Green Liam O’Farrell defeated Copley's John Komlanc. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Ohio State is hosting the Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament, where the Buckeyes will face Illinois today at 9 a.m. The event offers Ohio tennis fans a chance to see former Ohio high school stars in action. Northwestern's Chad Miller, a Sycamore alum (click to view his HS OTZ Player Profile), is among the competitors. It was great to see many Sycamore supporters cheering him on. Check out the May 2022 OTZ interview with Miller for more insights. Miller's photo from yesterday's match is posted below.
The Ohio State Women's team advanced to the semi-final round of the Big Ten Tournament by beating Illinois yesterday. OSU's Sydni Ratliff (Columbus Academy) and Dani Schoenly (Olentangy Liberty) teamed up to win at third doubles. The women's tournament is taking place in California.
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NW's and Sycamore's Chad Miller - Click to enlarge |
Today is another OTZ Photo Friday. More photos will be uploaded throughout the day. Sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos.
Today's matches include: Hawken (H) versus Orange; Centerville (A) versus Lexington; and Sycamore (A) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2025
OTZ on ParentingAces.com | Hudson and Sycamore Get Wins
Parenting Aces' Lisa Stone has been a long-time provider of all-things tennis via her podcast and web site. With the slogan, of "For Tennis Parents by a Tennis Parent", she covers the journey from junior tennis to college. She has interviewed hundreds of experts over the last 14 years, and she is recognized as a Tennis Channel Podcast. (This means she is an expert herself.) I had an opportunity to talk with Lisa in March about Ohio high school tennis and OhioTennisZone. Click below for the interview.
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OTZ on Parenting Aces - Click to podcast |
In yesterday's matches involving the top teams, Solon defeated Hudson and Sycamore beat Walnut Hills. Of the 30 matches recorded, the Southwest District led the way with 14 matches, followed by Central with 12 and the Northeast with 4. The close, 3-2 matches included: Chillicothe defeated Waverly; Cincinnati Country Day beat Lakota East; Ready defeated Westland; Dublin Scioto beat Hilliard Darby; North Canton Hoover defeated Dover; Milton-Union beat Archbishop Alter; Moeller defeated Milford; Grove City beat Thomas Worthington; and Avon defeated Avon Lake. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players, Hudson's Henrique Sa defeated Solon's Zach Krantz; Centerville's Elliot Galbraith beat Miami Valley School's Jain; Sycamore's Andrew Mao defeated Walnut Hills' Rapeegon Tangsitukal; Beavercreek's Michael Page beat Tippecanoe's Nick Von Krosigk; Archbishop Alter's Michael Shope defeated Milton-Union's Levi Brumbaugh; Cincinnati Country Day's Nikhil Shah beat Lakota East's Ethan Vass; Moeller's Adam Anastasia defeated Milford's Koen Dominguez; and Delaware Hayes' Dominic Davelli beat Hilliard Davidson's Jinu Kim. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus St. Xavier; Olentangy Orange (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; and Watterson (H) versus St. Charles. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025
Columbus Academy Beats Bexley | Orange Defeats Solon
Teams took advantage of the perfect weather. There were 36 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 16, Southwest - 14, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. In the two marquis matches of the evening, Columbus Academy beat Bexley for the Jack Madison Memorial Cup and Orange defeated Solon. The close, 3-2 matches included: Sidney defeated Butler; Hilliard Davidson beat Hilliard Darby; Yellow Springs defeated Legacy Christian Academy; Waynesville beat Valley View; and DeSales defeated Hilliard Bradley. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Columbus Academy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Preston Eberlyn. They are Team Members. They are led by Nason Lo, Lucas Xue, Jacob Khvalsky, and Rowen Lo.
As errors are discovered in the results, please ask the coach to provide the *incorrect* information and then the *correct* information. There are thousands (and thousands and thousands) of results, and I need to search for the *incorrect* data before I can fix it. Always provide the last names. For example,
- Incorrect: 4/9 Federer-Nadal (Bloomingburg) def. S.Williams-V.Williams (Jeffersonville) 6-1, 6-4
- Correct: 4/9 Federer-Nadal (Bloomingburg) def. S.Williams-V.Williams (Jeffersonville) 6-3, 7-5
The Big Ten Mens Tennis Tournament is at Ohio State this year. It begins tomorrow. Click for the bracket.
Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Dublin Coffman; New Albany (H) versus Dublin Jerome; and St. Xavier (A) versus Walnut Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2025
Coffman, Sycamore and Mason Get Wins
It was not unusual to see scores of eight sets to two last night. That is just what happens with score cards under windy conditions at Dublin Jerome. In that match, Dublin Coffman beat Dublin Jerome to advance in the State Team Tournament. The 3-2 match included three 3-setters. In other interesting matches, Sycamore defeated Seven Hills and Mason beat Centerville. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the OTZ-Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws.
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Sycamore - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Mason's Greg Bernadsky defeated Centerville's Elliot Galbraith; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula; Sycamore's Andrew Mao defeated Seven Hills' Adi Nayak; Beavercreek’s Michael Page beat Loveland's Ethan Deck; Olentangy Orange's Luke Rutherford defeated Hilliard Davidson's Jinu Kim; and Pickerington Central's Austin Bruey beat Watkins Memorial's Graham Smith. 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 Andrew Mao, Jake Farquhar, and Abi Dinesh.
Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Columbus Academy and Orange (A) versus Solon.. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2025
Top Ten Boys Teams Report
One of the tools that OTZ uses to evaluate teams is the Top Ten Boys Team report. It shows all of the teams that the top OTZ teams have played, the date in which the match took place, the opponent, score, and the game winning percentage. Losses are shown in "red". It also shows that either the rankings need to be updated or that some of the lower ranked teams mistakenly won when they should have lost.. The pre-season rankings (March 25) were used in this report.
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OTZ Top Ten Teams - Click to enlarge |
Bexley has played the most matches with 12. Sycamore has 11. Some teams have not played many matches or the matches were not entered into OTZ. If a team (or coach) is not an OTZ member, it is harder to rank these teams unless they play other OTZ members.
It is important to review line-ups before evaluating teams. Note that some of the teams have been rather coy with their line-ups. Their "real" line-ups will be the ones that are used in the later stages of the State Team Tournament competition.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Mason; Seven Hills (H) versus Sycamore; and Solon (H) versus Hudson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
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Columbus Area Weather - Click to enlarge |
The weather continues to improve with dryer conditions and less wind.
SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2025
Columbus Academy > Indian Hill > Bexley
Happy Easter. The expectation of rain hampered play yesterday. Central Ohio was expected to be a washout, but it was not. Some teams played indoors just in case it did rain. Other teams cancelled their matches. There were four matches recorded from state-wide play, and they were good matches. Indian Hill defeated Bexley; Sycamore beat Upper Arlington; Columbus Academy defeated Indian Hill; and Centerville beat Milford in the State Team Tournament. It is still important to point out that the line-ups that coaches used over the weekend may not be the ones that are used for the State Team Tournament. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. They are coached by David Ramey. They are Team Members. They are led by Lincoln Gates, Jonathan VanHala, and Andrew VanHala.
SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2025
Indian Hill Beats Upper Arlington
There were more matches than expected played, especially since it was Good Friday. In the yesterday’s most notable matches, Indian Hill defeated Upper Arlington and Beavercreek beat Oakwood. The Southwest District led the others with 10 matches recorded. Central had four and the Northeast had one. The close, 3-2 matches included: Wheelersburg defeated Chillicothe; Dixie beat Valley View; Massillon Jackson defeated Dublin Jerome; and Tippecanoe beat Troy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Indiana's/Orange's Pomeranets - Click to enlarge |
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Piqua at OSU Match - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Mason's Greg Bernadsky defeated Tippecanoe's Nick Von Krosigk; Indian Hill's Gareth Kurowski beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Sycamore's Andrew Mao defeated Miamisburg's Ferguson; Beavercreek’s Michael Page beat Oakwood's Grant Zhou; Massillon Jackson's Larson Sutula defeated Dublin Jerome's Amish Pairu; Canton McKinley’s Elijah Corrin beat Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; and Reynoldsburg’s Myles Suber defeated Gahanna’s Isaac Banks. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Ohio State Men's team played Indiana last night. It was nice to see Indiana's and Pepper Pike Orange's Ben Pomeranets play. The last time that he played at Ohio State was when he won the State D2 Singles Championship. Click for Pomeranets' May 2023 OTZ Interview.
The Piqua High School team was also in attendance at the OSU match. It would be great to see more high school teams take advantage of the opportunity to watch great college matches.
Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Lexington and Indian Hill; Columbus Academy (H) versus Lexington and Indian Hill; and Sycamore (H) versus Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2025
Orange Beats Lexington & Bexley | OTZ Photo Friday
Ohio tennis will get "States-like" weather today as the temperatures reach 80 degrees. Yesterday was another big night with the Central District recording 15 results, Southwest - 12, and the Northeast nine. Orange had two great matches last night - beating both Bexley and Lexington. In two other notable matches, Upper Arlington defeated Dublin Coffman and Highland beat Avon. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Berlin defeated Marysville; Grandview beat Franklin Heights; Bellefontaine defeated London; Hilliard Darby beat Thomas Worthington; and Wooster defeated Glenoak. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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New Albany's Jackson Clements - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Orange's Illia Shcherbakov defeated Lexington's Dylan Catanese and Bexley's Sam Lessard; Avon's A.J. Sidoti beat Highland's Luke Butcher; Glenoak's Dylan Wiles defeated Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Sycamore's Andrew Mao defeated Lakota East's Ethan Vass; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Olentangy Berlin's Zach Heister; Highland’s Luke Butcher defeated Copley's John Komlanc; Olentangy's Gavin Cheung beat Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula; Green’s Liam O’Farrell defeated Massillon Jackson's Larson Sutula; and Chillicothe's Noah Flores beat Washington CH's Mason Mullins. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today is the first OTZ Photo Friday of the season. Conditions for taking photos have been awful this season. Most of the photos included today were taken indoors, and the lighting is never good indoors. The photos taken at the New Albany versus Hawken match were not much better because it was such an overcast day. Sign in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos to view. There were 22 photos added today.
Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (A) versus Olentangy Liberty and Dublin Jerome; Oakwood (H) versus Beavercreek; and Centerville (H) versus Northwestern. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025
University School Beats Westlake | Mason Defeats Springboro
Last night was the busiest tennis night of the season as the entire state benefited from nice weather. The breakdown by District was: Central - 18, Southwest - 12, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 2. In the biggest matches, University School defeated Westlake and Mason beat Springboro. There was a huge number of close, 3-2 matches. They included: Lakeside defeated Jefferson Area; DeSales beat St. Charles; Lexington defeated St. Johns Jesuit; Northwestern beat Miami Valley School; Franklin Heights defeated Bloom-Carroll; St. Xavier-B beat Centerville-B; Granville defeated Big Walnut; Hilliard Davidson beat Thomas Worthington; Marysville defeated Pickerington North; Perrysburg beat Rossford; Mount Vernon defeated Newark; and Sidney beat Bath. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Orange - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Orange. They are coached by Rich Bole. They are Team Members. They are led by Illia Shcherbakov, Zayd Adi, Vivaan Moghekar, and Gabriel Guiler.
Tomorrow will be an OTZ Photo Friday.
Today's matches include: Lexington (H) versus Orange; Copley (H) versus Highland; and Hawken (H) versus Westlake. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2025
Seven Hills and Olentangy Orange Get Wins
Despite the high winds and cold temperatures, it was a big night for matches. Twenty-nine matches were recorded with the Southwest District leading the pack with 14 and Central with 13. In the two biggest matches of the evening, Olentangy Orange defeated Upper Arlington and Seven Hills beat Cincinnati Country Day. The close, 3-2 matches included: Canal Winchester defeated Newark; Legacy Christian Academy beat Trotwood-Madison; Marysville defeated Thomas Worthington; and Pickerington Central beat Lancaster. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Delaware Hayes - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Delaware Hayes. They are coached by Gary Hibinger. They are Team Members.They are led by Dominic Davelli, Drake LaMar, and Alex Pacheco.
Today's Delaware team photo is one of the best of the season. Note that OTZ did not take this photo. When a photographer is known, their copyright will be included. If not, the OTZ copyright will appear in a smaller font. With all of the AI craziness going on, I think it is important to include a copyright in hopes of slowing down entities that are essentially harvesting photos for their own use. Photos taken by OTZ will include © Scott Gerber / OhioTennisZone.com.
Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Olentangy Liberty; Copley (A) versus Revere; and Lexington (H) versus St. Johns Jesuit.. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2025
Columbus Academy Beats Dublin Coffman
Rain hampered play in much of the state yesterday, and today there will be high winds.. In the biggest match of the evening, Columbus Academy defeated Dublin Coffman. The close, 3-2 matches included: Massillon Jackson defeated Glenoak; Upper Arlington-B beat Big Walnut; and Olentangy defeated Wellington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Hilliard Davidson - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Hilliard Davidson. They are coached by Shannon Murlin. They are Team Members. They are led by Jinu Kim, Danny Bordjadze, and Griffin Houseworth.
The weather finally cooperated long enough so that I could get some decent action photos last night. Watch for an OTZ Photo Friday coming up soon. (Likely to occur on Friday.)
Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus University School; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Hudson; and Olentangy Orange (H) versus Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2025
Changes to OTZ Top Players List
This week's weather is expected to be better for Ohio high school tennis if the rain can be avoided today.
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OTZ Top Players List - Click to view |
There was a major update to the OTZ Top Players and Watch Lists today. These lists will continue to be tweaked as players compete in more matches. Some players have not yet competed this season. Players "start" on the Watch List and some will move up from there. Note that high school player results are needed to make this list work. While OTZ is aware of non-HS results, these lists are for HS tennis performance. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
OTZ members should always sign-in first when using OhioTennisZone. In this case with the Top Players report, members can view the results and photos of non-OTZ members and get easy access to TennisRecruiting.net data for all players. There are also OTZ action photos for most of these players.
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Columbus Area Weather - Click to enlarge |
Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; Hawken (A) versus Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Centerville (H) versus Oakwood; Chillicothe (A) versus Athens; and Columbus Academy (H) versus Dublin Coffman. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2025
Mason and Columbus Academy Get Wins
Yesterday was a good day for matches. With teams traveling to find great competition, Mason defeated Bexley and New Albany, and Columbus Academy beat Hawken. In another big match, New Albany defeated Indian Hill. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Lake (Uniontown) - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Lake-Uniontown. They are coached by David Maurer. They are led by Carson Craig, Matt Potashnik, and Erik Neely.
OTZ traveled to Cincinnati (actually West Chester) to help our daughter and son-in-law paint yesterday. The highlight was stopping at Cones. We also stopped at The Pickle Lodge to check it out. It replaced Eastern Hills Indoor Tennis Club.
SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 2025
New Albany Beats Hawken
Weather conditions were tough for fans and players yesterday. At New Albany, temperatures were 43 degrees with a breeze and no sun. This essentially guarantees that States will be played in 85 degree temperatures, and that all of the singles players who wear black clothes will cramp up and retire. (This has happened every year and it always will - forever.)
In the most notable match of the evening, OTZ #2 (D1) New Albany defeated OTZ #4 (D2) Hawken. The close, 3-2 matches included: Fairborn defeated Carroll; Centerville-B beat Springboro-B; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Green; Northwestern beat Valley View; and Thomas Worthington defeated Canal Winchester. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Hawken - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Hawken. They are coached by Lori Shulman. They are Team Members. They are led by Zach Forte and Axel Neely.
Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Mason and Springboro; Columbus Academy (H) versus Hawken; and Indian Hill (H) versus New Albany. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2025
Upper Arlington Beats Olentangy Liberty
The weather cleared for the Central and Southwest Districts so a reasonable number (30) of matches were recorded from yesterday. Despite the recent rain, there have been 78% more matches recorded this year versus last. In the marquis matches from yesterday, Upper Arlington defeated Olentangy Liberty and Olentangy Orange beat Dublin Coffman. The close, 3-2 matches included: Jonathan Alder defeated London; Hilliard Davidson beat Hilliard Bradley; Legacy Christian Academy defeated Yellow Springs; Worthington Kilbourne beat Dublin Scioto; and Milton-Union defeated Valley View. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Solon - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Solon. They are coached by Fredrik Nyborg. They are Team Members. They are led by Zach Krantz, Ashwin Ramachandran, and Arthur Azhibekov.
Today's matches include: New Albany (H) versus Hawken; Centerville (H) versus Bellbrook; and Seven Hills (A) versus Moeller. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2025
University School Beats Walsh Jesuit
The weather looks slightly less awful next week, so we have that going for us... In the biggest match of the evening, University School defeated Walsh Jesuit. The close, 3-2 matches included: Jonathan Alder beat Hilliard Bradley; DeSales defeated Big Walnut; Delaware Hayes beat Westerville Central; Bloom-Carroll defeated Grandview; North Canton Hoover beat Green; and Franklin Heights defeated Reynoldsburg. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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North Canton Hoover - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is North Canton Hoover. They are coached by Kay McHolm. They are Team Members. They are led by Brennan Calhoun, Josh Blake, and Luke Hillyer.
Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (H) versus Wooster; Moeller (H) versus St. Xavier; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Upper Arlington; and Copley (H) versus Highland. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025
Olentangy Liberty Beats Dublin Coffman
Chilly temperatures did not slow down match play yesterday. In two of the bigger matches of the evening, Olentangy Liberty defeated Dublin Coffman and Indian Hill beat Mariemont. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Delaware Hayes; Chillicothe beat Waverly; Canal Winchester defeated Reynoldsburg; Kenton Ridge beat Jonathan Alder; Loveland defeated Little Miami; and Piqua beat West Carrollton. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy Orange - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Olentangy Orange. They are coached by Matthew Rutherford. They are Team Members. They are led by Shailen Patel, Luke Rutherford, and Devan Patel. This photo was taken at NewGen Racquet Club before the Olentangy Orange vs Orange match.
OTZ is in process of adding Player Profiles for team members. Those with individual membership are next. After the Profiles are setup, the player photos will be added. This is a multi-day process.
Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Hudson (H) versus Brecksville; Indian Hill (H) versus Springboro; and Archbishop Alter (A) versus Tippecanoe.. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2025
Seven Hills Beats Mariemont | Massillon Jackson Defeats NCH
It was a chilly but drier evening with 24 statewide matches being recorded. In the most notable matches of the evening, Seven Hills defeated Mariemont and Massillon Jackson beat North Canton Hoover. The close, 3-2 matches included: Tippecanoe defeated Bellbrook; Athens beat Chillicothe; Watkins Memorial defeated Granville; Ready beat Madison Christian; Archbishop Alter defeated Dayton Christian; Westerville Central beat Dublin Scioto; and Dixie defeated Chaminade-Julienne. In the "I hope the kids can use AI to do their homework" match of the evening, the Delaware Hayes versus DeSales include four 3-setters. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Jonathan Alder - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Jonathan Alder. They are coached by Ryan Swinehart. They are led by Gideon Sullivan, Max Metz, and Sean Gluntz.
Today's matches include: Hawken (H) versus Avon; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Dublin Coffman; and Indian Hill (A) versus Mariemont. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2025
A Week with Dryer Weather
Despite the cooler temperatures, it will be dryer this week. Even though there have been numerous rain-outs, Ohio tennis has still played more matches this year versus last year.
The State Team Tournament draws have been updated. There were numerous matches played in Northeast Ohio last week. Click for the draws.
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Massillon Jackson - Click to team page |
There will be more players added to the Top Players / Watch Lists today. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Massillon Jackson. They are coached by Brett Marlowe. They are Team Members. They are led by Larson Sutula, Roshan Patel, and Manav Rawal.
Today's matches include: Hawken (A) versus Orange; Indian Hill (H) versus Mason; Solon (H) versus North Royalton; and North Canton Hoover (A) versus Massillon Jackson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
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Columbus Area Weather - Click to enlarge |
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2025
Orange, Sycamore, and Lex Get Indoor Wins
The rain continued and teams went indoors at to compete. Pepper Pike Orange defeated Olentangy Orange in the Orange Bowl*; Sycamore beat Bexley; and Lexington defeated Highland. As always, review the line-ups before assessing teams. To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Canal Winchester - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Canal Winchester. They are coached by Leyton Mathias. They are Team Members. They are led by William Theuamthalaray, Alan Xicotencatl, and Brooklyn Todd.
Hopefully, Ohio tennis can catchup with matches this coming week.
* OTZ wishes to thank Bexley coach, Will Gingery, for his contribution of the "Orange Bowl" phrase.
SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2025
Beavercreek Beats Olentangy Orange
It's Raining Again. (And yes, the rain-related songs get worse after today.) Despite the rain, some teams were fortunate enough to find indoor facilities in which to play. OTZ traveled to NewGen Racquet Club to watch Massillon Jackson and Upper Arlington compete. Other teams that got rained out went to the Ohio State versus UCLA match. While it is great that NewGen is now available, the indoor court situation is likely to get worse as clubs fill their "off-hours" with pickleball.
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Archbishop Alter - Click to team page |
Other indoor matches included: Beavercreek defeated Olentangy Orange; St. Xavier beat Bexley; and Walnut Hills defeated Moeller. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Among the top players,St. Xavier's Nihal Narisetty defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard; Beavercreek’s Michael Page beat Olentangy Orange’s Shailen Patel; Moeller's Adam Anastasia defeated Walnut Hills' Rapeegon Tangsitukal; and Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Watterson's Tommy OBrien. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Archbishop Alter. They are coached by Ginny Boeckman. They are Team Members. They are led by Michael Shope, Moses Mabarak, and Noah Johnson.
Many of these matches will be rained out, but the scheduled matches are: Bexley (H) versus Seven Hills and Sycamore; Columbus Academy (H) versus Highland and St. Xavier; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Dublin Coffman; New Albany (H) versus Sycamore and Mason; Orange (A) versus Mason and Olentangy Orange; and St. Xavier (A) versus Columbus Academy and Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches. Some will be moving indoors. Check with the coach for details.
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2025
University School Beats Avon
Most matches were rained out yesterday, but there were a few that were completed. They included University School defeated Avon; Upper Arlington beat Delaware Hayes in the State Team Tournament; and Wooster defeated North Canton Hoover. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click to view the State Team Tournament Draws.
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Moeller - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Archbishop Moeller. They are coached by Alex Thompson. They are Team Members. They are led by Adam Anastasia, Will Jordan, and Nick Shehata.
After getting hit with a bout of bronchitis (as diagnosed by Mrs. (not Dr.) OTZ), I am behind where I should be. The rain should enable me to get caught up.
Most matches are expected to be rainouts today. It has also been difficult for teams to find indoor facilities with available court time. Some of the matches that may still take place are: Massillon Jackson (A) versus Upper Arlington and New Albany (H) versus Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2025
Mason, New Albany, and Centerville Get Big Wins
Teams raced to get their matches done before the storms arrived. In the marquis matches of the evening, Mason defeated St. Xavier; New Albany beat Bexley; and Centerville defeated Sycamore. The close, 3-2 matches included: Dixie defeated Miami Valley School; Lakota West beat Centerville-B; Pickerington Central defeated St. Charles; Bellbrook beat Archbishop Alter; Marysville defeated Gahanna; Pickerington North beat Lancaster; and Moeller defeated Loveland. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Grandview - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Grandview. They are coached by Doug Page. They are led by Porter Knoff, Ben Donahue, and Sev Mohdasiahn. This is Coach Page's first year with the team.
While yesterday's matches were under (very) windy conditions, it is extremely important to play a few of these "wind" matches just in case there are similar conditions for Sectionals, Districts, or States. Unfortunately, the boys' internal algorithms are such that it is ok to hit 10 doubles faults just as long as they get one ace..
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Indian Hill; Olentangy Orange (H) versus Olentangy; and Wooster (H) versus North Canton Hoover. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2025
Calm before the Storms
Yesterday was a really busy evening for matches. Based on the weather forecasts, that may have been the last evening for great match-play until next week. In some of the more notable matches, Columbus Academy defeated Upper Arlington; Hudson beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; and Orange defeated North Royalton. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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New Albany - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is New Albany. They are coached by Marc Thomas. They are OTZ Team Members, and they are led by Abhinav Dandu, Jackson Clements, Tyler Thomas, and Jackson Goodman.
Today is "catch-up day". Most of the players with OTZ Player Profiles will be added today. Coaches, if you have not updated your rosters, please do so.
Today's matches include: Archbishop Alter (H) versus Bellbrook; Bexley (A) versus New Albany; Centerville (H) versus Sycamore; Hawken (H) versus Beachwood; Orange (A) versus Chagrin Falls; Seven Hills (H) versus Springboro; and St. Xavier (A) versus Mason. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025
Rain Dampened Play | Past April 1 Articles
It was a damp day for many teams yesterday. Just 10 matches were recorded. In the three most competitive matches of the evening, Bexley defeated Dublin Jerome, St. Charles beat Westerville Central, and Loveland defeated Elder. As with all matches, take a quick look at the line-ups to see where the key players competed. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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OTZ World Headquarters - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Avon's A.J. Sidoti defeated Elyria's Zigon; Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula beat Bexley's Max Almasanu; Loveland's Ethan Deck defeated Elder's Austin Godfrey; Westerville's Isaac Choo beat St. Charles' Ted Must; Canal Winchester's William Theuamthalaray defeated Ready's Maura Himes; Bexley's Adrian Schiff beat Dublin Jerome's Amish Pairu.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: Hudson (H) versus Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Columbus Academy (H) versus Upper Arlington; Delaware Hayes (H) versus Marysville; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Walsh Jesuit; North Canton Hoover (A) versus Lake-Uniontown;Orange (H) versus North Royalton; and Seven Hills (A) versus Summit Country Day. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
The typical OTZ approach to April Fool's Day is to come up with something wacky to amuse and/or irritate readers. The combination of traveling and the prep work needed for the beginning of the season did not leave enough time this year for the normal high jinks. Since many readers are new every four years, it is probably appropriate to go back into the archives and see previous attempts of humor.
Behind the Scenes at OhioTennisZone.com - April 1, 2016
Total Revamp of OhioTennisZone Should Make Everyone Happy Faced - April 1, 2017
High School Tennis to Switch to Pickleball - April 1, 2019 - (My mother was featured in this article.)
Are Masks Leading to a New Form of Deception? - April 1, 2021
Is It Time to Wager on High School Sports? You Bet! - April 1, 2022
OhioTennisZone's ChatOTZ Becomes Sentient - April 1, 2023
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025
Lexington Beats Avon
In a match that was played on Saturday, Lexington defeated Avon.To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Loveland - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Loveland. They are coached by Jennifer Kapszukiewicz. They are Team Members. They are led by Beckett Zappin, Ethan Deck, and Liam Amy.
This will hopefully be the last update that has to be done "on the road". We have been visiting our son and his fiancé in Maryland. When considering the large number of matches slated to play today, it will be much easier to process all of these scores on the OTZ desktop.
Today's matches include: Archbishop Alter (H) versus Centerville; Bexley (H) versus Dublin Jerome; Canal Winchester (H) versus Ready; Franklin Heights (A) versus Westland; Grandview (A) versus London; Hudson (H) versus Stow-Munroe Falls; Loveland (H) versus Elder; Newark (A) versus Fisher Catholic; and Watkins Memorial (A) versus Zanesville. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2025
Massillon Jackson Beats Westlake
Massillon Jackson defeated Westlake, 3-2, yesterday. To view all of the results recorded, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Marysville - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Marysville. They are coached by Brian Ash. They are Team Members. They are led by Gianni Russo, Will Nuspl, and Soorya Loganand. Marysville is west of Columbus, and it is the home of Honda. Marysville is the second team to get their team photo into OTZ. Yesterday's featured team, Lancaster, was first.
Today's matches include: St. Xavier (A) versus St. Johns Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2025
Bexley Beats Upper Arlington
Yesterday turned out to be a great day for tennis. There were 10 matches recorded from state-wide play. Bexley defeated Upper Arlington, 3-2, without Henry Lessard in the line-up. Other 3-2 matches included Milton-Union over Northwestern and Centerville-B over Troy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Lancaster - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Lancaster. They are coached by Jason Roush. They are Team Members. They are led by Grace Hampson, Jayden Stone, and Christian Uhl. Lancaster is located south of Columbus.
There are still a few system-related issues ("issues" is a kinder word for "problems") that may be noticeable to some users. Expect most of these to be resolved by Tuesday.
Today's matches include Lexington (H) versus Avon Lake and St. Xavier (A) versus Sylvania Southview. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2025
Match Play Begins Today
Matches begin today under rainy skies. Hopefully conditions will permit matches to be played somewhere in Ohio. Temps will be fine.
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Ready for the Season! - Click to sign-up for OTZ |
This is the "ugly duckling" part of the season for OhioTennisZone as last year's results soon roll-off the system, and a small number of matches replace them. Some reports will include last year's results, but many (i.e. By-Court report) will have none. Note that last year's graduates have been removed from the line-ups.
The Top Players Report will soon include additional players. Currently, players are shown in the same order as they finished the season last year. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Upper Arlington; Newark (A) versus Lebanon; and
Wooster (H) versus Dover. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
Good luck!
MONDAY, MARCH
OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Teams for Division I / II (beta release)
It is time for the OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Teams rankings. These rankings are time-consuming to create and to modify so please do not beat a team that is ranked higher than your team.. Your cooperation is appreciated in advance..
There is little doubt that the State's top D1 teams had a graduation party when Sycamore's super team finally moved on after winning the last three State Team Tournaments. Graduations also hit defending D2 champ, Indian Hill, as well.
 OhioTennisZone.com
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| 1. Mason◄TEAM | Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 2. New Albany◄TEAM | Bexley◄TEAM |
| 3. St. Xavier◄TEAM | Orange◄TEAM |
| 4. Olentangy Orange | Hawken◄TEAM |
| 5. Centerville◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 6. Solon◄TEAM | Seven Hills◄TEAM |
| 7. Olentangy Liberty◄TEAM | Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy |
| 8. Sycamore◄TEAM | Lexington◄TEAM |
| 9. Springboro◄TEAM | Archbishop Alter |
| 10. University School◄TEAM | Ottawa Hills |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. |
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In addition to the OTZ data, TennisRecruiting.net and Universal Tennis Ratings were used as a resource to create the rankings. As part of this effort, the top five players based on UTR are: Mason's Greg Bernadsky, Bexley's Henry Lessard, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand, Columbus Academy's Nason Lo, and Bexley's Sam Lessard (in UTR order). Bernadsky and Henry Lessard are Blue Chips in TennisRecruiting.net. All of these players are expected to be highly ranked in the OTZ Top Players List as the season progresses.
As for the favorites, Mason starts at #1 for D1. Columbus Academy begins at the top of Division II.
The lists are subject to tweaking if players decide not to play (or to play) Ohio high school tennis this spring. "Thank you" to the fans (especially Yoon Lee) who provided feedback on these rankings.
The teams likely to get to Team States are the ones who fill their schedules with great matches.
Division I
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Sycamore 2024 Championship Team - Click to enlarge |
#1 Mason has reloaded. Returning are Greg Bernadsky (Cornell recruit), Daniel Tonkal, and Aron Dornhecker. Lost to graduation is Connor Buckingham. Mason picks up Janek Teply, a 4-star.
#2 New Albany returns a strong team consisting of Abhi Dandu (State Singles Finalist), Jackson Clements (Hillsdale recruit), Tyler Thomas, and Jackson Goodman. They lost to Ben Bilenko graduation.
#3 St. Xavier returns Nihal Nrisetty, David Ivanov, Gus Demis, Conor Lynch, and Henry Brandt. They lost Beckett Enscoe and Chase Homan to graduation. Carson Dwyer will also not be returning. They pick up Jonah Johnson, a 2-star.
#4 Defending D1 Central champ, Olentangy Orange, returns Shailen Patel, Nkhil Bhimireddy, Devan Patel, and Luke Rutherford. They lost Zach Haar and Eric Tang to graduation.
#5 Centerville returns a strong squad. Returning are Elliot Galbraith, Luke Edwards, Vibhu Rola, and Griffin Rhoads.. They lost Vivek Akella and Nick Turner to graduation. They pick up Jake Critchfield, a 2-star freshman.
#7 Solon returns most of their Final Four team from last year including Zach Krantz, Ashwin Ramachandran, Justin Reimschisel, and Bo Bui. They lost Jerry He to graduation.
#6 Olentangy Liberty returns Shane Hand, Arya Badri, and Eli Englert. They graduated Liam Hand, Krish Badri, and Marcus Bode.
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Sycamore Performance By Court - Click to enlarge |
#8 Sycamore returns Abi Dinesh, Andrew Mao, and Jake Farquhar. They lost Nicholas Meyers (Denison), Nicholas Choo (Swarthmore), Arjun Rajagopala, and Andrew Wittenbaum to graduation. It may take a few years before another team dominates as thoroughly as they did on all five courts. The graph shows the Percentage of Games Won on each court last year. There were no weaknesses. Sycamore also lost State Doubles champion, Chase Klugo. He is now in California
#9 Springboro's lost Rishi Dore (now at Dayton) and Jack Siehl to graduation. Players returning include Drew Baumgartner, Peyton Nelson, and Brady Mullins.
#10 University School returns Vishwum Kapadia, Rohit Talasila, Will Stephans, and Lucas Weidenbecher. They lost Dean Kirchick and Cole Kirchick to graduation.
HM: Hudson returns their top three players. They are Henrique Sa, Zelin Shen, and Frederick Li. They lost Jack Sigler and Jason Tong to graduation.
Many of the previous top teams lost key graduates. More Honorable Mentions should surface early in the season.
D2 is always tough to determine because many of the teams do not travel outside of their district. Columbus remains the perfect place to meet to hold dual matches among Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest District teams so hopefully more teams will take advantage of this. Many of the top players are accustomed to going out-of-state for matches once or twice a month so traveling is not an issue for them.
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Indian Hill 2024 Championship Team - Click to enlarge |
#1 Columbus Academy returns their starters from last year's successful, Final Four team. They include: Lucas Xue, Nason Lo, Jacob Khvalsky, Rowen Lo, and Ian Chang.
#2 Bexley and Columbus Academy should have a great battle to represent the Central District in the Final Four. Bexley returns Henry Lessard, the D2 State Singles Champion. Also returning are Sam Lessard, Max Almasanu, and Adrian Schiff. They lost Oscar Ramsden and Emmett Pliskin to graduation.
#3 Orange lost the core of their team from last year including: Chika Nwaozuzu (Denison), Gabi Kalir,and Ace Bloom. Those returning include Ishan Bhatt and Gabriel Guiler. They are going to reload quickly though. They will have three freshman who will be able to contribute. They include: Vivaan Moghekar (4-star), Zayd Adi (3-star), and Atreya Bhatt (2-star). [Update: Per Cleveland.com, Orange is also getting Illia Shcherbakov, a 4-star sophomore transfer.]
#4 Hawken returns their top players from last year including Axel Neely, Zach Forte, Anthony Piazza, and Billy Beseth. They lost Berend Diderich to graduation.
#5 Indian Hill also lost key seniors from their championship team. They retained Michael Ryu and Neelan Gandhi. They pick up 4-star Gareth Kurowski. The graduates included: RJ Poffenberger (2022 D2 Dubs Champion), Jack Pollock (Bowdoin recruit), Ethan Camp, and Senuka Abeysinghe.
#6 Seven Hills lost numerous strong players to graduation. They include Avi Mahajan (Wash U.), Ethan Blatt, John Corbett, and Gavin Isakov. They return Adi Nayak and Chinmay Machavaram, Brett Woffington, and William Huguenin.
#7 Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy returns all but one of their varsity players. Returning are Lincoln Gates, Andrew VanHala, Jonathan VanHala, and Alex Cook.
#8 Lexington lost several of their key contributors including Ethan Remy and Karl Etzel, Returning are: Dylan Catanese (State Dubs Champion), Owan Gongwer, Cooper Remy, and Phil Etzel.
#9 Archbishop Alter is getting the best freshman in the class with Michael Shope. Shope is a 5-star. Returning for Alter are Moses Mabarak and Justin Ross.
#10 Ottawa Hills returns Jack Kayse, Chris Thompson, and Micah Walker. They lost Savith Vijendra to graduation.
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Columbus Area Weather - Click to enlarge |
Note that there are additional details for players with high-lighted links. Teams with the green "team" designation will include information (or they soon will have) about all of their players.
There is inadequate information for many of the D2 teams. Some teams may want to consider joining OTZ so that their results can be included. Only a Coach Membership is needed for this.
Those with additional insights on why a team should be ranked differently or included on one of these lists are welcome to submit a Feedback. Please include specific reasons and player names.
Matches start on Friday. The weather looks Ohio-like.
MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025
OTZ Enhanced Boys State Team Draws
The OhioTennisZone.com Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws are now available. Click link above to view.
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State Team Tournament Draws - Click to go to draws |
The draws are available at the top of this page, and they will remain there throughout the season. As with everything else on OTZ, the goal is to enable high school tennis fans to quickly obtain the information they need rather than to maximize OTZ clicks and page views. As indicated in the four features that are circled: 1) the most recent update date is included; 2) the navigation links allow users to quickly jump throughout the draw; 3) the Team designation means that a Team Membership was purchased and that all of the individual player information is available via their OTZ Player Profiles; and 4) the team links are "click-able" to enable fans to do more research. For the best experience, sign-in to OTZ first. The goal is to keep the draws promptly updated throughout the season. Please click on Feedback if you are aware of a result that is not yet posted.
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State Team Tournament Participation- Click to enlarge |
The number of boys teams that enter the tournament varies from year to year. The trend is downward. This year, there are 108 teams participating. The number of boys teams participating by year is: 2015 - 148; 2016 - 128; 2017 - 126; 2018 - 125; 2019 - 119; 2020 - 128, 2021 - 110, 2022 - 122, 2023 - 112, 2024 - 113, and 2025 - 108. As shown in the graph, Southwest and Northeast have the most participants and Central has the least. Out of the 364 OHSAA boys tennis teams (378 last year), 29.6% of the teams are competing in this tournament. Please click on the graph to enlarge it for easier viewing.
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Columbus Area Weather - Click to enlarge |
This year, the Central District teams will play the Southwest teams in the first round of the State Team Tournament, while the Northwest will play the Northeast. If there are insufficient courts available for all teams to play (likely), Division I will go on court first.
The weather continues to be great for try-outs.
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2025
First Day of the Boys Season | Passing of St. Xavier's Russ King
This is the 105th year for the Boys tennis season, and there could not be a better day to start the season. Even though there will still be a few more snow days this spring, today's weather is a welcome start.
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Russ King (left) and his St. Xavier Team - Click to enlarge |
Recall that the boys tennis calendar will reside in the right-side navigation bar for the remainder of the season. The OHSAA Boys Tournament will once again be held at Wooster this spring, but expect to hear about a change in location for the girls season.
There are always documentation and rules changes. Click for the OHSAA Boys Tennis Manual for 2025, OHSAA Tennis Regulations for 2024-25, and OHSAA Tournament Regulations for 2024. For a listing of all of the OHSAA tennis documents, click OHSAA Tennis.
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Columbus-Area Weather - Click to enlarge |
There is some unfortunate news to pass along. St. Xavier's long time coach, Russ King, passed away this winter. He was the Bombers' coach for 50 years - from 1969 to 2019. He is included in this 2019 team photo on the far left where he is standing beside his State Doubles Champions, Charlie Temming (now at Xavier) and Preston Stearns (at Ohio State). Coach King died on December 28. He was 79. For more information, click for the nice Cincinnati Enquirer article written by Aaron Valdez.
FRIDAY,
OhioTennisZone.com's All-Ohio Boys Tennis Team
It is a belated list, but before things get too far along with 2025, it is worthwhile to recognize the players who made the OTZ All-Ohio Team for 2024. Unfortunately, the second after the season ended last year all my focus shifted to the family farm in Findlay. Nine of the players listed will return in hopes of a state championship this season.
OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio |
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Division I - Singles |
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Division II - Singles |
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Division I - Doubles |
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Division II - Doubles |
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The OTZ list is a bit different than the OHSAA All-Ohio team. While a player's performance at States is the best way to get on the team, OTZ also looks at a player's entire season and includes players who may not have even qualified for States because of unfortunate District draws.
The number of players included on this list will vary from year to year.
The OTZ Top Players Lists for 2024 were also updated. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. To see all of the players on one page, click on All Districts.
SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2024
OHSAA/OTZ Boys Season Calendar
The warm weather is already revving up OTZ usage. Match play is less than one month away so it is worthwhile to include a few key dates on your calendar now. The OTZ calendar includes a few additional dates that are important to tennis players, such as ACT / SAT test dates. While these dates are believed to be correct, always check with other sources before planning the rest of your life. The tennis dates should mimic the OHSAA Tennis Sports Calendar.
OhioTennisZone.com |
| March (Sa) 1-2: OTCA Coach Clinic (Chagrin Valley) |
| Mar. 8 (Sa): SAT Test Date |
| Mar. 10 (M): 1st Day of Coaching |
| Mar. 17 (M): Coach to Enter Match Schedule on OTZ |
| Mar. 22 (Sa) - Mar. 30: Easter Bowl |
| Mar. 23 (Su): Coach to Enter Roster on OTZ |
| Mar. 28 (F): HS Season Begins |
| Apr. 1 (Tu): Coach to Provide Team Picture to OTZ |
| Apr. 1 (Tu): Pay OTZ for Coach, Team, or Individual Membership |
| Apr. 5 (Sa): ACT Test Date |
| Apr. 14 (M): Non-Interscholastic Date |
| Apr. 20 (Su): Easter |
| May 3 (Sa): SAT Test Date |
| May 4 (Su): Sectional Tournament Draw |
| May 6 (?) (Tu): Waiver Extension Ends |
| May 11 (Su): Mother's Day |
| May 12 (M) -17: Sectional Tournament |
| May 19 (M) -24: District Tournament |
| May 29 (Th) -30: State Tournament |
| May 31 (Sa): State Team Tournament |
| Jun 7 (Sa): Season Ends |
| Jun 7 (Sa): SAT Test Date |
The boys season calendar is normally chaotic because of the weather and due to the timing of spring breaks. That will likely be the case again this year. The boys get far more time to prepare for the season than the girls, but the inclement weather always reduces the number of days that can be spent outdoors.
The boys can use waivers to play non-HS tennis during the season. The waivers should enable most boys to start the season on time (rather than waiting to play in a key tournament). Click for the OHSAA Waiver Request. Always (always, always) work with your coach, athletic director, and the OHSAA to insure that this waiver is completed well in advance and is done absolutely positively correctly.
Coaches, please do not remove players who have graduated from your roster. Fans like to see those who are no longer on the team as they compare this year's team versus last year's. Graduates will be removed by OTZ closer to the beginning of match play.
This calendar will remain in the right sidebar throughout the season.
THURSDAY,
Top Freshman Boys - Class of 2028
Below is a list of the top freshman players anticipated to compete in high school tennis this spring. This list primarily sources data from TennisRecruiting.net, with district and school details supplemented by existing knowledge and contributions from tennis enthusiasts. Once the players' high schools are confirmed, this information will be integrated into OTZ's Pre-Season Top Ten Team rankings.
OhioTennisZone.com
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| Player - TRN Stars | City (District) | School |
| Zayd Adi - 2 | Cleveland (NE) | Orange |
| Atreya Bhatt - 2 | Cleveland (NE) | Orange |
| John Tyler Bottleson - 2 | Montgomery (SW) | |
| Austin Bruey - 2 | Reynoldsburg (C) | Pickerington Central |
| Jake Critchfield - 2 | Dayton (SW) | Centerville |
| Ethan Deck - 2 | Loveland (SW) | Loveland |
| Jianhe Fu - 2 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
| Jonah Johnson - 2 | Monroe (SW) | St. Xavier |
| Anirudh Katta - 2 | Wadsworth (NE) | Highland |
| Gareth Kurowski - 4 | Cincinnati (SW) | Indian Hill |
| Timothy Lee - 3 | Dayton (SW) | Miamisburg |
| Logan McGurk - 1 | Perrysburg (NW) | St. John's Jesuit |
| Vivaan Moghekar - 4 | Chagrin Falls (NE) | Orange |
| Kahan Patel - 2 | Canton (NE) | Massillon Jackson |
| Parker Poole - 2 | Bellbrook (SW) | Bellbrook |
| Leo Qin - 2 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
| Michael Shope - 5 | Kettering (SW) | Archbishop Alter |
| Janek Teply - 4 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
| Brody Trubee - 2 | Xenia (SW) | 8th grader |
| Zoard Vasarhelyi - 1 | Westlake (NE) | St. Edward |
| Sathvik Velumani - 2 | Strongsville (NE) | |
| Evan Wong - 2 | Cleveland (NE) | Shaker Heights |
| Austin Xiao - 2 | Dublin (C) | Dublin Jerome |
| Ryusei Yamada - 2 | New Albany (C) | Now in Illinois |
Some of these freshmen will make immediate contributions to their teams, but high school tennis presents unique challenges for newcomers. They'll encounter seasoned upperclassmen, contend with unpredictable spring weather, and adjust to coaching styles that differ from those of their private tennis instructors. Moreover, as these young athletes continue to grow, growth spurts can temporarily disrupt the finesse of their strokes and footwork, adding an element of clumsiness to their game.
As is often the case, the strongest Ohio teams also get a nice influx of high quality players. That will be the case with Janek Teply (Mason) and Gareth Kurowski (Indian Hill).
This alphabetized list should be solid, but please let OTZ know if it is missing players who are currently listed as eighth graders or who are coming in from other states. This list may also include a player or two who are currently sophomores.
The Tennis Recruiting.net star ratings are included beside each of the players. The player links go to Tennis Recruiting.net.
Of the 24 players on the list, the Central District has three (five in 2024 and seven in 2023), Northeast - eight (seven in 2024 and six in 2023), Northwest - one (one in 2024 and zero in 2023), and Southwest - 12 (ten in 2024 and 2023.
Know of any changes? Please submit a Feedback. Special thanks to Rishi Mankala, Rich Boles, Brian Schubert, Marc Thomas, and Yoon Lee for their help.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26, 2025
College Tennis Matches Underway
The college indoor season is underway, and there are numerous ex-Ohio high school players competing. For the complete list of those competing, click on OTZ's College Tennis Report. This page includes the profile photos of OhioTennisZone.com members when they played high school tennis. It also includes links to each college tennis homepage. Please scroll down the page to see the college players who were not OTZ members. Just to be forward thinking, several high school players who are recruits are also listed.
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OTZ's College Report - Click to enlarge |
While the #3 ranked Ohio State Men's and #15 ranked women's team are fun to watch, there are plenty of opportunities to watch college tennis throughout the state. There are also a zillion Division 3 matches. Currently, the Case Western Men's team is #4 in the nation, Denison's men's team is #6, and Kenyon's men's team is #20. These matches make great team bonding trips, plus they provide high school players with insight on what skills are needed to play at a collegiate level. Ohio State does not charge for admission and it is doubtful that there are admission fees for other schools. As always, if your team goes to a college tennis match and I am there, please let me know and I will take your team's photo. (Note that OTZ's Kyle Gerber played for Case.)
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CSU's Franz - Click to enlarge |
OSU's Schoenly - Click to enlarge |
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OSU's Carpico - Click to enlarge |
Xavier's Temming - Click to enlarge |
The OhioTennisZone camera shutter has been clicking away at OSU matches and several of the better photos are listed to the right. There are also photos posted on the Ohio HS College Tennis Players photo page. Even more are posted on SmugMug for the OSU Men and OSU Women against Xavier and Cleveland State, respectively. Contact OTZ if interested in a photo.
For more information about college teams, Cracked Racquets does a nice job and so does the Intercollegiate Tennis Associate's WeAreCollegeTennis.com.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2025
Updated Rankings for Professional Players with Ohio Ties
With the Australian Open now underway, it is time for OTZ to begin preparing for the Ohio Boys Tennis Season. First though, OTZ updated the current player rankings of professional players with ties to Ohio. These players include those who were primarily raised in Ohio and those who competed at Ohio State.
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Navarro / Stearns Playing W&S Dubs - Click to enlarge |
At the top of the professional player list is Peyton Stearns. Stearns has a world ranking of 46, and in her most recent match, she was narrowly defeated by #8 Emma Navarro. The photo shows Navarro and Stearns teaming up for a doubles match at the Western & Southern in 2023.
The new addition to the list is OSU grad, James Trotter. Trotter just played in the Australian Open Qualifier.
Most of the other players on the list have had their rankings decline over the last few months.
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Ohio Pros - Click to enlarge |
This list is updated periodically on the OTZ College Report. It is located in the right-side navigation bar. There are links for every player on the list which take users to the ATP and WTA information. There are two players (Lauren Davis and JJ Wolf) who competed in Ohio high school tennis, and they are noted in the report by an "HS".
OhioTennisZone will likely look weird over the next few days as system maintenance takes place. OTZ needs to switch from PHP 8.0 to PHP 8.1, and this will generate system warnings and errors. These will hopefully be resolved in the coming days. If any information is missing, please send an OTZ Feedback message.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2024
OhioTennisZone Photos for Girls Season
This has been a busy fall for photos. OTZ traveled to 19 different matches and tournaments to talk with tennis players and fans and to take group and action photos. Almost 3,300 photos have been uploaded, and they are now available for viewing and (hopefully) for purchasing.
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#1: OTZ Photos for Purchasing - Click to SmugMug |
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#2: Tournament / Match - Click to view |
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#3: Location of File Name on Photo - Click to view |
These digital photos can be printed, added to Tennis-Recruiting.net and UTR, shared on social media, placed in digital picture frames, etc. They also make great Christmas and holiday presents.
OhioTennisZone uses SmugMug to house the photos and to make them easier to view.
The screenshots on the right take users directly to the screens shown. The first screenshot is the OTZ SmugMug site. From there, pick the tournament or match. After selecting the event, users may view a larger size of the images or return to the SmugMug Home Page for other matches or tournament photos.
Need help to determine in which event your daughter played? Enter a Feedback.
After finding a photo to purchase, the file name is provided on the photo in the third screen shot. It is DSC_2514.JPG. The file name is needed to place the order.
The great majority of these images have *not* been "enhanced" by OTZ. The final purchased photos will be color-corrected, cropped, and straightened. All will be in 5x7 dimensions unless asked to do otherwise.
The order will be fulfilled via email. Payment can be made via PayPal or check.
Some of the images will also be shown on OTZ under the player's OTZ profile.
Again, by clicking on each image above, it will take you to that specific page on SmugMug.
Please enter a Feedback with any questions.
There are substantial quantity discounts. Click for pricing at Buy an OTZ Tennis Photo. The pricing is in the right-side navigation bar.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2024
Final OTZ Rankings: Mason and Indian Hill at #1
Congratulations to Mason and Indian Hill. They finish the season at the top of the OTZ rankings. Also congrats to the other teams on the lists.
OhioTennisZone.com
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| 1. Mason◄TEAM Spots: 5 Final 4 | Indian Hill◄TEAM Spots: 2 Final 4 |
| 2. U. Arlington◄TEAM 2 Final 4 | Gilmour Academy◄TEAM 2 Final 4 |
| 3. Anth. Wayne◄TEAM 2 Final 4 | Orange◄TEAM 2 |
| 4. Centerville◄TEAM 0 | Hathaway Brown 1 |
| 5. Sycamore◄TEAM 1 | Hawken◄TEAM 2 |
| 6. Highland◄TEAM 1 Final 4 | Columbus Academy◄TEAM 1 Final 4 |
| 7. New Albany◄TEAM 1 | Chaminade-Julienne◄TEAM 1 |
| 8. Magnificat◄TEAM 2 | Cuyahoga Val. Christian Acad. 0 |
| 9. St. Ursula Academy 1 | Maumee Val. Country Day 2 Final 4 |
| 10. Hudson◄TEAM 1 | Columbus School for Girls◄TEAM 2 |
| HM: Massillon Jackson 1 | Miami Valley School 1 |
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available | |
Yes, these ranking lists are a bit cluttered, but they quickly show which teams participated in the Final Four (in red) and the number of "State Spots" (in gray) that teams earned. Hopefully this additional information will jog a few memories in the coming years. (The most memorable piece of information on this list for me is Mason's five spots for States, and that they won two State Championships.)
These ranking lists will also appear in the Home page sidebar for at least a couple of years
Upper Arlington edged out Anthony Wayne for second place by just a little. This was based on how they both did against Highland in the State Team Tournament.
In addition to the Matrix report, the OhioTennisZone.com Top Ten Girls Teams Report was helpful in identifying the top teams.
There are fewer Northwest teams using OTZ so not as much information is available for them. However, expect Maumee Valley Country Day to remain in the rankings next year since they are returning their three State qualifiers.
There will be at least a couple more OTZ updates before I shift to other things.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024
OhioTennisZone.com's All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team
Congratulations to the players selected for the OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio Girls Tennis Team for 2024.
OhioTennisZone's All-Ohio |
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Division I - Singles |
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 Maddie Peisley Sylvania Northview |
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Division II - Singles |
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Division I - Doubles |
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Division II - Doubles |
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 Ginevra Muratori Miami Valley School |
 Kennedi Washington Miami Valley School |
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The OTZ list is a bit different than the OHSAA All-Ohio team. While a player's performance at States is the best way to get on the team, OTZ also looks at a player's entire season and has on rare occasions even included players who have not qualified for States because of unfortunate District draws.
The number of players on the OTZ All-Ohio Team can vary from year to year based on the skill levels of the players. The normal barometer in measuring the strength of the All-Ohio team is to count the number of Division I college or high-end Division III players on the list. This year, there is only one. Last year, there were seven.
The number of Ohio D1 players on the OTZ All-Ohio team this year is six for D1 and five for D2. In previous years, it was the following for D1: 2023 - 7; 2022- 7; 2021 - 8; 2020 - 7, 2019 - 8, 2018 - 7, 2017 - 7, and 2016 - 6. The D2 teams have totaled: 2023 - 5; 2022 - 6; 2021 - 7, 2020 - 7, 2019 - 7, 2018 - 8, 2017 - 6, and 2016 - 6.
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 obtain an OTZ Player Profile.
The OTZ Top Players Lists have also been updated. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. To see all of the players on one page, click on All Districts. Note that there may be more tweaking to come.
As for photos.. I will be starting on those today.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024
OhioTennisZone Usage Report: Who, What, Where from?
What is accessed on OhioTennisZone and who accesses it? It is time for the seasonal usage edition. Read on to learn what areas of the nation access OTZ the most. Which players get the most views on their OTZ Player Profiles; and what team pages generate the most views. The usage covered is for the time period of August 1 to October 20, 2024.
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Upper Arlington - Click to enlarge |
Col. Academy - Click to enlarge |
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Mason - Click to enlarge |
New Albany - Click |
From the team page perspective, the Upper Arlington team page drew the most interest during the season. The other teams in the top ten (in rank order) were: Columbus Academy, Mason, New Albany, Massillon Jackson, Pepper Pike Orange, North Canton Hoover, Worthington Christian, Magnificat, and Dublin Jerome.
The eight players who had the most views of their OTZ Player Profiles are (in alphabetical order): Bexley's Amiya Bowles, Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett, New Albany's Airi Clements, Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell, Hawken's Dani Forte, Orange's Genevieve Hayden, Magnificat's Anna Mancino, and Indian Hill's Martha Thompson. Click on the player names above to view their OTZ Player Profiles. The parent associated with the Player Profile may view the total number of views since the Player Profile was created. The photos of the players may be clicked to enlarge them.
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Coffman's Burkett - Click to enlarge |
Orange's Hayden - Click |
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Bexley's Bowles - Click |
Mag's Mancino - Click to enlarge |
While it is unknown who specifically accesses each OTZ page, note that middle school players and parents are certainly big users. Teams need to think of these OTZ Team pages as advertisements for future customers (tennis parents and players). Of course, having an OTZ Team page for a private school is a complete no-brainer. Tennis parents value the education / tennis combination and if a school can attract a parent/player by using an OTZ $99 team membership who will then spend $65,000 over four years, that is a return on investment that would make a CPA hug him or herself with happiness..
The top pages accessed on OhioTennisZone (outside of this main page) are listed below and they are sorted in pageview order. The OTZ Personalized Report is what users see when they first login. The biggest usage day of the season was on the second day of States.
- Central Ohio Team Lookup
- OTZ Personalized Report (page presented at sign-in)
- Sign In Page to OhioTennisZone
- Girls State Draws-2024
- Northeast Ohio Team Lookup
- Girls State Team Tournament Draws
- Southwest Ohio Team Lookup
The number of users peaked on the day after the Sectional draws on September 23. Other days that brought the largest number of users were on September 10 and October 18 (second day of States).
Per Google Analytics, there were 32,000 users who accessed OTZ during the above time period. Note that the number of users, counts the number of devices that people use to access OTZ. For that reason, the actual number of users is probably about half of the above. Google made massive changes to their analytics software, so a year to year comparison is not possible this year since tracking did not begin until July 2024. There were 393,000 pageviews generated during the girls season.
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Ohio Usage - Click to enlarge |
The Central District had the most usage at 43%. They were followed by the Northeast - 28%, Southwest - 18%, Northwest - 8%, and Southeast 3%. Since more people are using VPN's to mask their location, these numbers may be less reliable.
OhioTennisZone is actively used in numerous states. After Ohio, the states are Virginia, Florida, New York, Georgia, and Michigan.
Yes, I once viewed Twitter (now "X") as largely a waste of time, but not now. It has become the best source of real news on the planet (but all news sources require reader skepticism). It is also a great way to draw people from X onto the OhioTennisZone web site by extending the OhioTennisZone brand. The top six OTZ tweets for the season are as follows. To see the actual "Tweet", click on the "[Tweet]" hyperlink. To return on OTZ, click on your browser's back button.
1. UA wins at 1st dubs. NA wins at 2nd dubs. 1-1 (My stomach won at the concession stand.) . [Tweet]
2. Bexley’s Amiya Bowles wins her third D2 State Singles Championship. She beat Orange’s Genevieve Hayden. [Tweet]
3. Mason will face Upper Arlington in the D1 Finals. [Tweet]
4. The first round of D2 is finished for the State Team Tournament. Gilmour Academy beat Columbus Academy and Indian Hill defeated Maumee Valley Country Day. GA will face IH in the finals. [Tweet]
5. This will be one of the biggest matches today in the entire state of Ohio. No pressure though. . [Tweet]
6. Hopefully just a slight rain delay… Sabalenka is leading Swiatek.[Tweet]
OTZ appreciates its sponsors and advertisers and absolutely more are needed. Please contact OTZ for more information. For more information about advertising, please submit a Feedback.
The orders are coming in for photos. Please get your order in soon.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024
OHSAA Tournament Championship Points
Three out of four of the championship points were captured this year. The Mason doubles match ended at the same time as the Gilmour Academy versus Miami Valley School match, and I was already setup for the ending of the D1 match. If anyone has video of the D2 doubles championship point, I would be happy to include it online.
Player photos are included at the end of the videos. There was also an extra point added when possible.
For best results, use full screen mode and increase the resolution to HD (for high definition).
Crank up the volume so that co-workers (or neighbors) stop by your office cube to see what is going on.
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Division I Singles: Mason's Addison Cassidy defeated Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell. |
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Division I Doubles: Mason's Emma Wagner - Pratyusha Chaudhuri beat Notre Dame - Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming - Ella Workinger. |
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Division II Singles: Bexley's Amiya Bowles defeated Pepper Pike Orange's Genevieve Hayden. |
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Division II Doubles: Gilmour Academy's Grier Peckham - Caroline Koch beat Miami Valley School's Ginevra Muratori - Kennedi Washington. |
There are always some scoring snafus found by coaches as they begin to print off their end-of-season reports. If results are incorrect, please provide:
- the *incorrect* match information. The error first needs to be located in the database and there are a zillion scores. Please include the date, the name(s) of all of the player(s) and their schools, and the score.
- then provide the correct match information which includes all of the above, but with the correct information
If the commentary is incorrect, please provide *when* the commentary was in error, the erroneous comments, and what it should be. Screen shots are always helpful.
Please keep in mind there are quite a few moving parts. The players could have reported the wrong score, the coach could have recorded it incorrectly, the newspaper may have posted it incorrectly, or maybe, just possibly, OTZ could have made an error.
OTZ is on the road today. It is past time that I get some work done up at the Findlay farm.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024
Mason and Indian Hill are the State Team Championships
Congratulations to Mason, the Division I team champion, and to the Division II champion, Indian Hill. Mason defeated Anthony Wayne and Upper Arlington to get the championship. Indian Hill beat Maumee Valley Country Day and Gilmour Academy. This was Mason’s eighth consecutive championship and Indian Hill's second. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Mason - D1 Champions - Click to enlarge |
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Indian Hill - D2 Champions - Click to enlarge |
On the excitement meter, this State Team Tournament was rated "good". It was great that the two best teams in each division met in the finals, and the weather was so awesome that fans were seeking shade under the trees. In the minus column, all of the team scores were 3-0's except for three 3-1's. Both of the Mason and Indian Hill championships were repeats, or in Mason's case re-re-re-re-re-re-re-repeats. Having Gilmour Academy, Highland, and Maumee Valley Country Day at the tournament were nice new additions.
Most of the singles matches involving the top players went unfinished. The exceptions were: Indian Hill's Martha Thompson defeated Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch; Mason's Pratyusha Chaudhuri beat Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley; Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch defeated Columbus Academy's Ella Tsao; Gilmour Academy's Grier Peckham beat Columbus Academy's Gabrielle Stewart and Indian Hill's Ayla Daoud; and Gilmour Academy's Caroline Koch defeated Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Mason won the "Holding the Banner the Levelist" award, but they have gotten quite a bit of practice doing this.
While there are no guarantees, Mason will be favored to get into the OTZ Top Ten again next year. They might even do ok in the State Team Tournament since they lose exactly zero starters from this year's team. Indian Hill will lose several key players next year including: Caroline Brown, Cassie Larsen, and Nayla Azarbeygui.
The championship points video edition will be tomorrow.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2024
Congratulations to the State Champions
Congratulations to all of the players who competed yesterday and especially to the State Champions. The weather conditions were perfect for tennis and evidently for bees as well.
It was a long day. Play wrapped up at 4pm which was the same time as last year's indoor tournament. In 2022, the tournament finished at 2:25pm.
As expected, play was more competitive yesterday, but in the D2 Singles semi-final match, it was epic. The match between Bexley's Amiya Bowles and Indian Hill's Martha Thompson was an amazing battle. The 9am match finally finished at 1pm with Bowles winning 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Click for the final OTZ Enhanced State Tournament Draws.
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Mason's Cassidy - Click |
Mason's Chaudhuri-Wagner |
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Bexley's Bowles |
GA's Peckham-Koch |
The State champions and the finalists are:
Division I Singles: Mason's Addison Cassidy defeated Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell.
Division I Doubles: Mason's Emma Wagner - Pratyusha Chaudhuri beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming - Ella Workinger.
Division II Singles:Bexley's Amiya Bowles defeated Orange's Genevieve Hayden.
Division II Doubles:Gilmour Academy's Grier Peckham - Caroline Koch beat Miami Valley School's Kennedi Washington - Ginevra Muratori.
In the District versus District competition, Southwest won with two champions. The Central and Northeast Districts both had one.
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This year's Wooster-area Weather |
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Last year's Wooster-area Weather |
The State Team Tournament takes place today at the College of Wooster. Just as you do with an eye exam, do you like the image above or the image below? Play was forced indoors last year to the Aspen Racquet Club. This year, we should be in great shape.
Other than mangling some of the names, the OTZ Top Picks for States video came out pretty solid. Watch for this paragraph to be missing after future state tournaments when the picks are mangled as badly as the names.
Tomorrow's update will be videos of the championship points. Videos were obtained for all but the D2 dubs match. If anyone was able to capture that point, please contact me via Feedback.
See you at the State Team Tournament.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024
Ready for Day 2 of States
Weather conditions could not have been more perfect yesterday for the first day of the State Tournament. Yes, it was chilly and the frosty conditions prevented fans from parking on the golf course, but that changed as the temps warmed. The competition ended at approximately 4:45.
As they were yesterday, click on the graphic below or use this link to follow the action throughout the day - OhioTennisZone.com/draws.
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Magnificat's Anna Mancino - Click to enlarge |
In the District versus District competition, the Southwest won with six semi-finalists, Northeast had four, Central had three, and the Northwest had three. We will see how the championship count turns out...
In the D1 matches, Sylvania Northview's Maddie Peisley defeated Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard and Kenston's Brooke McNeal; Mason's Addison Cassidy beat Perry's Fearon and Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett; Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell defeated Hudson's Emma Liu and St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon; and Magnificat's Anna Mancino beat Mason's Ana Gotike and Chillicothe's Bella Flores.
In Division II, Bexley's Amiya Bowles defeated Bryan's Caitlyn DeWitt and Hawken's Dani Forte; Indian Hill's Martha Thompson beat Laurel's Rida Tahir and Maumee Valley Country Day's Mari-Yona Shannon; Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock defeated Shawnee's Ava Patel and Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch; Orange's Genevieve Hayden beat Norwalk's Ana Osborn and Badin's Caroline Boyle. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
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State Draws - Click to draws |
Players in the Semi-Finals are:
Division I
Singles: Sylvania Northview's Maddie Peisley, Mason's Addison Cassidy, Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell, and Magnificat's Anna Mancino.
Doubles: Mason's Emma Wagner - Pratyusha Chaudhuri, Anthony Wayne's Mara Boyd - Cora Langenderfer, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming - Ella Workinger, and Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley - Alexa Roth.
Division II
Singles: Bexley's Amiya Bowles, Indian Hill's Martha Thompson, Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock, and Orange's Genevieve Hayden.
Doubles: Gilmour Academy's Grier Peckham - Caroline Koch, Miami Valley School's Kennedi Washington - Ginevra Muratori, Indian Hill's Caroline Brown - Cassie Larsen, and Ottawa Hills' Taylor Kayse - Bryn Tangeman.
See you at States.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2024
It's Time.
It's time for States, and more importantly, it's time to play this video. The weather should be perfect for competition. After a couple of days of rain, hopefully the grass parking lot is dry enough for parking. (This is why it is important that you arrive *after me*.)
Click on the image to the right or click on the ink below to go to the draws:
ohiotenniszone.com/draws |
State Tennis Draws - Click to enlarge |
The OTZ Enhanced draws will be updated throughout the day. The normal cycle is that I take a few photos, talk with a few people, update the draws, rinse, repeat.
While the weather will be perfect, the morning will be chilly. If warm-up balls were left in the vehicle overnight, that could be a problem. Tennis balls are less bouncy when temperatures drop below 40. In the FYI department, the 40 degree mark is no problem for a platform tennis ball. We play (outside) until the wind chill hits 10 degrees.
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Wooster-area weather |
Older information has been removed from the OTZ home page to help make it load faster.
See you in Wooster.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2024
OTZ "Top Picks for States" Video
It is time for another OhioTennisZone video. This video recognizes the players who are OTZ's top picks for States. The video uses a combination of OTZ action photos and videos that were taken over the last two years. Hope you find it to be interesting and informative. This will also help match a name with a face for those who attend States.
Click for OTZ Top Picks for States - Click for video |
Time frames are always super tight in creating these videos. This video was hammered out last night and super early this morning. I doubt that I ever will, but I would like to get to a 95% ok video level. This one is probably about 85-90%. It is really hard to become proficient in something that is done just three or four times a year, but I will keep trying...
For a better viewing experience, please click on the little gear thingy and select 1080p60 HD. The screen can also be enlarged by clicking on the partially completed "square".
Google will likely include advertisements with this and other OTZ videos. I do not have any control over who advertises, nor does OTZ benefit financially from these advertisers. The politician you dislike the most will almost certainly be one of the advertisers.
Please let me know if there are any inaccuracies - there always are and you always do. I do not purposely try to say names incorrectly. Really. I don't. I should establish some sort of prize for the player with the most mangled name. For consideration, please enter a Feedback.
It is fun to review older videos. Here are a few from both prior girls and boys seasons. Click for Girls 2020, Boys 2021, Girls 2021, Boys 2022, Girls 2022, Boys 2023, Girls 2023, and Boys 2024. Hopefully you will agree that the production quality has improved at least slightly over the years. At one point, I created "hype" videos for States but Google eventually prevented professional music from being used. That eliminated my interest. Perhaps with AI generated music, this will be possible again in the future. Here is one from Girls 2019. Tennis fans will recognize a few of these high school players.
The OTZ-Enhanced State Draws are still missing a few photos. Thanks to those who contributed photos of their players. It is not too late to add your player's photo..
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2024
Two More Days
Today's update will be quick. Normally there are a couple of State Team Tournament matches this week to talk about but the coaches promptly played them last week.
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Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin - Click to team page |
There are photos for all 96 players in the State Tournament draw except for two players. Hopefully those will come in today.
Please make sure that you include the following link on your phone so that you can follow all of the action during the tournament:
ohiotenniszone.com/draws
Today's featured team is Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. They are coached by Derek Kohanski. They are Team Members. They are led by Elena Fleming, Ella Workinger, and Lucy Paulin. Fleming and Workinger are playing dubs together in the State Tournament.
Today's OTZ efforts will be spent on the Top Picks for States video.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2024
State Draws Released
The OTZ-Enhanced OHSAA draws are now available. Click the image below to go to the draws. A link to the draws will also remain at the top of this page. These draws will be updated during the tournament
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State Tennis Draws - Click to enlarge |
For your own amusement, go ahead and print off the draws now from the OHSAA site. They often change and they already have. I have always wanted the OHSAA to include a version number or a date/time stamp, but that information was not included on this version of the draws.
Note that the Central District draws intially showed that Hilliard Davidson had won third place in D1 dubs. That was not the case. The Central District and State Draws have been changed to reflect this.
There are a few player photos that need to be added. Some have already been obtained - others will need to be acquired.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
Awaiting State Draws
Things will happen quickly now as the State Tournament nears. It is doubtful that the State draws will be released on a Sunday. Watch for them on Monday morning.
There is normally at least one State Team tournament held this week, but the coaches did a great job of finishing their Final Four matches last week. Of course the dry weather helped with that.
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Turpin's Alyssa Dittman - Click to enlarge |
Hopefully when the draws are released, they will be done correctly. Last year, most of us discovered that the draws had changed once again upon our arrival at the tournament. While the draws are updated with results throughout the day on OTZ, I had never had to change the actual draws from the road. That consumed about 45 minutes of my time as I sat in the car making database changes with my iPhone. Thanks to help from Mrs. OTZ back at OTZ headquarters in Columbus, I was able to make the changes.
Work on the Top OTZ picks for States video will begin today.
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Wooster-area weather |
It appears that the weather will be chilly but dry for States and the State Team tournament. A grass parking lot is used for the tournament. Hopefully the rain earlier in the week will not be an issue for the grass lot.
I am hoping for clear but hazy skies for States for photos. The sun as been extremely harsh for most of the fall. This means that I am largely limited to taking player photos on one side of the court and one court at a time. While the Lindner Family Tennis Center was spread out, I could easily zoom around from court to court and be on the side of the court of my choosing. No guarantees, but please let me know if you want a photo of your daughter at States.
Today's photo of Turpin's Alyssa Dittman was taken at the Southwest District tournament.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2024
Ready for States
Congratulations to all of the players who qualified for the State Tournament. The District Seeding rounds were played yesterday. The Northeast District also identified their 5th and 6th (in D1) state spots. Note that not all of the results have been posted by all of the Districts.
Player links will be added later this morning. Results from yesterday will also be added later.
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Central D1 Girls - Click to enlarge |
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Central D2 Girls - Click to enlarge |
Ohio Girls State Qualifiers in seed order are:
Central Division I
Singles: Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett, Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell, Chillicothe's Bella Flores, Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard.
Doubles: Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley - Alexa Roth, Upper Arlington's Ava Kramer - Danielle Ball, Hilliard Davidson's Mackenzie Kline - Madison Kline, New Albany's Sophia Bojko - Reava Desai.
Central Division II
Singles: Bexley's Amiya Bowles and Columbus School For Girls' Iva Karagirova.
Doubles: Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya - Sophie Wu and Columbus School for Girls' Priya Mehta - Victoria Dizon.
Northeast Division I
Singles: Magnificat's Anna Mancino, Kenston's Brooke McNeal, Hudson's Emma Liu, Massillon Perry's Haylee Fearon, Archbishop Hoban Haley Slay, Wooster's Ava Mathur.
Doubles: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming - Ella Workinger, North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil - Ema Papcke, Highland's Ally Haynes - Claire Schlak, Massillon Jackson's Ashley Helle - Isha Nagajothi, Magnificat's Margaret Williams - Corinne Daniels, Avon Lake's Elizabeth Meiners - Autumn Korey.
Northeast Division II
Singles: Orange's Genevieve Hayden, Hawken's Dani Forte, Perry's Audrey Austin, Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch, Laurel's Rida Tahir.
Doubles: Gilmour Academy's Grier Peckham - Caroline Koch, Hathaway Brown's Anna Mills - Ava Kamensky, Orange's Lily Guiler - Adele Tokmazeysky, Canfield's Hadley Moser - Whitney Miller, Hawken's Bella Hsieh - Valeria Kislyansky.
Northwest Division I
Singles: Sylvania Northview's Maddie Peisley and Anthony Wayne's Jillian To.
Doubles:Anthony Wayne's Mara Boyd - Cora Langenderfer and Perrysburg's Penelope Giammarco - Madison Watkins.
Northwest Division II
Singles: Maumee Valley's Mari Shannon, Shawnee's Ava Patel, Bryan's Caitlyn DeWitt, Norwalk's Ana Osborn.
Doubles: Ottawa Hills' Taylor Kayse - Bryn Tangeman, Maumee Valley Country Day's Layan Ridi - Sofia Avram, Port Clinton's Grace Arnold - Nora Pixler, and Lima Central Catholic's Claire Janowski - Alexa Heffner.
Southeast Division I
Singles:
Doubles:
Southwest Division I
Singles: St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon, Mason's Addison Cassidy, Mason's Saanvi Reddy, Mason's Ana Gotike.
Doubles: Mason's Pratyusha Chaudhuri - Emma Wagner, Mason's Bhavana Singidi - Adriana Moreno, Oak Hills' Renee Harper - Brooke Lint, Sycamore's Allison Sayles - Serena Sayles.
Southwest Division II
Singles: Indian Hill's Martha Thompson, Badin's Caroline Boyle, Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock, Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette.
Doubles: Miami Valley School's Kennedi Washington - Ginevra Muratori, Indian Hill's Caroline Brown - Cassie Larsen, Oakwood's Niobe Beiersdorfer - Mila Gelbart, Summit Country Day's Maggie Marburger - Katelyn Bastos.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2024
District Seeding Round
Most of the state will have the District seeding rounds today. The Southwest District was ahead of the curve and had theirs yesterday. Their list of State Qualifiers are now in seed order below.
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Southwest D1 Girls - Click to enlarge |
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Southwest D2 Girls - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players in yesterday's district competition, Indian Hill's Martha Thompson defeated Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock and Badin's Caroline Boyle; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon beat Mason's Ana Gotike and Mason's Addison Cassidy; Hawken's Dani Forte defeated Geneva's Mickey Zheng and Midview's Kat Yate; Orange's Genevieve Hayden beat Lakeview's Sophia Shuster and Hathaway Brown's Elizabeth Chen; Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch defeated Orange's Ivy Berlin and Laurel's Rida Tahir; and Perry's Audrey Austin beat Bay's Julia Mavis Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The State Qualifiers for the Northeast D2 District are:
Northeast Division II
Singles: Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch, Hawken's Dani Forte, Orange's Genevieve Hayden, Perry's Audrey Austin, TBD, TBD.
Doubles: Canfield's Hadley Moser - Whitney Miller, Gilmour Academy's Grier Peckham - Caroline Koch, Hathaway Brown's Anna Mills - Ava Kamensky, Orange's Lily Guiler - Adele Tokmazeysky.
The Northwest D2 players will be listed upon my return from the Central District Seeding round at Columbus Academy.
Thanks to Mason's Mike Reid for taking group photos of the SW District qualifiers.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2024
Upper Arlington in Final Four | NE D1 and SW State Qualfiers
Upper Arlington defeated New Albany in a tightly contested match under the lights to secure the Central District D1 Final Four spot. The field is now set for the State Team Tournament which will be held at Wooster. UA will face Highland in the first round. Click for OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws. To view the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock - Click to enlarge |
In the two singles matches that were completed in the UA/NA match, Upper Arlington's Alexa Roth defeated New Albany's Airi Clements and Upper Arlington's Kylie Husted beat New Albany's Valentina Suslova.
In the District tournaments, Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock defeated Indian Hill's Grace Nguyen and Summit Country Day's Jayden Puryear; Indian Hill's Martha Thompson beat Northwestern's Sadie Pilson and Cincinnati Country Day's Reema Arebi; Sylvania Northview's Maddie Peisley defeated Findlay's Caitlin England and Notre Dame Academy's Nora Johnson; Mason's Addison Cassidy beat Centerville's Hazel Rindler and Walnut Hills' Perasa Poompanti; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon defeated Troy's Nina Short and Miamisburg's Sophie Jovanov; Badin's Caroline Boyle beat Chaminade-Julienne's Francesca Gongora and Archbishop Alter's Annie Schaefer; Kenston's Brooke McNeal defeated St. Joseph Academy's Statsevych and Archbishop Hoban's Haley Slay; Magnificat's Anna Mancino beat Hudson's Mallory Hannan and Wooster's Ava Mathur; Mason's Ana Gotike defeated Northmont's Lily Braswell and Loveland's Marlee Fleming; Mason's Saanvi Reddy beat Centerville's Marissa Edwards and Ursuline Academy's Libby Goedde; Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette defeated Archbishop Alter's Lauren Phillips and Mariemont's Katie Tully. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The State Qualifiers from NE D1 and SW are:
Northeast Division I
Singles: Massillon Perry's Haylee Fearon, Hudson's Emma Liu, Magnificat's Anna Mancino, Kenston's Brooke McNeal, TBD, TBD.
Doubles: Highland's Ally Haynes - Claire Schlak, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming - Ella Workinger, Massillon Jackson's Ashley Helle - Isha Nagajothi, North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil - Ema Papcke, TBD, TBD.
Southwest Division I (seed order)
Singles: St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon, Mason's Addison Cassidy, Mason's Saanvi Reddy, Mason's Ana Gotike.
Doubles: Mason's Pratyusha Chaudhuri - Emma Wagner, Mason's Bhavana Singidi - Adriana Moreno, Oak Hills' Renee Harper - Brooke Lint, Sycamore's Allison Sayles - Serena Sayles.
Southwest Division II (seed order)
Singles: Indian Hill's Martha Thompson, Badin's Caroline Boyle, Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock, Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette.
Doubles: Miami Valley School's Kennedi Washington - Ginevra Muratori, Indian Hill's Caroline Brown - Cassie Larsen, Oakwood's Niobe Beiersdorfer - Mila Gelbart, Summit Country Day's Maggie Marburger - Katelyn Bastos.
After delaying today's update in hopes of including them, The Southwest District has still not posted their results. More will be added to this update as this information becomes available.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2024
Anthony Wayne in Final Four | Central Districts State Qualifiers
Anthony Wayne secured the Northwest D1 Final Four spot by defeating Perrysburg yesterday. The Central District D1 spot will be determined tonight when Upper Arlington hosts New Albany. This is the last Final Four spot to be decided. Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Arnie Jones
- Click to enlarge |
The Central District tournament was held yesterday for both D1 and D2 teams. The state qualifiers are listed below.
In the Anthony Wayne / Perrysburg match, Anthony Wayne's Mara Boyd defeated Perrysburg's Lillith Dunn and Anthony Wayne's Cora Langenderfer defeated Perrysburg's Erin Ross. To view graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
In the District tournament, Bexley's Amiya Bowles defeated Buckeye Valley's Molly Jones and Columbus Academy's Ella Tsao; Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett beat Olentangy Liberty's Sophia Ferrito and Watkins Memorial's Nora Grennan; Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell defeated Pickerington Central's Sasha Bondartsuk and Upper Arlington's Kylie Husted; Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard beat Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler and Gahanna's Daniela Guzman; Chillicothe's Bella Flores defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Julia Carpenco and New Albany's Airi Clements; and Columbus School For Girls' Iva Karagirova beat Beaver Local's Kara Wain and Columbus Academy's Gabrielle Stewart.
State Qualifiers (Players listed in alphabetical order.)
Central Division I
Singles: Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett, Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell, Chillicothe's Bella Flores, Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard.
Doubles: Hilliard Davidson's Mackenzie Kline - Madison Kline, New Albany's Sophia Bojko - Reava Desai, Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley - Alexa Roth, Upper Arlington's Ava Kramer - Danielle Ball.
Central Division II
Singles: Bexley's Amiya Bowles and Columbus School For Girls' Iva Karagirova.
Doubles: Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya - Sophie Wu and Columbus School for Girls' Priya Mehta - Victoria Dizon.
Central Division I
Singles: Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett, Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell, Chillicothe's Bella Flores, Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard.
Doubles: Hilliard Davidson's Mackenzie Kline - Madison Kline, New Albany's Sophia Bojko - Reava Desai, Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley - Alexa Roth, Upper Arlington's Ava Kramer - Danielle Ball.
Today's picture is of Arnie Jones. Jones is a tennis legend in Central Ohio and throughout the State. He ran more than 2.5 zillion tennis tournaments in Central Ohio, giving Ohio (and Midwest) players an opportunity to compete. He came out of retirement to run the Central District D1 tournament yesterday.
See you soon at the Southwest Districts.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2024
Mason, Highland, and Indian Hill Clinch Final Four Spots
Three more Final Four spots were clinched yesterday when Mason defeated Centerville for the Southwest D1; Highland beat Magnificat for Northeast D1; and Indian Hill defeated Chaminade-Julienne for Southwest D2 spot. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws for updated draws. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Mason - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Mason. They are coached by Mike Reid. They are Team Members. They are led by Addison Cassidy, and defending State Doubles Champions, Pratyusha Chaudhuri and Emma Wagner.
The Central District holds its Districts today. See you at the D1 matches at UA. I will be in Mason tomorrow.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2024
Districts Week
It is high anxiety time again today as everyone awaits the posting of the District draws. The Districts draws currently online include: Central D2, Northeast, and Northwest. Watch for the rest of the District draws to be released today. Links to the draws are posted above.
The Sectional seeding round results are online on OTZ, except for the Northwest District. Those results have still not been posted.
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Bexley - Click to team page |
Below are additional Sectional seeding results from the Northeast and Southwest Districts that were played on Friday / Saturday. Indian Hill's Martha Thompson defeated Indian Hill's Grace Nguyen and Seven Hills' Daniela Alper; Mason's Addison Cassidy beat Mason's Ana Gotike and St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon; Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch defeated Bay's Julia Mavis and Midview's Kat Yates; Orange's Genevieve Hayden beat Orange's Ivy Berlin and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe; Hawken's Dani Forte defeated Madison's Gabby Montez and Laurel's Rida Tahir; Badin's Caroline Boyle beat Summit Country Day's Jayden Puryear and Cincinnati Country Day's Reema Arebi; Kenston's Brooke McNeal defeated Kenston's Alex Ungaro and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Lucy Paulin; Hudson's Emma Liu beat Archbishop Hoban's Karlie Nicolae and Archbishop Hoban's Haley Slay; Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette defeated Chaminade-Julienne's Francesca Gongora and Northwestern's Sadie Pilson; and Ursuline Academy's Libby Goedde beat Turpin's Alyssa Dittmann and Loveland's Marlee Fleming. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
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Columbus-area weather |
Today's featured team is Bexley. They are coached by Heath Goolsby. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by two-time state champion, Amiya Bowles, along with Gabbie Theile and Myra Swartz.
The days of the week when Districts have their tournaments are normally the same each year, but they are different this year due to the timing of Yom Kippur. OTZ plans are to be at the Central Districts on Tuesday at Upper Arlington, the Southwest Districts on Wednesday at Mason HS, and the Central Districts again on Friday at Columbus Academy.
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Mason and Highland (H) versus Magnificat. The winners of these matches will represent their Districts in the State Team Tournament.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024
Ready for District Draws
It is time to wait for the release of the all-important District draws. It always takes some luck to get to States and this is where the real luck kicks into play. Some Sectionals are weaker than others, and players on the bubble hope to get the #1 singles player or doubles team from the weakest Sectional.
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Columbus School for Girls - Click to team page |
The Central District results are online - again - because I have a very slick way to enter them. OTZ plans are to get the results for the Sectional seeding rounds entered for the other Districts online, too. Coaches may supplement these results by providing scores for the other matches using the OTZ-approved format.
While entering the results for the Northeast District, I was very surprised to see that the NE District used a tie-breaker for the third set in the non-seeding rounds. The NE District also did this during the Boys season. Is this now permitted for the other Districts? The tie-breaker was not used in the Central or Southwest Districts. The weather was perfect last week so that was not an excuse to abbreviate matches.
Among the top players, Bexley's Amiya Bowles defeated Bexley's Gabbie Theile and Columbus School For Girls' Iva Karagirova; Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett beat Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell; New Albany's Airi Clements defeated Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard; Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell beat New Albany's Airi Clements; Magnificat's Anna Mancino defeated St. Joseph Academy's Melanie Lorenz and Amherst Steele's Kayla Bussard; Chillicothe's Bella Flores beat Gahanna's Audrey Goh and Gahanna's Daniela Guzman; Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler defeated Watkins Memorial's Nora Grennan and Worthington Kilbourne's Julia Carpenco; Columbus Academy's Gabrielle Stewart beat Buckeye Valley's Molly Jones and Columbus Academy's Ella Tsao; and Upper Arlington's Kylie Husted defeated teammate, Emily Lin. 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 Shelby Cheses. They are Team Members.They are led by Priya Mehta, Victoria Dizon, and Iva Karagirova.
OTZ will be checking for the District draws throughout the day. I will provide an update on X.com (aka Twitter) if a District releases its draws.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2024
Columbus Academy in State Team Final Four
Congratulations to Columbus Academy. They are the first team to reach the State Team Final Four. They defeated Columbus School For Girls last night. CA will play the winner of the Gilmour Academy versus Hathaway Brown match in the first round of the tournament. To view all of the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Dublin Scioto - Click to team page |
Today is Sectional Seeding day for most fo the state. Ohio tennis is fortunate to get to play on a beautiful day. It will be even better if the matches are finished by the time that Ohio State plays Iowa..
Among the top players, Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya defeated Columbus School For Girls' Victoria Dizon. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's featured team is Dublin Scioto. They are coached by CJ Juda. They are Team Members. They are led by Amelia Kunard, Emmy Evans, and Brylee Beveridge.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2024
OTZ Photo Friday
There were no dual match scores reported yesterday. There will be at least one State Team Tournament match tonight where OTZ #6 Columbus Academy takes on #10 Columbus School for Girls for the Central District D2 Final Four spot. Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws to see all of the results.
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Olen. Orange's Avery Reed - Click to enlarge |
There have been about 25 photos added since the last OTZ Photo Friday. The majority of the new images were taken at the Upper Arlington #1 Sectional. To view all of the photos, sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos.
The top photos are always being tweaked. To see the latest, click on Top Ten Girls Tennis Photos.Today's featured photo is of Olentangy Orange's Avery Reed, a senior.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2024
Ready for Sectional Seeding Rounds
The Central District and some of the other districts are finished with the preliminary rounds. After last week's rain, Ohio tennis is very fortunate to have this week of great weather. The Central District results are online and some of the other district results are starting to go online thanks to coaches providing this information.
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Worthington Kilbourne - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Worthington Kilbourne. They are coached by Stephen Metzmaier. They are Team Members. They are led by Tyra Butler, Julia Carpenco, and Georgia Brinegar.
Just one dual match is slated for today. It is Canal Winchester (H) versus DeSales.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2024
NDA Beats Toledo Central Catholic | Central District Sectional Results
The Central District Sectionals began under cloudy and drizzly skies. Almost all of the matches were played though. In dual match play, Notre Dame Academy defeated Toledo Central Catholic. To view yesterday's dual match results graphically, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Franklin Heights' Safourata Bah - Click to enlarge |
Bexley's Amiya Bowles did not drop a game in her two matches against Hartley's Mary Kate LeMay and River Valley’s Elise Osbourne in Sectional play. Other matches included: Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard defeated Olentangy Orange's Avery Reed; Notre Dame Academy's Nora Johnson beat Toledo Central Catholic's Traver in a dual match; Worthington Christian's Elise Bourgeois defeated Columbus School For Girls' Anna Papadakis; Hilliard Davidson’s Brooklyn Murlin beat Whetstone’ Mabellene McNamara; Bexley's Gabbie Theile defeated Worthington Christian's Tori Bourgeois; Pickerington Central’s Sasha Bondartsuk beat Hilliard Bradley’s Shriya Reddy; Columbus School For Girls' Iva Karagirova defeated Worthington Christian's Evie Bourgeois; and Bexley's Gabbie Theile beat Columbus School For Girls' Molly Robins. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The Sectionals are fun because there is an opportunity to see players that I have "seen" on paper but not in person. Today's photo is of Franklin Height's Safourata Bah, a senior. Check out other Sectional photos on Twitter (or X).
The Central D1 Sectionals will finish today.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2024
Upper Arlington Advances | Sylvania North Beats Ottawa Hills
The state started a few Sectionals yesterday. Many more Sectionals begin today. In the bigger dual matches, Upper Arlington defeated Hilliard Davidson to advance in the State Team Tournament and Sylvania Northview beat Ottawa Hills. Worthington Kilbourne defeated Thomas Worthington to win the Battle of Worthington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Dublin Coffman - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Dublin Coffman. They are coached by Brett Hundertpfund. They are Team Members. They are led by Lauren Burkett, Bethel Binyam, and Eknoor Kaur.
Good luck today!
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024
Sectionals Begin | Season-to-Date Report - GCTA Awards Banquet
Sectionals begin today in the Northeast and Southwest Districts, but not for all of the Sectionals within these Districts. Far more tournaments will begin tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will cooperate to allow Districts to get through the all-important, first two rounds.
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Season-to-Date Report - Click to enlarge |
The boys season is impacted by players who have to take AP tests which can greatly delay post-season matches. Thankfully the girls season does not have to deal with these.
With the season wrapping up for many teams this week, it is worthwhile to review one of the OTZ tools that coaches have to recognize their players. The Season-to-Date (or End-of-Year report) provides a great match summary for each player. A link to this report is available under the OTZ Personalized Report tab.
I spent most of the weekend handling tasks that I hate to do. One of which was recording those who have purchased an OTZ Membership. While it is great that many purchase a membership, it is a time-consuming task that I wish I could avoid. Along a similar line, if you have not paid for the girls season, please do so now. Your payment status is shown as you first login. If your status does not show that you have paid but you have, please email me. I do not want to turn off your OTZ access in error.
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GCTA Awards - Click to enlarge |
As many of you know, I have served on the board of the Greater Columbus Tennis Association for many years. This is a great organization that promotes tennis in central Ohio. To prepare for the awards banquet on Thursday, I was bugging our Executive Director, Linda Guyton, for the evening's program. When I did not receive it, I wondered if something was up. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my name was on the program as an award recipient. Other award winners were Arya Chabria and Yasemin Bilgin (Junior Female Players of the Year), Henry Lessard (Junior Male Player of the Year), Cindy Ferrara (Sharon Rusk Lifetime Achievement Award), Don Evans (Columbus Recreation & Parks Award), CeCe & Bob Loper (Family of the Year), and Dan Witteman (Terri C. Jones Promotion of Tennis Award). I received the GCTA Award of Appreciation. My roles have been to provide the previous web site, and I still take quite a few photos. Oh wait, now I have to process a ton of photos. .
From the "photos can be deceiving" department, I avoid the "wedge formation" when I take team photos because I want readers to be able to view the players from the same perspective. In this case, Henry looks pretty tiny and that is not the case. He was just the furthest away from the camera. As another potential point of interest, photographers can subtly sneak their political bias into photos using a wide variety of approaches (ie. background, lighting, camera lens distortion, etc.). Be aware of this during the political season.
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Columbus-area weather |
Today's matches include: Olentangy Orange (A) versus New Albany; Thomas Worthington (H) versus Worthington Kilbourne; and Highland (H) versus Western Reserve Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches. Note that many of these schedules were entered prior to the season. Always check first with a coach or player before traveling to a match.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2024
Ready for Sectionals (?) | OTZ Top Players
Hopefully the weather will clear and the state will start off with dry weather next week for Sectionals. It is key to reduce the field quickly because indoor facilities cannot handle the large number of players. Everyone starts out in the "State" tournament but single elimination narrows the field quickly.
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OTZ Top Players - Click to report |
OhioTennisZone is ready to roll to record the results for the Central District. I have a finely tuned process that utilizes a spreadsheet provided by the Central District that contains all of the players. Results from the other Districts need to be provided by the coaches using the following format. Since things can get very confusing very quickly, please do not provide results until your Sectionals reach the seeding rounds.
Significant changes were made to the OTZ Top Player and Watch Lists yesterday. While I mainly look at player results, I also care where players are ranked in the Sectional draws. Getting on the Top Players List is really tough. By the end of the season, it will include the top 20-25 players in the State. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
While there is never a good time to spill coffee on your desk, it certainly is not during the middle of a morning update as it was this morning. The good news is that I needed to clean my desk anyway. I also like the smell of coffee. Since I did not clean things off that well, I will get to enjoy the smell for a few days.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2024
Rain
Yesterday was about as much of a rainout as we have had this season. There was one tournament played so there are a few scores from Wooster players that were added.
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Lexington - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Lexington. They are coached by Jansen Webster. They are led by Jade Hunt, Ulo Ezike, and Lily Thomas.
Except for some Sectional draw prep, yesterday had too many interruptions.
Today's matches include: Worthington Christian (H) versus Western Reserve Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2024
Anthony Wayne Beats NDA | CA Defeats NA
Anthony Wayne defeated Notre Dame Academy to advance in the State Team Tournament, and Columbus Academy beat New Albany to win the Best Tennis School East of Columbus Award. (This is where the Academy parents ask the New Albany parents who won the match knowing that Academy won the match.)
The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Orange defeated Olentangy Berlin; St. Joseph Academy beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Perrysburg defeated Toledo St. Ursula Academy; Pickerington North beat Dublin Scioto; Eaton defeated Northwestern; and Mariemont beat Chaminade-Julienne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Hudson - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Hudson. They are coached by Tim Morgan. They are Team Members. They are led by Emma Liu, Mallory Hannan, and Bransyn Mathia.
Today's matches include: Oakwood (H) versus Springboro and Seven Hills (A) versus Ursuline Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
Centerville and New Albany Advance in the State Team
More rain hampered matches yesterday, but there were still several key matches that were played. Centerville defeated Sycamore and New Albany beat Dublin Jerome to advance in the State Team Tournament. In another big match, Mason defeated Indian Hill.
The close, 3-2 matches included: London defeated Canal Winchester and Newark beat Cambridge. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Centerville - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long. They are Team Members. They are led by Elise Hedrick, Eve Alappatt, and Reese Davis.
Today's matches include: Anthony Wayne (A) versus Notre Dame Academy; Columbus Academy (A) versus New Albany; and Massillon Jackson (H) versus Gilmour Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2024
Highland Beats Avon Lake to Advance
The rainy weather impacted matches throughout the state. Highland defeated Avon Lake to advance in the State Team Tournament. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hilliard Darby beat Jonathan Alder; Chillicothe defeated Jackson; and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin beat Chagrin Falls. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Loveland - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Loveland. They are coached by Jennifer Kapszukiewicz. They are led by Marlee Fleming, Laura Hiett, and Anna Proano-Raps.
The Northeast District Sectional draws are now available via the link above.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Sycamore; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Columbus Academy; and Solon (H) versus Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2024
Magnificat and Chaminade-Julienne Advance | New Rankings: Mason and Indian Hill Remain as #1's
In the State Team Tournament, Magnificat defeated Westlake, and Chaminade-Julienne beat Oakwood to advance. In one of the closest matches of the season, Hilliard Darby defeated Dublin Scioto. That match included three 3-setters.To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
OhioTennisZone.com
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| 1. Mason◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 2. Anthony Wayne◄TEAM | Gilmour Academy◄TEAM |
| 3. New Albany◄TEAM | Hathaway Brown |
| 4. Sycamore◄TEAM | Hawken◄TEAM |
| 5. Centerville◄TEAM | Orange◄TEAM |
| 6. Upper Arlington◄TEAM | Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 7. Magnificat◄TEAM | Chaminade-Julienne◄TEAM |
| 8. St. Ursula Academy | Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy |
| 9. Highland◄TEAM | Oakwood |
| 10.Perrysburg◄TEAM | Columbus School for Girls◄TEAM |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. |
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Among the top players, Eaton's Mallory Hitchcock defeated Miamisburg's Sophie Jovanov; Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett beat Olentangy's Harshini Mallipeddi; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming defeated Shaker Heights' Meredith Hurley; Highland's Ally Haynes beat Twinsburg's Olivia Prevette; Upper Arlington's Alexa Roth defeated Dublin Jerome's Ashna Kulkarni; New Albany's Airi Clements beat Gahanna's Daniela Guzman; Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler defeated Columbus Academy's Ella Tsao; Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette beat Oakwood's Mila Gelbart; Columbus School For Girls' Priya Mehta defeated Watterson's Julia Caravella; Shawnee's Ava Patel beat Notre Dame Academy's Nora Johnson; and Canal Winchester's Ava Griggs defeated Delaware Hayes' Tavi Steffel. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The OTZ Top Ten Team rankings have been updated.The big movers were St. Ursula Academy in Division I and Gilmour Academy in Division II.
The Northwest District released their Sectional draws late yesterday. Only the Northeast Draws are outstanding.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (H) versus Hathaway Brown; Oak Hills (A) versus St. Ursula Academy; and Hudson (H) versus Highland. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2024
Sectional Draws | Columbus Challenger
The release of the Sectional draws began yesterday. The Southwest District (except for Troy) was the first district to release their draws and the Central District followed soon thereafter. Links to the draws will remain at the top of this page.
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Naoki Nakagawa - Click to enlarge |
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James Trotter - Click to enlarge |
I plan to review the draws in more detail today, but Central's UA #1 Sectional is the super-Sectional for singles. The four seeded players in that Sectional will hope to reach States.
It is a little weird to see that the Central District for Division I will be hosted by just two locations - Upper Arlington and Pickerington Central. Hopefully it will not rain during Sectional week.
The Columbus Challenger finals were played yesterday at Ohio State's Ty Tucker Center. Naoki Nakagawa beat OSU grad, James Trotter, in the finals. it was a great match with Nakagawa winning 7-6, 5-7, 7-6. I counted approximately 65 people in attendance. It was a nice break for me from HS tennis. It is relatively easy to get great photos of professional players while the hardest is boys high school doubles. Boys are willing to make the trade-off of double faulting 2.4 zillion billion times (slight exageration alert) in order to get one ace.
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Columbus-area weather |
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Westlake (State Team match); Hudson (H) versus Hathaway Brown; and Columbus Academy (A) versus Worthington Kilbourne. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2024
UA Beats Oakwood | Mason and Anthony Wayne Win Tournaments
It was another beautiful, but hot day yesterday as many teams throughout Ohio competed in tournaments. Mason won the Flight A of the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Coaches' Classic, and Indian Hill came in second. This tournament has the longest name in the known universe and beyond. If they gave a plaque to the winner, it would not fit in any trophy case. In the Lexington Invite, Anthony Wayne edged out Centerville in a tie-breaker to win. In the only dual match reported, Upper Arlington defeated Oakwood, 3-2. To view graphical results from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Grove City - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Grove City. They are coached by Joshua Chandler. They are led by Reagan Worthington, Claire Donohoe, and Autumn Worthington. Grove City is the suburb that is located south of Columbus.
It was nice seeing everyone at the Lexington Invite. I have not had an opportunity to review the photos that I took, and that is partly because I am not looking forward to doing so. The harsh sun was horrible for taking photos.
Today is the Sectional draw. Good luck!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2024
Centerville Beats Lexington
It was a quiet tennis evening with many teams having homecoming games. Centerville defeated Lexington; Marysville beat Hilliard Darby; and Columbus Academy defeated Marietta. To view graphical results from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Delaware Hayes - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Delaware Hayes. They are coached by Dianna Hibinger. They are Team Members. They are led by Tavi Steffel, Reghan Gist, and Ava Vogel.
I will be headed to the Lexington Invite soon. Due to homecoming conflicts, only Lex, Coffman, Anthony Wayne, and Centerville will be there. Will this song be on the homecoming playlist tonight? Maybe. If not, Ba-dee-ya dee-ya, dee-ya..
Dual matches today include: Magnificat (H) versus Laurel and Oakwood (H) versus Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2024
St. Ursula Academy Beats Centerville | OTZ Photo Friday
In the biggest match of the evening, St. Ursula Academy defeated Centerville. The close, 3-2 matches included: Milton-Union defeated Greenville; Massillon Jackson beat Canfield; Tippecanoe defeated Beavercreek; and Olentangy Berlin beat Olentangy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Davidson's Mackenzie Kline - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Bexley's Amiya Bowles defeated Worthington Christian's Emma Flanigan; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon beat Centerville's Eve Alappatt; Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell defeated Olentangy's Harshini Mallipeddi; Olentangy Orange's Avery Reed beat Olentangy Liberty's Ferritto; Chillicothe's Bella Flores defeated Washington CH's Cambry Brown; Notre Dame Academy's Nora Johnson beat Findlay's Caitlin England; and Dublin Jerome's Ashna Kulkarni defeated Thomas Worthington's Neela Ramachandran. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today is an OTZ Photo Friday. Several of the photos are from this week's matches. This is the time of year where the sun is not as intense as it sets. Click for the OTZ Top Ten and sign-in first to view the Most Recently Added Photos. To purchase a photo, simply click on this SmugMug link and provide the file name of the image (i.e. DSC_1234) in a Feedback message.
Today's matches include: Avon (H) versus Western Reserve Academy and Centerville (A) versus Lexington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
Hawken, Mason, and CVCA Get Wins | OTZ Photos
In matches that involved ranked teams, Hawken defeated Magnificat; Mason beat St. Ursula Academy; and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated North Canton Hoover. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Gahanna; Copley beat Brecksville; Delaware Hayes defeated Hilliard Darby; Tippecanoe beat Northwestern; St. Joseph Academy defeated Amherst Steele; and Sycamore beat Oak Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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OTZ Photos on SmugMug - Click to SmugMug |
Among the top players, Hawken's Dani Forte defeated Magnificat's Anna Mancino; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon beat Mason's Pratyusha Chaudhuri; Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell defeated Hilliard Davidson's Mackenzie Kline; Oak Hills' Renee Harper beat Sycamore's Lisa Kai; North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe; Columbus School For Girls' Priya Mehta beat Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler; Worthington Christian's Emma Flanigan defeated Watterson's Julia Caravella; Copley's Cassandra Komlanc beat Brecksville's Sophia Liu; and Massillon Jackson's Ashley Helle defeated Solon's Olivia Liu. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus St. Ursula Academy; Worthington Christian (A) versus Bexley; and Olentangy Orange (H) versus Olentangy Liberty. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
More on Photos
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Iga Swiatek - Click to enlarge |
Iga Swiatek |
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Jessica Pegula |
Paula Badosa |
The Top OTZ Photos include quite a few pros at the beginning of each season as placeholders until more high school photos are taken. The top list will be changing tomorrow for Photo Friday. Before these photos leave the top list, it is worthwhile to point out how the pros differ than the rest of us. There are a zillion things that the pros do well. These pictures from the Cincinnati Open illustrate many of these.
Coiling: Pros don’t hit the ball. They explode into it. Their entire bodies are coiled to launch into the ball. Their racquet head speed is always high to provide pace and/or top spin. They will often leave the ground because of the upward thrust of their legs during the stroke.
Effort: The only thing that they care about is reaching that ball. Iga makes this abundantly clear.
Eye-on-ball / Head locked after the impact: I do capture eye-on-ball almost all of the time, but what I do not capture is how much their heads stay locked after they have hit the ball. They keep their heads very still.
Face: Concentration? Yes. Anguish or frustration? No.
If I have taken your daughter’s photo, review what is online on OTZ and on SmugMug. These photos may help you identify a problem with her stroke or things that she is doing well. After that, buy a photo or two or three. Also do not just think about how only you might cherish this photo – think about how your daughter’s children and grandchildren will like it. Everyone changes with age, and most of us wish we had more photos of ourselves in high school.
For those considering playing in college, note that college coaches can see a lot when they examine a photo. I try and capture good things about a player’s stroke and footwork. If you are not sharing these photos on TennisRecruiting.net, etc., you really need to consider doing so. Questions? Please submit a Feedback.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
Mason Defeats Sycamore | Upper Arlington Beats Dublin Coffman
In two of the more notable matches of the evening, Mason defeated Sycamore and Upper Arlington beat Dublin Coffman. The close, 3-2 matches included: Franklin Heights defeated Ready; Brecksville beat Medina; St. Ursula Academy defeated Ursuline Academy; Columbus School For Girls beat Worthington Christian; Highland defeated Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; Olentangy Berlin beat Marysville; Chaminade-Julienne defeated Miami Valley School; Dublin Scioto beat Big Walnut; Eaton defeated Valley View; and Newark beat Reynoldsburg. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy Orange - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Olentangy Orange. They are coached by Susan Storrer. They are Team Members. They are led by Avery Reed, Aaria Gala, and Meher Banta.
Two of the matches mentioned yesterday as being State Team Tournament matches were not. Note the updates in yesterday's posting.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Hawken; North Canton Hoover (H) versus Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; and Sycamore (A) versus Oak Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
Sycamore Beats Centerville | Chaminade-Julienne Defeats Oakwood
There was hope that Ohio would receive some rain from the tropical storm, but it looks like there will be more clear days to play high school tennis instead. Sycamore defeated Centerville and Chaminade-Julienne beat Oakwood in the State Team Tournament. [Update: These two matches were regular season matches - not State Team matches.] In another notable match, Worthington Christian defeated Olentangy Orange. The close, 3-2 matches included: Magnificat beat Westlake; Lancaster defeated DeSales; Jefferson Area beat Lakeside; Delaware Hayes defeated Big Walnut; Newark beat Westerville North; Mariemont defeated Oak Hills; Whetstone beat Thomas Worthington; Notre Dame Academy defeated Lima Central Catholic; Medina beat Rocky River; and Tippecanoe defeated Troy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click to view the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.
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Sycamore - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Sycamore. They are coached by Mike Teets. They are Team Members. They are led by Lisa Kai, Serena Sayles, and Allison Sayles.
Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (A) versus Upper Arlington; Highland (H) versus Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; and Magnificat (H) versus Archbishop Hoban. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2024
Sectional Draw Week | New Report
This is going to be a busy week. The Sectional Draws takes place on Sunday throughout the state. The goal for OTZ is to make sure that all of the scores are entered and that all of the Player Profiles are setup for members. The Top Player Report and Watchlist will also be updated. OTZ Team rankings will also be reviewed and updated.
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Same Day Match Report - Kilbourne - Click to enlarge |
The are numerous ways to see results online, but a new report was added over the weekend. This report provides the results as entered by the coach via OhioTennisZone. This view of the data provides more details such as tie-break scores and the first names for many players. It is available off of the Personalized Report which is the first page that members see when they logon. It is a variant of the Same Day Match Results report, but only for a specific team.
The overall goal is to reduce the amount of time that is spent on this website. That said, if there is a better way to present existing data, then that will be explored. Note that results submitted by coaches are occasionally corrected later and these scores will not be corrected on this report. There can also be duplicate scores if both coaches report results. When scores are corrected, the corrected scores are shown on the team report and on the player profiles.
This is another report that coaches could use to prepare for the Sectional draw.
This might be confusing so submit a Feedback with any questions.
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Columbus-area weather |
This looks to be yet another dry, hot week. Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Sycamore; Chaminade-Julienne (H) versus Oakwood; and Solon (H) versus Hudson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2024
Highland Beats Notre Dame Academy
It was a quiet day for dual matches. The three scores that were reported were: Massillon Jackson defeated Walsh Jesuit; Highland beat Notre Dame Academy; and Lancaster defeated Athens. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Upper Arlington - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Upper Arlington. They are coached by Shaun Stamps. They are Team Members. They are led by Alexa Roth, Alice Hawley, and Kylie Husted.
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Upper Arlington - Click to enlarge |
Players are not eager to look into the sun for the team photos, but the difference in quality is huge. Here is the photo of the players with the sun behind them. There is certainly less squintiness, but the colors are greatly diminished.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2024
Hawken Beats CVCA
There were just three matches recorded from yesterday. Hawken defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Massillon Jackson beat Notre Dame Academy; and St. Ursula Academy defeated Seven Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Mount Vernon - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Mount Vernon. They are coached by Steve Tier. They are led by Cameron Carlson, Addison Cooperider, and Natalie Gourley.
Today's matches include: Notre Dame Academy (A) versus Western Reserve Academy and Highland, and Massillon Jackson (A) versus Walsh Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2024
Anthony Wayne Beats Sylvania Northview
Sure, it's Friday the 13th, but everything will probably be ok - except for your backhand - but don't think about it. In yesterday's play, Anthony Wayne defeated Sylvania Northview and Notre Dame Academy defeated St. Joseph Academy. The close, 3-2 matches included: Gahanna defeated Westerville Central; Delaware Hayes beat Dublin Scioto; Newark defeated Teays Valley; Wadsworth beat Copley; Medina defeated Avon; Watkins Memorial beat Chillicothe; Columbus School For Girls defeated Bexley; Marysville beat Thomas Worthington; and Wooster defeated Uniontown Lake. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Wooster - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Wooster. They are coached by Cordell Smith. They are led by Ava Mathur, Hailey Jung, and AlyssaRae McIntosh.
OTZ plans are to catch-up on processing photos today.
Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (H) versus Notre Dame Academy and St. Ursula Academy (A) versus Seven Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2024
Mason Beats Centerville | Magnificat Defeats Massillon Jackson
OTZ #1 Mason defeated #4 Centerville and Magnificat beat Massillon Jackson last night. The close, 3-2 matches included: St. Joseph Academy defeated Avon and Watkins Memorial beat Bloom-Carroll. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Oak Hills - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Oak Hills. They are coached by Chase Pearson. They are led by Renee Harper, Brooke Lint, and Audrey Schnorbus.
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SpaceX - Click to team page |
If you thought that the SpaceX astronauts were bundled-up this morning, just wait until you see the Ohio high school girls when they get off of the bus for Sectionals. . Yes, this space walk delayed today's OTZ update so I had to find a way to include a photo of it in today's update.
Today's matches include: Anthony Wayne (A) versus Sylvania Northview; Olentangy Orange (H) versus Upper Arlington; and Watkins Memorial (H) versus Chillicothe. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Beats Walsh Jesuit
Due to the extremely dry conditions, the girls season continues to tally up far more matches than last year. In comparison to 2023, 29.9% more matches have been played. In two of the bigger matches of the evening, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Walsh Jesuit and Dublin Scioto beat Dublin Jerome. The close, 3-2 matches included: Dublin Coffman defeated Olentangy Orange; Canal Winchester beat Teays Valley; St. Joseph Academy defeated Strongsville; Seven Hills beat Cincinnati Country Day; Madison Senior defeated Valley View; Worthington Kilbourne beat Big Walnut; Chillicothe defeated Unioto; Lakeside beat Cleveland Heights; and Loveland defeated Turpin. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Gilmour Academy - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett defeated Olentangy Orange's Avery Reed; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon beat Mount Notre Dame's Charlotte Scharfenberger; Magnificat's Anna Mancino defeated Western Reserve Academy's Riya Hegde; Upper Arlington's Alexa Roth beat Olentangy Liberty's Ferritto; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe defeated Walsh Jesuit's Laura Stephens; Loveland's Marlee Fleming beat Turpin's Alyssa Dittmann; Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard defeated Dublin Jerome's Chetana Killada; Medina's Megan Nuske beat Revere's Gabi Iler; Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler defeated Big Walnut's Anna Swager; Seven Hills' Daniela Alper beat Cincinnati Country Day's Reema Arebi; and St. Joseph Academy’s Melanie Statsevych defeated Strongsville’s Mallory Koch. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
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Claudia Althans - Click to enlarge |
Today's featured team is Gilmour Academy. They are coached by Claudia Althans. They are Team Members, and they are led by Abigail Lynch, Caroline Koch, and Grier Peckham. Coach Althans was the subject of one of the best OTZ photos in 2016 when she played for Gilmour Academy.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Mason; Magnificat (A) versus Massillon Jackson; and Chaminade-Julienne (A) versus Mariemont. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
Gilmour Academy Beats Hathaway Brown | Centerville Defeats Ursuline Academy
There will be more shuffling in the OTZ Top Ten Team Rankings after yesterday's matches. #5 Gilmour Academy defeated #3 Hathaway Brown. In the State Team Tournament, Centerville defeated Ursuline Academy. The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Liberty beat Olentangy Berlin; Medina defeated Strongsville; Oak Hills beat Walnut Hills; and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy defeated Loveland. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Franklin Heights - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Franklin Heights. They are coached by James Wassmuth. They are led by Safourata Bah and Vonnie Chum.
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Columbus-area weather |
Hopefully we will get some rain this week from Tropical Storm Francine.
Today's matches include: Hudson (A) versus Gilmour Academy; Columbus Academy (A) versus Bexley; and Anthony Wayne (H) versus Findlay. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
OTZ College Report
The OhioTennisZone.com College Report is now available. This report lists the Ohio high school tennis players who are competing in college. It is not all-inclusive. If a player was a OTZ-paying member (or playing under a Team Membership), he/she absolutely should be included in this report. If not, she will likely not be included. (Some are included at the bottom of the report.) This is a very time consuming report to create for a number of reasons. They include: kids stop playing college tennis, players switch teams, URL's for teams change, etc.
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College Report - Click to view |
There are 109 college players and 2 recruits in the report. There are 44 men and 67 women competing.
The breakdown by class are: Freshman - 36, Sophomore - 21, Junior - 24, Senior - 26, and Graduate Student - 2. There are also two recruits listed, and that number will, of course, grow.
Sources for this information include the players themselves (and/or their parents) and TennisRecruiting.net.
While it is time consuming to create it, it is also very time consuming for users to review. Player appearance can change quite a bit from high school tennis to college so that is fun to see, and it is interesting to see the college majors the players have chosen. As many would expect, the goals of these players are high.
It is also worthwhile to see how many players are on a team. If there are 20+ players, would your child get to play? Finances are tight at many D3 colleges, and I suspect that some teams are encouraged to recruit players simply to pay tuition dollars. A friend of mine has a son on a D3 football team. That team has 178 players. There are four #10's, four #15's, and four #32's. I guess it is good that they did not use decimal places or three digit numbers. . (As a comparison, Ohio State has 123 players on their roster.)
Another consideration.. U.S. D1 college tennis has morphed into benefiting non-U.S. kids more than U.S. kids. Is your U.S. kid on a team to play, or to be the "U.S. player" on a foreign team?
While there are negatives, there are absolutely many, many benefits to playing college tennis. The coach is going to keep his/her players on task on the court and in the classroom. I doubt that there is a better peer group of friends on campus. Players can improve their tennis games and stay fit. Our son played college tennis and it worked out great for him. While he does not play much tennis anymore, I greatly appreciate his platform tennis skills when he is my partner.
It has always been a bit weird to me, because I will have parents who have never been OTZ members, reach out to me and request that their son or daughter be included in this report. Please don't be that parent..
Every year I tell myself that I will never do this report again. Yet, here we are. Again.
Today's matches include:Columbus Academy (H) versus Dublin Jerome and Dublin Coffman (A) versus Dublin Scioto. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2024
Coffman and NA Beat Indian Hill | Anthony Wayne Defeats Magnificat
It was a busy tennis day that included numerous good dual matches. New Albany and Dublin Coffman both defeated Indian Hill, but IH did not have their best player. #2 Anthony Wayne beat #7 Magnificat. The close, 3-2 matches included: Toledo St. Ursula Academy defeated North Canton Hoover; Notre Dame Academy beat North Canton Hoover; and Magnificat defeated Notre Dame Academy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. They are coached by David Ramey. They are led by Amy Grace Beebe, Delanie Moore, and Kyla Moore.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2024
Sylvania Northview Beats North Canton Hoover
Thankfully, much of Ohio finally got some rain yesterday. It did impact the tennis schedule though. Just two matches were recorded - Sylvania Northview defeated North Canton Hoover and Loveland beat Lebanon. To view the graphical results, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Olentangy Berlin - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Olentangy Berlin. They are coached by Richard Hunt. They are Team Members. They are led by Soleil Cordell, Diya Agochiya, and Riddhi Agarwal.
The Berlin photo is certainly one of the best of the season with the way in which it includes all of the various shades of blue. Note that OTZ did not take this photo. When the photographer is known, it will be included after the copyright. If the photographer is unknown, the copyright will be before OhioTennisZone.com. Given how crazy things are with AI, I do not want to post any team photos without a copyright. Photos taken by OTZ will be identified by © Scott Gerber.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Notre Dame Academy and Anthony Wayne; Indian Hill (A) versus Dublin Coffman and New Albany; and North Canton Hoover (A) versus Toledo St Ursula Academy and Notre Dame Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024
Gilmour Academy, Magnificat, Jackson, and CJ Get Big Wins
With the Sectional Draw coming up quickly on September 22, Ohio HS tennis continues to zoom along. In contests that included the state's best teams, Gilmour Academy defeated Hawken; Magnificat beat Hudson; Massillon Jackson defeated Highland; and Chaminade-Julienne beat Seven Hills. CJ's win over 7Hills was an OTCA match.
The close, 3-2 matches included: Olentangy Orange defeated Hilliard Davidson; Reynoldsburg beat Logan; Worthington Kilbourne defeated Delaware Hayes; Troy beat Miamisburg; Lakeside defeated Riverside Painesville; Eaton beat Carlisle; Pickerington Central defeated Lancaster; and Columbus School For Girls beat Upper Arlington-B. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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States' Top Players |
Among the top players, Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sophia Mattis; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming beat Laurel's Rida Tahir; Magnificat's Anna Mancino defeated Hudson's Mallory Hannan; Gilmour Academy's Abigail Lynch beat Hawken's Dani Forte; Olentangy Orange's Avery Reed defeated Hilliard Davidson's Mackenzie Kline; Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette beat Seven Hills' Daniela Alper; Medina's Megan Nuske defeated Copley's Cassandra Komlanc; Highland's Ally Haynes beat Massillon Jackson's Ashley Helle; Marysville's Linnea Olofsson defeated Dublin Jerome's Ashna Kulkarni; and Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler beat Delaware Hayes' Tavi Steffel. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
I have created this graphic for the HS tennis and pickleball seasons for the last few years. While its release this season is about 3-4 weeks later than preferred, I still thought that it was important to do. It is also fun to go back and review graphics done for previous seasons - Girls: 2023, 2022 - Boys: 2023, 2022, 2021. It is difficult to determine the 12 players who should be included. Seniors get the nod if it is close.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Upper Arlington; North Canton Hoover (A) versus Sylvania Northview; and Solon (H) versus Western Reserve Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024
Sycamore Beats Chaminade-Julienne
Due primarily to the weather, the number of dual matches recorded on OTZ continues to compare favoriably versus last year's. About 20% more matches have been recorded versus the 2023 season. The Central District has the most matches online at 35% versus the Southwest at 32%, Northeast at 27%, and the Northwest at 6%.
In the biggest match of the evening, Sycamore defeated Chaminade-Julienne. Other close, 3-2 matches included: Worthington Christian defeated Wellington; Loveland beat Springboro; Tippecanoe defeated Eaton; Gahanna beat Lancaster; Bexley defeated Pickerington Central; Massillon Jackson beat Wooster; Watkins Memorial defeated Big Walnut; Hartley beat Canal Winchester; Walsh Jesuit defeated St. Joseph Academy; and Delaware Hayes beat Reynoldsburg. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Anthony Wayne - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Anthony Wayne. They are coached by Jill Feltner. They are Team Members. They are led by Mara Boyd, Jillian To, and Cora Langenderfer.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Hudson; Wooster (A) versus Hawken; and Highland (H) versus Massillon Jackson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2024
Big Wins by HB, Magnificat, and Columbus Academy
There were several great matches among the top teams in the state yesterday. They included: Hathaway Brown defeated Orange; Magnificat beat Highland; and Columbus Academy defeated Columbus School For Girls. The HB versus Orange match included three 3-setters, and it was tied 2-2 when the match was clinched on third singles. Orange actually won more games -- 66 games to HB’s 61.
The close, 3-2 matches included: Cincinnati Country Day defeated Loveland; Massillon Jackson beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Medina defeated St. Joseph Academy; Worthington Kilbourne beat Dublin Scioto; and Franklin Heights defeated Grandview; Hilliard Davidson beat Olentangy Liberty; and Greenville defeated West Carrollton. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Columbus Academy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Preston Eberlyn. They are Team Members. They are led by Tamanna Arya, Ella Tsao, and Audrey Lu.
Zoey, the dog, will have CCL surgery next week. This is the human equivalent to an ACL. This is apparently a hereditary issue since Mrs. OTZ also had ACL surgery..
Today's matches include: Chaminade-Julienne (H) versus Sycamore; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Olentangy Berlin; and Centerville (A) versus Oakwood. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2024
Milly
Zoey the dog tore her ACL on Saturday so it is time for the next pet up.. It is time for Milly the Farm Kitty. We found her abandoned by her mother at the Findlay farm on August 18 when we went up to mow. She was meowing profusely. While I was mowing, Milly made a impassioned plea to Mrs. OTZ to come home with us to Columbus. That plea was evidently successful because as I finished mowing, Mrs. OTZ was observed carrying a big basket to our vehicle. As for the name of the kitten, my grandmother was named Mildred, and she loved cats. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done to make Mildred sound cute so OTZ Marketing came up with the name of Milly. (This is the first good idea to come from the OTZ Marketing department in 12 years.)
Milly - Click for video |
While she may get additional responsibilities at some point , Milly is the Director of Extremely Cute Animals. Some may criticize OTZ for what appears to be a blatant DEI hire since we have a dog, but most will agree that Milly satisfies the merit requirements. Zoey's role of being Chief Morale Officer has not changed, but Milly will assist with exercising the OTZ staff, especially as she becomes faster. Hopefully, we'll get Zoey into surgery this week. Please welcome Milly to the OTZ staff.
Milly has been watching this video on a loop for hours as she prepares for her first full ten minutes of work today.
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Columbus-area weather |
This abnormally dry weather has been brutal for farmers but it has been helpful in scheduling matches. Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Highland; Columbus Academy (A) versus Columbus School For Girls; and Oakwood (A) versus Miami Valley School. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
OTZ Top Ten Teams: Mason (D1) and Indian Hill (D2) Lead the Rankings
OTZ has been in massive catch-up mode for months. The boys tennis season was not wrapped up properly and neither was the summer pickleball league. While there is still work that must be done with both of those seasons, the girls season was also not properly started. Regular readers may have noticed that there was no OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Team Ranking. While it is too late to have a Pre-Season ranking, there is an early-season OTZ Top Ten Ranking that is being released today.
OhioTennisZone.com
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| 1. Mason◄TEAM | Indian Hill◄TEAM |
| 2. Anthony Wayne◄TEAM | Orange◄TEAM |
| 3. New Albany◄TEAM | Hathaway Brown |
| 4. Centerville◄TEAM | Hawken◄TEAM |
| 5. Sycamore◄TEAM | Gilmour Academy◄TEAM |
| 6. Upper Arlington◄TEAM | Columbus Academy◄TEAM |
| 7. Magnificat◄TEAM | Chaminade-Julienne◄TEAM |
| 8. Hudson◄TEAM | Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy |
| 9. Highland◄TEAM | Oakwood◄TEAM |
| 10. Dublin Jerome | Columbus School for Girls◄TEAM |
| HM: Dublin Coffman ◄TEAM | |
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information. |
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This is not a typical ranking. For alert readers who followed the Top Incoming Freshman players information, it was clear that there would be unfamiliar teams added to the rankings this season. There was also a mass exodus of high-quality graduating seniors. Teams that are either much higher than in the past or are new to the list in D1 include: Anthony Wayne, Hudson, and Highland. Unfamiliar D2 teams include: Hawken, Gilmour Academy, Chaminade-Julienne, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Oakwood, and Columbus School for Girls. Click on the above links to become more familiar with these teams.
While Mason is highly favored to win D1, D2 is going to be much closer. The Northeast District D2 is super competitive this year.
OTZ uses the Matrix Report to evaluate teams, but also the super-duper powerful, Top Ten Teams Report. This should be a premium report, but it is currently available for anyone to view. Note that the "percentages" refer to the percentage of games won in that match. If numbers scare you, this is not the report for you..
Numerous teams have been slow to play in good quality matches. Hopefully that will change this week. Expect some teams to move up (or down) quickly because of this. Also note that some coaches do not report all of their teams' matches, and the reason might be because they do not want to "tip off" opposing coaches of their line-ups. Of course, this is maddening to kids (and their parents) who deserve recognition for their efforts. Can you imagine a football coach not reporting touchdowns or yards gained by a star player because they want to hide this information? Yeah, Johnny Quest could have been Ohio's Mr. Football this year, but his coach underreported his yardage to give the team an edge over their battle against Bloomingburg . . Because it might be awkward for you to complain, note that I am more than happy to contact an athletic director if your coach is not reporting scores.
In the past, OTZ has described Twitter (now "X") as largely an entertaining time-sink. That opinion has changed. X has now become the go-to place for news - as long as users follow a variety of sources. Amazingly, free speech is under attack by many western nations, including the U.S. X is the place to get a variety of perspectives often by people who are just like you and me. Of course, always be skeptical of any information that you receive, especially from OhioTennisZone.. Sign-up for X now.
While today's OTZ plans were to watch US Open coverage while working on HS tennis, those plans came to an abrupt end yesterday. DIRECTV and ESPN cut off my access. While I may get more work done today, I will not be happy about it.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2024
Columbus Academy Beats Massillon Jackson | Magnificat Defeats Toledo SUA
Despite the holiday weekend, there were still numerous matches played yesterday. Columbus Academy defeated Massillon Jackson and Magnificat beat Toledo St. Ursula Academy. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Magnificat - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Magnificat. They are coached by Chris Johnson. They are Team Members. They are led by Anna Mancino, Corinne Daniels, and Margaret Williams.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2024
Delaware Hayes Beats Chillicothe | Oak Hills Defeats Hamilton
It was a quiet evening for tennis and a big night for HS football. Delaware Hayes defeated Chillicothe in the State Team Tournament, and Oak Hills beat Hamilton. To view the results recorded from yesterday in graphical form, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click to view the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws
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Westerville Central - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Westerville Central. They are coached by Bradley Baker. They are led by Karina Pingarron, Camryn Pho, and Candice Pho.
Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Massillon Jackson and Lexington; Hilliard Davidson (H) versus Massillon Jackson; and Magnificat (H) versus St. Ursula Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2024
Jerome Beats Coffman | HB Defeats Solon
There were more crazy hot temperatures yesterday. Hopefully temps will reset over the weekend. Dublin Jerome defeated Dublin Coffman and Hathaway Brown beat Solon in two of the bigger matches of the evening. The close, 3-2 matches included: Gahanna defeated Dublin Scioto; Archbishop Alter beat Springboro; Gilmour Academy defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Hudson beat Medina; Olentangy Orange defeated Pickerington North; Copley beat Stow-Munroe Falls; and St. John School defeated Lakeside. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Lakeside - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Lakeside. They are coached by Spencer Selman. They are led by Ary Toth, Layla Jones, and Jackie Perez.
The plan was to make today a Photo Friday, but today's update went poorly. This weekend will be a massive catch-up effort. The boys season was never finished to my satisfaction. The Top Teams in each division will be ranked. More tennis photos will be posted. I also need to wrap up the summer pickleball season. The daily update process is suddenly not working as it should - why?
Just one match is on the schedule tonight. It is Delaware Hayes (H) versus Chillicothe.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2024
Chaminade-Julienne Beats Springboro | NDCL Defeats CVCA
This miserably hot weather is more condusive to mall-walking than tennis. In two good matches, Chaminade-Julienne defeated Springboro and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. In another close, 3-2 match, Westerville Central defeated Worthington Kilbourne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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DeSales - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is DeSales. They are coached by Arturo Sanabria. They are led by Natalie Everitt, Sanaa Lisath, and Pauline Gyamfi.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Indian Hill; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Dublin Jerome; and Solon (H) versus Hathaway Brown. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2024
Toasty | Orange Beats Magnificat | New Albany Defeats Coffman
Last night was a toasty evening and today will be worst. Some teams will adjust their schedules to avoid the heat. Today's high in Central Ohio is expected to be 95 degrees. In the two biggest matches yesterday, Orange defeated Magnificat and New Albany beat Dublin Coffman. The close, 3-2 matches included: Carroll defeated Stebbins; Ashland beat Wooster; London defeated Kenton Ridge; Springboro beat Miamisburg; and Northwestern defeated Kenton Ridge. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Sylvania Northview - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Sylvania Northview. They are coached by Mark Fisher. They are led by Maddie Peisley, Reese Lambert, and Claire Lapointe.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Sycamore; Chaminade-Julienne (A) versus Springboro; and Dublin Jerome (H) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches. Always check first to insure that there are no scheduling changes.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2024
Orange Beats Hawken | High Temps
The state continues to get hit with excessive heat. Please stay safe out there. In match play, two of the top teams in D2 faced off yesterday and Orange defeated Hawken. The close, 3-2 matches included: Whetstone defeated Hilliard Darby; Aurora beat Copley; Lakeside defeated Jefferson Area; and North Canton Hoover beat Uniontown Lake. In the State Team Tournament, Oakwood defeated Cincinnati Country Day. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Notre Dame Academy - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Notre Dame Academy. They are coached by Kim Pacella. They are Team Members. They are led by Nora Johnson, Catherine Tohme, and Hannah Tam.
After geting tied up with other things on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, this will finally be a day where I can focus on OTZ for much of the day.
Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus New Albany; Indian Hill (A) versus Mariemont; and Olentangy Orange (A) versus Olentangy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2024
Hot Dry Weather
While the dry weather has been helpful from a tennis match perspective, it has not been good for farmers and lawn enthusiasts. Hopefully, we will get a break from the hot dry conditions this week.
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Avon - Click to team page |
A few coaches used the weekend to catch-up on scores. These results are not mentioned in the daily update, but they are included in the team reports. To view all of the results, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.Today's featured team is Avon. They are coached by Eric Korey. They are led by Ashley DeHaven, Maddie Heun, and Teresa Sherwood.
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Columbus-area weather |
Today's matches include: Magnificat (H) versus St. Joseph Academy; Marysville (A) versus Hilliard Davidson; and Dublin Jerome (A) versus Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2024
NA > Sycamore > Perrysburg
There were several interesting dual matches yesterday. Perrysburg and Sycamore traveled to New Albany for the contests. New Albany defeated Sycamore; Sycamore beat Perrysburg; and New Albany defeated Perrysburg. To view the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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New Albany - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is New Albany. They are coached by Marc Thomas. They are Team Members. They are led by Airi Clements, Ella Smith, and Valentina Suslova.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2024
Seven Hills Beats Tippecanoe in State Team Tournament
It was a quiet evening as high school football kicked into gear. Football is another sport that is played in the fall. Matches from last night included: Hudson defeated St. Joseph Academy; Turpin beat Loveland; and Seven Hills defeated Tippecanoe. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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London - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is London. They are coached by Alisha Nolan. They are led by Calleigh Cameron and Alaina Tate. London is west of Columbus.
Wish I could check out some matches today, but we are off to work at our Findlay farm. It will be a beautiful day to do that, too.
Today's matches include: Sycamore (A) versus New Albany and Perrysburg and Magnificat (T) versus Canfield. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2024
Highland Beats Kenston | Indian Hill Defeats Oakwood | Photo Friday
More great weather yesterday meant a time-consuming OTZ update this morning. There were 41 scores added. Since high school football begins tonight, there will be very few matches reported tomorrow. In the biggest matches of the evening, Highland defeated Kenston and Indian Hill beat Oakwood. The close, 3-2 matches included: Ready defeated Grandview; Seven Hills beat Seton; Thomas Worthington defeated Canal Winchester; Bexley beat Buckeye Valley; and Olentangy Liberty defeated Worthington Kilbourne. This is generally the time of the season where there are more one-sided league matches. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Coffman's Lauren Burkett - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Martha Thompson defeated Oakwood's Mila Gelbart; Dublin Coffman's Lauren Burkett beat Watterson's Julia Caravella; Badin's Caroline Boyle defeated Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette; Kenston's Brooke McNeal beat Highland's Ally Haynes; St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon defeated Mount Notre Dame's Charlotte Scharfenberger; North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil beat Brecksville's Sophia Liu; Upper Arlington's Alexa Roth defeated Olentangy's Harshini Mallipeddi; Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard beat Marysville's Linnea Olofsson; Perrysburg's Penelope Giammarco defeated Toledo Central Catholic's Jordan Traver; Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler beat Olentangy Liberty's Ferritto; Notre Dame Academy's Nora Johnson defeated Ottawa Hills' Bryn Tangeman; Miamisburg’s Sophie Jovanov beat Archbishop Alter’s Annie Schaefer; Pickerington Central's Sasha Bondartsuk defeated Columbus School For Girls' Priya Mehta; Seven Hills' Daniela Alper beat Seton's Bain; and Canal Winchester's Ava Griggs defeated Thomas Worthington's Neela Ramachandran. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today is an OTZ Photo Friday. More photos will be added throughout the day. Sign-in first and then click on Most Recently Added Photos.
Today's matches include: Seven Hills (H) versus Tippecanoe. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2024
Mason Beats Indian Hill | Hathaway Brown Defeats Magnificat
In the marquis matches of the evening, Mason defeated Indian Hill; Hathaway Brown beat Magnificat; and Centerville defeated Chaminade-Julienne. The close, 3-2 matches included: Loveland defeated Lakota East; Bloom-Carroll beat Canal Winchester; and St. Joseph Academy defeated Beaumont. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Reynoldsburg - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Reynoldsburg. They are coached by Les Somogyi. They are led by Riley Elliott, Kayla Kitchen, and Zebeba Hassan.
For teams that purchased OTZ Team Memberships, the Player Profiles have been created for these players. Setting up profiles for individual members will be on the agenda today. If the profiles have not been setup for your team, please email me.
Today's matches include: Oakwood (H) versus Indian Hill; Dublin Coffman (H) versus Watterson; and St. Joseph Academy (A) versus Hudson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2024
Orange Defeats Solon | By-Court Report
The ideal weather continues. Among the better teams, Orange defeated Solon. The close, 3-2 matches included: Madison Senior defeated Eaton; Lancaster beat Worthington Kilbourne; Oak Hills defeated Turpin; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy beat Hudson; and Hilliard Bradley defeated Grove City. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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By-Court Report- Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Dublin Scioto's Amelia Kunard defeated Columbus School For Girls' Priya Mehta; Highland's Ally Haynes beat Medina's Megan Nuske; Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya defeated Olentangy Liberty's Sophia Mattis; Hudson’s Emma Liu beat Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe; and Orange's Ivy Berlin defeated Solon's Victoria Dai. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
The OTZ By-Court Report is now operational for the season. It provides a list of the players with the best performance at each court position. This report is used to help identify the top players.
Today will be consumed with setting up OTZ Player Profiles. If you have purchased a Player Profile and it is not setup by the end of the evening, please submit a Feedback.
Today's matches include: Indian Hill (A) versus Mason; Chaminade-Julienne (H) versus Centerville; and Magnificat (A) versus Hathaway Brown. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2024
Massillon Jackson Beats North Canton Hoover
Players welcomed fall temperatures and a full match schedule yesterday. There were 23 matches recorded. Massillon Jackson defeated North Canton Hoover in one of the better matches. Other 3-2 matches included: Archbishop Alter defeated Beavercreek; Summit Country Day beat Loveland; Northmont defeated Troy; Eaton beat Bellbrook; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin defeated Solon; and Granville beat Whetstone. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Massillon Jackson - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Massillon Jackson. They are coached by Brett Marlowe. They are Team Members. They are led by: Ashley Helle, Halle Smith, and Isha Nagajothi.
Finding more time to work on OTZ has been difficult to do, but a little more time is starting to be freed up now that the Cincinnati Open is over and the PickleballZone.com league has finished for the season. We had to work at the Findlay farm yesterday where we picked up a baby kitten that had been abandoned. OTZ dog, Zoey, is pretty excited about it.
Today's matches include: Solon (H) versus Orange; Hudson (A) versus Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (A) versus Hathaway Brown. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
OTZ-Enhanced Girls State Team Draws
The OhioTennisZone.com Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws are now available. The goal is to keep these updated through-out the season by giving fans an easy way to provide updates.
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State Team Tournament Draws - Click to go to draws |
A link to the draws is available at the top of this page and it will remain there throughout the season. As with everything else on OTZ, the goal is to enable high school tennis fans to quickly obtain the information they need rather than to maximize OTZ clicks and page views. For those new to this report, make sure that you are familiar with the information / tools listed in the red call-outs. For the best experience, sign-in to OTZ first.
While there is an overall downward trend on the number of participating schools in the tournament, there are four more teams this year (110) versus last (106). While the other Districts had the same or lower number of teams, the Northeast District has five more teams.
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State Team Tournament Participation- Click to enlarge |
As shown in the graph, Southwest and Northeast have the most participants and Central has the least. Out of the 373 (up from 372 last year) OHSAA girls tennis teams, 29.4% of the teams are competing in this tournament. Please click on the graph to enlarge it for easier viewing.
This year, the Central District teams will play the Southwest teams in the first round of the State Team Tournament, while the Northeast will play the Northwest. If there are insufficient courts available for all teams to play (likely), Division I will go on court first.
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Columbus-area weather |
Ohio tennis will get a break from the weather this week. Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (H) versus North Canton Hoover; Hudson (A) versus Copley; and Solon (H) versus Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2024
Anthony Wayne Wins Eagles Invitational
Yesterday was a big tournament day. Lancaster won the Watkins Memorial Invite and Watkins Memorial came in second. The Eagles Invite was won by Anthony Wayne and New Albany was second. There was just one dual match reported - Upper Arlington-B defeated Centerville-B. To view the results recorded in graphical form from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Stearns in '16 - Click to enlarge |
Stearns in '24 |
It is always fun to compare players from past to present. The first photo of Peyton Stearns is from the Midwest Close Qualifiers in Upper Arlington from July 2016. The second (and the larger image below) is from her match on Wednesday. Sadly there is no longer a need for the Qualifier because the low participation numbers no longer require it, and this happened before the pickeball craze.
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Peyton Stearns - Click to enlarge |
The draws for the OTZ-Enhanced State Team Tournament are listed above. There will be more on that tomorrow.
Emails are coming at me like bullets in The Matrix. I hope to start making a dent with replies beginning tonight.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2024
Anthony Wayne Beats New Albany
Weather impacted high school play as well as at the Cincinnati Open yesterday. In the biggest match of the day, Anthony Wayne defeated New Albany. Other matches included Copley defeated North Royalton; St. Joseph Academy beat Lake Ridge Academy; and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Geneva. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Sycamore's Andrew Wittenbaum - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Anthony Wayne's Mara Boyd defeated New Albany's Airi Clements; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Grace Beebe beat Geneva's Zheng; and Copley's Cassandra Komlanc defeated North Royalton's Fronee. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Volunteers contribute immeasurably to the success of the Cincinnati Open. In today's photo, Sycamore grad, Andrew Wittenbaum served as a ball runner and helped with after match activities.
Today's matches is going to be a big tournament day. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2024
Wooster, HB, Hudson, and IH Earn Wins | OTZ Photo Friday
In the biggest matches of the evening, Indian Hill defeated Columbus Academy; Hathaway Brown beat Hawken; Wooster defeated North Canton Hoover; and Hudson beat Massillon Jackson. The close, 3-2 matches included: Brecksville defeated Avon; Ready beat Franklin Heights; Big Walnut defeated DeSales; Marysville beat Delaware Hayes; Dublin Scioto defeated Thomas Worthington; and Wheelersburg beat Chillicothe. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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UA's Alice Hawley - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Martha Thompson defeated Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya; Hawken's Dani Forte beat Hathaway Brown's Anna Mills; Wooster's Ava Mathur defeated North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming beat St. Joseph Academy's Melanie Statsevych; Centerville's Elise Hedrick defeated Miami Valley School's Ginevra Muratori; Loveland's Marlee Fleming beat Anderson's Marlo Regan; Hudson’s Emma Liu defeated Massillon Jackson’s Ashley Helle; and Indian Hill's Caroline Brown beat Columbus Academy's Ella Tsao. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest. Note that there were a few adjustments made yesterday to the lists.
This is an OTZ Photo Friday. There were 19 photos added yesterday. These and other photos will be posted soon so that they can be purchased by caring parents and grandparents. In an attempt to try something new that will promote more photo sales, purchasers can take off an extra 10% off an already low price if they purchase photos within one week of the posting. Despite the high inflation, OTZ photo prices have not changed for a decade. Sign-in first and click the following link to view the Most Recently Added Photos.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Hawken and St. Joseph Academy (H) versus Lake Ridge Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2024
Magnificat Beats Solon | CSG Defeats Pick. North
It looks like the weather will hold for today, but the rest of the week looks dicey. Hopefully this will not greatly impact the Cincinnati Open. In two of the bigger matches from yesterday, Magnificat defeated Solon and Columbus School For Girls beat Pickerington North.
The close, 3-2 matches included: Troy defeated Beavercreek-B; Hilliard Bradley beat Delaware Hayes; DeSales defeated Grove City; Archbishop Hoban beat St. Joseph Academy; and Newark defeated Cambridge. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Newark - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Archbishop Hoban's Haley Slay defeated St. Joseph Academy's Melanie Statsevych; Magnificat's Anna Mancino beat Solon's Isabella Liu; Wooster's Ava Mathur defeated Highland's Ally Haynes; Columbus School For Girls' Priya Mehta beat Pickerington North's Poeppelman; Copley's Cassandra Komlanc defeated Chippewa's Kirkhart; Orange's Ivy Berlin beat Beachwood's Zoller; and Hilliard Bradley’s Shriya Reddy defeated Delaware Hayes' Tavi Steffel.Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is Newark. They are coached by Rob Hays. They are led by Maria Arnold, Lydia Sears, and Julia Fitterer. The Newark area is playing a big role with the new Intel plant.
Tomorrow is an OTZ Photo Friday. Photos from high school matches from last weekend and the Cincinnati Open will be included.
Today's matches include: Indian Hill (H) versus Columbus Academy; Wooster (A) versus North Canton Hoover; and Hudson (A) versus Massillon Jackson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2024
Mason Beats Anthony Wayne | Magnificat Defeats NDCL
Teams continue to crank through as many matches as they can prior to school starting. The marquis matches of the night included: Mason defeated Anthony Wayne and Magnificat beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin; and Solon defeated North Canton Hoover. The close, 3-2 matches included: Hilliard Darby beat Big Walnut; Westlake defeated St. Joseph Academy; Nordonia beat Lakeside; Columbus Academy defeated St. Ursula Academy; and Hawken beat Massillon Jackson. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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North Canton Hoover - Click to team page |
Among the top players, Mason's Addison Cassidydefeated Anthony Wayne's Mara Boyd; Hawken's Dani Forte beat Massillon Jackson's Ashley Helle; Orange's Genevieve Hayden defeated Hudson's Emma Liu; North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil beat Solon's Isabella Liu; Olentangy Berlin's Soleil Cordell defeated Pickerington Central's Sasha Bondartsuk; Columbus Academy's Tamanna Arya beat St. Ursula Academy's Maddie Rueve; Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Elena Fleming defeated Magnificat's Anna Mancino; Sycamore's Lisa Kai beat Walnut Hills' Irisa Poompanit; Chaminade-Julienne's Ansley Violette defeated Bexley's Gabby Theile; St. Joseph Academy’s Melanie Statsevych beat Westlake’s Paige Hradek; Gahanna's Daniela Guzman defeated Reynoldsburg's Riley Elliott; Mason’s Pratyusha Chaudhuri beat Anthony Wayne's Cora Langenderfer; North Canton Hoover's Ema Papcke defeated Solon's Ioffe; and Sycamore's Allison Sayles beat Walnut Hills' Goodman. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.
Today's featured team is North Canton Hoover. They are coached by Kay McHolm. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Addison Sheil, Ema Papcke, and Maria Wadley.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Solon; Columbus School For Girls (A) versus Pickerington North; and Highland (H) versus Wooster. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2024
Centerville Beats Oak Hills
The weather was perfect again as Centerville defeated Oak Hills in one of last night's bigger contests. The close, 3-2 matches included: Watkins Memorial defeated Gahanna; North Canton Hoover beat St. Joseph Academy; Centerville-B defeated Butler; and Chaminade-Julienne beat Summit Country Day. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Orange - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Orange. They are coached by Rich Bole. They are Team Members. They are led by Genevieve Hayden, Ivy Berlin, and Lily Guiler. Hayden and Berlin are players who were featured on the Top Incoming Freshman list.
Today's matches include: Chaminade-Julienne (A) versus Bexley; Columbus Academy (A) versus St. Ursula Academy; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Hawken; North Canton Hoover (A) versus Solon; and Magnificat (H) versus Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2024
First Full Week of Play
Coaches will scramble to play as many matches as they can before school begins. Thankfully, the weather will cooperate for at least some of the week. To view all of the results recorded from Saturday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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Chaminade-Julienne - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Chaminade-Julienne. They are coached by Jim Brooks. They are Team Members. They are led by: Paige Harsman, Ansley Violette, and Francesca Gongora.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Oak Hills; Chaminade-Julienne (A) versus Summit Country Day; Copley (H) versus Cloverleaf; and Highland (A) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
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Columbus-area weather |
Many teams travel to Mason to watch the Cincinnati Open and to play Cincinnati-area teams this week. OTZ is going to the tournament today. Please say "hi" if you see me.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2024
Orange Beats New Albany | Sycamore Defeats Magnificat
It was an especially busy day for tournaments along with a few interesting dual matches thrown into the mix. Hathaway Brown won the highly competitive Columbus School for Girls dubs tournament. Gilmour Academy was second. Delaware Hayes won its own tournament, and Marysville was second. Chaminade-Julliene won the CJ Invite, and Seven Hills came in second place. Reynoldsburg had a doubles tournament, and Watkins Memorial, Westerville Central, and Gahanna all tied for first.
In the big dual matches, Orange defeated New Albany; Magnificat beat St. Ursula Academy; Upper Arlington defeated North Canton Hoover; and Sycamore beat Magnificat. To view all of the dual match results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
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NCH's Addison Sheil - Click to enlarge |
Among the top players, Orange’s Genevieve Hayden defeated New Albany's Airi Clements; North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil beat Upper Arlington's Alexa Roth; Magnificat's Anna Mancino defeated St. Ursula Academy's Maria Poon and Sycamore's Lisa Kai; North Canton Hoover's Ema Papcke beat Upper Arlington's Alice Hawley; Wooster's Ava Mathur defeated Columbian's Leah Weinberg; and Worthington Kilbourne's Tyra Butler beat Marysville's Linnea Olofsson.
OTZ still needs plenty of changes before it is fully operational for the 2024 season. It will be soon enough though. Yes, yes, it will.. (Click for demo.) Going to the CSG tournament, the UA versus North Canton Hoover match, and NA versus Orange match did not help in this effort. I also now have about 700 photos to review, including perhaps some of your likely wonderful daughter.
Today's photo is of North Canton Hoover's Addison Sheil that was taken during their match against Upper Arlington.
Speaking of tournaments - today is our last big event for our PickleballZone.com league. It is an end-of-season tournament for players who have not had many opportunities to play during the regular season. It is being hosted by Paddle Taps. After we wrap this up, my time can shift more into high school tennis-mode.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2024
Hathaway Brown Beats New Albany
The interesting (and challenging) part about the girls season is that it beats a Tesla in a 0-60mph comparison. Things started with a flurry yesterday. Among the marquis teams, Hathaway Brown defeated New Albany and Centerville beat Notre Dame Academy.
Other matches included: St. Joseph Academy defeated Aurora; London beat Grandview; Brunswick defeated Copley; and Marysville beat Grove City. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. |
Marysville - Click to team page |
Among the top players, New Albany's Airi Clements defeated Hathaway Brown's Anna Mills; Centerville's Elise Hedrick beat Notre Dame Academy's Nora Johnson; Hathaway Brown's Ava Kamensky defeated New Albany's Ella Smith; and Chaminade-Julienne’s Ansley Violette beat Northmont’s Bradwell.
Today's featured team is Marysville. They are coached by William Romine. They are OTZ Team Members. They are led by Linnea Olofsson, Natalie Fair, and Mae Archy.
There are numerous system-related changes that need to be made now that the girls season is "live". It will take a couple of days to make the transition.
Today's matches include: Magnificat (A) versus Sycamore and St. Ursula Academy and North Canton Hoover (A) versus Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2024
Match Play Begins Today
The season begins under perfect weather conditions today. There are a few matches scheduled today and numerous tournaments taking place tomorrow.
This is the "ugly duckling" portion of the season for OhioTennisZone because last year's data will soon be removed. This will cause the site to look rather empty. Last year's graduates will also soon be removed.
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Oakwood - Click to team page |
Today's featured team is Oakwood. They are coached by Christy Heppner. They are Team Members. While line-ups are likely still in flux, early season contributors for Oakwood are expected to be Lilly Rich and Niobe Beiersdorfer.
Oakwood was also the first team to take advantage of a new utility to upload team photos. All OTZ Member coaches now have the ability to do this.
Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus Notre Dame Academy; Copley (A) versus Brunswick; and North Canton Hoover (A) versus Lexington and Olentangy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.
MONDAY,
The Season Started.. Today!
The OHSAA Girls Season started today with coaching, and matches begin next Friday. It has been a quick summer.. Today's posting includes a variety of items. It provides: the key dates for the season; OTZ member information; why Top 10 teams are encouraged to be OTZ Team Members; and why graduates are still included on team rosters.
OhioTennisZone.com
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| Aug. 1 (Th): First Day of Coaching |
| Aug. 9 (F): High School Match Play Begins |
| Aug. 3 (Sa) - 11 (Su): USTA Billie Jean King Girls' 16-18 National Championships |
| Aug. 24 (Sa): SAT Test Date |
| Sep. 3 (T): Non-Interscholastic Date |
| Sep. 14 (Sa): ACT Test Date |
| Sep. 16 (M): Waiver Extension Ends |
| Oct. 2 (W) - 4 (F): Rosh Hashanah |
| Sep. 22 (Su): Sectional Draw |
| Sep. 30 (M) - Oct. 5 (Sa): Sectional Tournament |
| Oct. 5 (Sa): SAT Test Date |
| Oct. 7 (M) - 12 (Sa): District Tournament |
| Oct. 11 (F) - 12 (Sa): Yom Kippur |
| Oct. 17 (Th) - 18 (F): State Tournament |
| Oct. 19? (Sa): State Team Tournament |
| Oct. 26 (Sa): HS Season Ends |
| Oct. 26 (Sa): ACT Test Date |
The key dates for the season are included in the table. It also includes testing dates, holidays, and, of course, the key OHSAA dates. This calendar will remain in the right-side navigation bar during the entire season. Note that this is not the official schedule -- always check with your coach on the most important dates.
If you are currently an OTZ Member, there is no need to go through the sign-up process again for OhioTennisZone. Please just mail or PayPal your payment to OhioTennisZone.com. Click the link for the OTZ PayPal info.
OTZ will soon post its Pre-Season Top 10 Team lists after it is clear where players are going to attend school and which girls are playing high school tennis.
It is highly encouraged that the OTZ Top 10 teams become OTZ Team Members. OhioTennisZone provides the teams in the Top 10 with a great deal of recognition and coverage. This recognition is very helpful because many middle school kids follow OTZ and they want to be a part of a program which has a winning tradition. It is a complete no-brainer for private schools to be team members because attracting strong tennis players also means more tuition dollars for the school, but it also makes sense for public schools, too. Consider an OTZ Team Membership as the cheapest and most effective advertisement that you can buy, plus it is focused on the absolute perfect audience for your program. Click on Join OTZ for more information about being a team, coach, or individual OTZ member.
Note that graduates are still included on rosters. Many fans like to see which players have graduated. Note to coaches - OTZ will remove the graduates as match play begins. It is unnecessary for coaches to remove them.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2024
Top Incoming Freshman Girls
This is the annual list of Ohio's best incoming freshman girls. Most of these players will start to make an impact on their varsity teams tomorrow.
Using TennisRecruiting.net (TRN), OTZ has identified the top 20(ish) freshman graders in Ohio. Of course, it is also important to know which schools these players are attending. It is normally easy to identify a few schools based on player names, but many of these players do not have older sisters (or brothers) who play tennis. This is where you jump in and help out. (You can do this.) Please submit a Feedback with your valued information. Note that this list includes an update date at the top of the table because this table will be updated frequently.
OhioTennisZone.com |
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| Player - TRN Stars | City (District) | Incoming School |
| Ivy Berlin - 2 | Cleveland (NE) | Orange |
| Makenzie Fearon - 2 | Massillon (NE) | Massillon Perry |
| Isabel Fusonie - 4 | Columbus (C) | 8th Grader |
| Renee Harper - 4 | Cincinnati (SW) | Oak Hills |
| Genevieve Hayden - 4 | Chagrin Falls (NE) | Orange |
| Rithi Hegde - 2 | Hudson (NE) | Hudson |
| Caroline Koch - 4 | Gates Mills (NE) | Gilmour Academy |
| Emma Liu - 3 | Hudson (NE) | Hudson |
| Elle Mikula - 2 | Cincinnati (SW) | |
| Nayonika Mittal - 1 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
| Grier Peckham - 3 | Hunting Valley (NE) | Gilmour Academy |
| Vanmayi Podili - 2 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
| Meher Rao - 4 | Powell (C) | Olentangy Liberty |
| Paige Schlageter - 2 | Sylvania (NW) | 8th Grader |
| Ava Scott - 4 | Worthington (C) | |
| Bhavana Singidi - 2 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
| Jillian To - 2 | Maumee (NW) | Anthony Wayne |
| Ella Tsao - 2 | Columbus (C) | Columbus Academy |
| Ansley Violette - 3 | Dayton (SW) | Chaminade-Julienne |
| Ella Workinger - 3 | Shaker Heights (NE) | Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin |
| Jenna Zhang - 2 | Mason (SW) | Mason |
The list is sorted alphabetically and the Tennis Recruiting.net star ratings are included beside each of the players. The player links go to Tennis Recruiting.net.
In comparison to the class of 2027 (currently sophomores), this group has better skills on average. The TRN average star ranking is 2.64 versus 2.36 last year and 2.68 the previous year. The number of tournament played averages 17.5 this year versus 13.75 last year and 14.64 during the previous year's group.
TRN has to make guesses on class years unless a player has entered this information on the TRN system. Some are likely be to rising eighth graders.
While there are some players / parents who believe that participating in high school tennis is not worthwhile, none of the players on the list are in that super elite (i.e. Caty McNally) category. Hopefully all of these players will be included on a team.
Of the 22 players on the list, the Central District has four, Northeast - eight, Northwest - two, and Southwest - eight.
Speaking of Tennis Recruiting.net, now is always the time to update player contact information on TennisRecruiting.net. This is the service that many college coaches use to reach out to prospective recruits.
TUESDAY,
OHSAA Tournament Championship Points
All of the championship points were captured this year, but it was close. . It is difficult when matches end at about the same time. I was setup for D1 Doubles to finish first, but D1 Singles did instead. D1 Singles finished at 2:04 and D1 Dubs at 2:10.
The vantage points were not ideal. Another camera with a different camera lens was used this year during this boys championship. The same setup was used during the girls last fall. It provided a wider perspective versus last year's States. Next year, I hope to equip my camera setup with a missile system to stop others from wandering in front of the camera. (Hopefully I don't get in other people's way when I take images. I try hard not to do so. That's one reason why I normally sit on the actual court.)
Player photos were included at the end of the videos. There was also an extra point added when possible.
For best results, use full screen mode and increase the resolution to HD (for high definition)..
Crank up the volume so that co-workers (or neighbors) stop by your office cube to see what is going on.
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Division I Singles: St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated New Albany's Abhinav Dandu. |
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Division I Doubles: Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo beat St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty. |
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Division II Singles: Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Pepper Pike Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu. |
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Division II Doubles: Lexington's Dylan Catanese - Ethan Remy beat Pepper Pike Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom. |
There are always some scoring snafus found by coaches as they begin to print off their end-of-season reports. If results are incorrect, please provide:
- the *incorrect* match information. The error first needs to be located in the database and there are a zillion scores. Please include the date, the name(s) of all of the player(s) and their schools, and the score.
- then provide the correct match information which includes all of the above, but with the correct information
If the commentary is incorrect, please provide *when* the commentary was in error, the erroneous comments, and what it should be. Screen shots are always helpful.
Please keep in mind there are quite a few moving parts. The players could have reported the wrong score, the coach could have recorded it incorrectly, the newspaper may have posted it incorrectly, or maybe, just possibly, OTZ could have made an error.
I now switch to photo-processing mode.
SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2024
State Team Champions: Sycamore D1 | Indian Hill D2
Congratulations to Sycamore and Indian Hill for winning the State Team Tournament for Division I and Division II, respectively. Sycamore beat Olentangy Orange in the finals while Indian Hill defeated Orange. This was the third in a row for Sycamore. Indian Hill last won the championship in 2022. Indian Hill also won the Girls Team Tournament last fall.
In the 3rd / 4th match-ups, Columbus Academy defeated Lexington and Massillon Jackson beat Anthony Wayne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.
After an amazing run, Sycamore's great group of seniors is graduating. The other D1 teams are no doubt happily wishing them a fond farewell.
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Sycamore D1 Champs - Click to enlarge |
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Indian Hill D2 Champs - Click to enlarge |
Surprising everyone, the weather did not force the tournament indoors. Rain had been expected on Saturday throughout the week.
While it was great for the fans, the hot sunny weather certainly took its toll on the players. Many were exhausted after the third day in a row of grueling competition and hot temperatures. (Ok. Again. Next year don't wear black shirts even though they look great.)
The photos will be processed soon but not today. We are once again about to leave for Findlay to work on the farm.
SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2024
Congratulations to the State Champions
Congratulations to all of the players who competed yesterday and especially to the State Champions. Conditions were perfect for playing and watching. Play finished at approximately 3:00pm. (The finish times for previous years were 2:25pm in 2023 and 3:15pm in 2022.)
Click for the final OTZ Enhanced State Tournament Draws.
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St. Xavier's Dwyer - Click to enlarge |
Sycamore's Choo-Klugo |
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Bexley's Lessard |
Lexington's Catanese-Remy |
The State champions and the finalists are:
Division I Singles: St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated New Albany's Abhi Dandu.
Division I Doubles: Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo beat St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty.
Division II Singles: Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu.
Division II Doubles: Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese beat Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom.
The State Team Tournament takes place today. Last year's State Team Tournament took place on Sunday. That provided a welcomed rest for the players who competed during the second day of the State Tournament. Hopefully the players hold up ok today. Fingers are crossed with the weather.
Pictures from the State Tournament will be available for viewing soon.
FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024
States Day #2
The weather was as perfect yesterday as it was rainy for most of the season. There was some great tennis yesterday.
In the "My District is Better than Your District" Compeition, this was not a Kentucky Derby-like photo finish. The Southwest led the pack of semi-finalists by a horse or two. They were: Southwest: 8 (50%), Central: 4 (40%), Northeast: 3 (14%), and Northwest: 1 (8%). In the paratheses are the the semi-finalists divided by States Spots. For example, Southwest received 16 spots for States and eight of those spots yielded semi-finalists.
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Hudson's Henrique Sa - Click to enlarge |
Of those still in the singles competition, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Shawnee's Gabe Burke and Hudson's Henrique Sa; St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer beat GlenOak's Dylan Wiles and New Albany's Jackson Clements; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Hawken's Axel Neely and Heartland Christian's Cooper Grim; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu beat Bryan's Landon Bassett and Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Perkins' Chase Young and Northwestern's Aiden Yeager; New Albany's Abhi Dandu beat Avon's Luke LeMaster and Springboro's Rishi Dore; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand defeated Revere's Finn Keenan and Sycamore's Dhruv Kota; and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak beat Lexington's Cooper Remy and Marietta's Max Navarro Steffen.
The players in the semi-finals are:
Division I Singles:
New Albany's Abhi Dandu, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer, and Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers.
Division I Doubles:
Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo, Sycamore's Andrew Wittenbaum - Arjun Rajagopala, St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty; and Westlake's Rohit Jain - Xander Jhaveri.
Division II Singles:
Bexley's Henry Lessard, Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak.
Division II Doubles:
Columbus Academy's Rowen Lo - Lucas Xue; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger - Neelan Gandhi; Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese; and Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom.
I am about to leave from Columbus. See you at States.
THURSDAY,
Ready to Roll for States
On with the show, this is it. As the season starts each spring, getting to States was the goal. For those who made it, congratulations. Now let's see if you can make it to Day 2..
The OTZ draws are ready to roll and they will be updated throughout the day. To make things more convenient, save OhioTennisZone.com/draws on your smart phone now.
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OTZ Draws - Click to draws |
This is the first season for the boys to be at Wooster. Wooster did a very good job with the girls last fall when it was not raining, and the Aspen Racquet Club turned out to be a great, rain day solution. Hopefully rain will not be an issue today. The grass parking lot; however, may be a problem today if it rained too much last night. Sensible shoes may be a better choice today.
Even though the boys have had an opportunity to get acclimated to the heat this spring, include a light colored shirt in your son's tennis bag. There have been too many times when players have had to withdraw due to heat-related issues. In almost all of these cases, the player was wearing a black or dark shirt.
I will be taking action photos today. If you want a photo of your son, please email me or send me a Feedback. It is unclear how much demand there will be so please contact me quickly.
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Wooster-area weather |
The competitors today are:
State Qualifiers (seed order)
Central Division I
Singles: New Albany's Abhi Dandu, New Albany's Jackson Clements, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand, and Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough.
Doubles: New Albany's Ben Bilenko - Tyler Thomas; Olentangy Liberty's Krish Badri - Arya Badri; Olentangy's Sujan Sriram - Gavin Cheung; and Upper Arlington's Keshav Goyal - Jackson Lloyd
Central Division II
Singles: Bexley's Henry Lessard and Columbus Academy's Nason Lo.
Doubles: Columbus Academy's Rowen Lo - Lucas Xue and Bexley's Sam Lessard - Oscar Ramsden.
Northeast Division I
Singles: Hudson's Henrique Sa, Revere's Finn Keenan, Solon's Zach Krantz, Avon's AJ Sidoti, GlenOak's Dylan Wiles, and Avon's Luke LeMaster.
Doubles: Westlake's Rohit Jain - Xander Jhaveri; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram, - Shiv Nagajothi; Walsh Jesuit's Charlie Kealy- Michael Vallone; Massillon Jackson's Ishan Tripathy - Larson Sutula; North Royalton's Arnav Gopinath; and Archbishop Hoban's Jack Slay - Jeremy Hammel.
Northeast Division II
Singles: Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu, University School's Dean Kirchick, Heartland Christian's Cooper Grim, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Ben McKnight, and Hawken's Axel Neely.
Doubles: Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom; Orange's Gabriel Guiler - Adam Saab; University School's Rohit Talasila - Vishwum Kapadia; University School's Cole Kirchick - Lucas Weidenbecher; and Hawken's Tyler Snyder - Anthony Piazza.
Northwest Division I
Singles: St. Francis DeSales' Nick Miller and Shawnee's Gabe Burke.
Doubles: Sylvania Southview's Isaac and Landon Vens and Findlay's Sam Swisher - Aaron Miller.
Northwest Division II
Singles: Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse, Lexington's Cooper Remy, Perkins' Chase Young, and Bryan's Landon Bassett.
Doubles: Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese; Ontario's Hector Sanchez Vidal - Pablo Sanchez Vidal; Lexington's Karl Etzel - Owan Gongwer; and Ottawa Hills' Savith Vijendra - Chris Thompson.
Southwest Division I
Singles: St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer, Springboro's Rishi Dore, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers, and Sycamore's Dhruv Kota.
Doubles: Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo,; Sycamore's Andrew Wittenbaum, - Arjun Rajagopala,; St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty; Springboro's Drew Baumgartner - Peyton Nelson.
Southwest Division II
Singles: Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, Indian Hill's Jack Pollock, Seven Hills' Adi Nayak, and Northwestern's Aiden Yeager.
Doubles: Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger - Neelan Gandhi; Seven Hills' Gavin Isakov - Chinmay Machavaram; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin - Noah Boyce, and Indian Hill's Michael Ryu - Eshaan Gandhi.
Southeast Division II:
Singles: Marietta's Max Navarro Steffen
Doubles: Unioto's Lucas Hanes - Mason Thornsberry.
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4 Equal State Spots for States Wrestling |
Wrestling has had four equal State spots for each District forever. It is time to ask the wrestlers for help in figuring out tennis. The two sports are extremely similar from a seeding perspective and from a competitor versus competitor standpoint. The unequal State spots situation is bad for the kids and bad for tennis. Obviously, having one spot for a major metro area, such as Columbus, makes less than zero sense. Note the 106# weight class for D1 wrestling where each District (HD-Central, HO-Northeast, KF-Southwest, and PB-Northwest) have four seeds. Having five, number one seeds in D2 tennis never made any sense.
The field is set for the State Team Tournament that takes place on Saturday in Wooster. In the first round, Central District teams play the Northeast District, and Southwest plays the Northwest. D2 takes the court first. The teams are:
Central D1 / D2:
Olentangy Orange and Columbus Academy
Northeast D1 / D2:
Northwest D1 / D2:
Southwest D1 / D2:
Sycamore and Indian Hill
See you at States.
WEDNESDAY,
OhioTennisZone Video of Its Top Picks for the State Championships
It is time for another OhioTennisZone video. This video recognizes the players who are OTZ's top picks for States. The video uses a combination of OTZ action photos and videos that were taken over the last two years. Hope you find it to be interesting and informative. This will also help match a name with a face for those who attend States.
Click for OTZ Top Picks for States - Click for video |
Time frames are always super tight in creating these videos. This video was hammered out last night and super early this morning. Taping began at about 9:00pm, and it was done in one take. The player photos and videos were added after that. I doubt that I ever will, but I would like to get to a 95% ok video level. This one is probably about 80-90%. It is really hard to become proficient in something that is done just three or four times a year, but I will keep trying...
The goal was to make this a five minute video, and amazingly, it came in at 4:50.
Normally there are a few more photos of Southwest District players, but the AP tests delayed the start times of numerous matches with some starting after 4pm. At one point, OTZ traveled to the Northeast District D2 tournament, but when that outdoor tournament became more of an indoor tournament, I stopped going. Photos taken indoors are pretty bad.
For a better viewing experience, please click on the little gear thingy and select 1080p60 HD. The screen can also be enlarged by clicking on the partially completed "square".
Google will likely include advertisements with this and other OTZ videos. I do not have any control over who advertises, nor does OTZ benefit financially from these advertisers.
Please let me know if there are any inaccuracies - there always are and you always do. I do not purposely try to say names incorrectly. Really. I don't. I should establish some sort of prize for the player with the most mangled name. For consideration, please enter a Feedback. Personally, I would like to submit Massillon Jackson's Shiv Nagajothi. (This is what I meant to say.) The 2023 OTZ Girls Season Video Mangled Name Champion was Ema Papcke.
It is fun to review older videos. Here are a few from both prior girls and boys seasons. Click for Girls 2020, Boys 2021, Girls 2021, Boys 2022, Girls 2022, Boys 2023, and Girls 2023. At one point, I created "hype" videos for States but Google eventually prevented professional music from being used. That eliminated my interest. Perhaps with AI generated music, this will be possible again in the future. Here is one from Girls 2019. Tennis fans will recognize a few of these high school players.
The OTZ-Enhanced State Draws are still missing a few photos. Thanks to those who contributed photos of their players. It is not too late to add your player's photo..
