High school tennis: Highland's Maddie Pawlak and Sara Sgambati get redemption at Medina Doubles Tournament

GRANGER TWP. — For Highland seniors Maddie Pawlak and Sarah Sgambati, the Medina Doubles Tournament was all about redemption. First, the top-flight Hornets duo was upset at the event last year by Mentor, allowing Wooster to win the first bracket. Secondly, Saturday was the first time Sgambati and Pawlak had competed together since they were denied the opportunity to reach the Division I state tournament when Pawlak needed an appendectomy just days before the postseason began. The highly effective pair picked up right where it left off in leading Highland to the championship with a first-place finish at first doubles, recording a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Wooster's Ava Mathur and Minnie Pozefsky in the final. "For me and Sarah to go out there and beat Wooster in the finals really is amazing to have redemption from our seeding last year," Pawlak said. "With my dramatic exit from the sectionals last year, this is where we are supposed to be: me and Sarah on the court together playing. It felt great to go out there and have three big statement wins. "I actually had fun today, and I haven't had fun in a while playing this sport." The tournament had to be moved from Medina to Highland due to the Bees' courts undergoing maintenance. Pawlak and Sgambati were one of three Hornets' teams to win their bracket, while Wadsworth seniors Laryn Pelkey and Ava Madachik prevented Highland from performing a sweep with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Hornets B team members Ella Tople and Claire Schlak at fourth doubles. The Grizzlies put three teams into the finals to finish second out of eight teams. "I feel great," Pelkey said. "I've never gotten to play with Ava, so to go out and win with her was pretty exciting. We blended really well, better than I expected to, and we just had to communicate throughout the entire tournament." The second doubles team of Hailey Kindall and Julia Kraft powered Medina to a tie for third with North Royalton. Kindall and Kraft beat the Bears' Jordan Beltavski and Shreya Ganapathi 7-5, 6-4 for third place. Medina and North Royalton met in the placement round in all four brackets, splitting results. The first doubles team of Megan Nuske and Eve Chester got an 8-3 win over Bri Rush and Kripa Kumaran for fifth place, while Nuske and Chester won their final two matches after getting beat in the first round 6-0, 6-0 by Pawlak and Sgambati. Brunswick placed eighth behind Abby Ivory and Addison Burns' sixth-place finish at fourth doubles. Pawlak and Sgambati, who are hoping to return to the state tournament as a doubles team, barely broke a sweat in their first two matches, losing only two games. Behind Mathur, Wooster pushed the Hornets early in the first set, but there was no slowing Highland down once it got rolling. "I think this is a really good start to our season because of everything that happened last year," Sgambati said. "I think that's some of the best doubles I've seen us play in a long time. We're pretty close off the court, and that helps us on the court." In their first time pairing up, Jo Oberhaus and Evy Boucher were equally impressive in losing only four games over three matches on the way to their championship in the second doubles bracket, where they topped Wadsworth's Autumn Brown and Sophia Fry 6-0, 6-1. "It went pretty well today," Oberhaus said. "Overall, I think we played well together and it was fun." Despite never playing together in competition before, the duo was able to communicate, and their combination of serving and net play proved tough to beat. "Jo is a lot stronger than me at the net," Boucher said. "So when I hit a good serve, it was pretty easy for her to put them away." Ella Gillin and Mackenzie Pawlak did not lose a game until the second set of their semifinal in the third doubles bracket and only lost once, but Wadsworth's Lexi Dunn and Maggie Galvin pushed them in the first set of the final before falling 6-4, 6-1. Pelkey and Madachik had by far the most dramatic route to a championship, twice needing a tiebreaker in the first set. The second time they needed a tiebreaker was against Tople and Schlak before pulling away with a 6-3 win in the second set. "Since it was our third match, the tiebreaker definitely drained us," Madachik said. "We just communicated, hyped each other up and told each other we're not going to quit and we're going to win this match." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results Standings: 1. Highland 31, 2. Wadsworth 24, 3. Medina 20, 3. North Royalton 20, 5. Wooster 17, 6. Strongsville 16, 7. Mentor 9, 8. Brunswick 7. First doubles: Sarah Sgambati/Maddie Pawlak (H) d. Ava Mathur/Minnie Pozefsky (Wo) 6-3, 6-2; Fifth: Megan Nuske/Eve Chester (Med) d. Bri Rush/Kripa Kumaran (NR) 8-3; Seventh: Lauren Ball/Lizzy Edwards (Wa) d. Sydney Estok/Emma Weintz (B) 8-5. Second doubles: Jo Oberhaus/Evy Boucher (H) d. Autumn Brown/Sophia Fry (Wa) 6-0, 6-1; Third: Hailey Kindall/Julia Kraft (Med) d. Jordan Beltavski/Shreya Ganapathi (NR) 7-5, 6-4; Seventh: Abbie Menough/Maddie Menough (Men) d. Kimi Hargett/Ashley Weers (B) 8-3. Third doubles: Ella Gillin/Mackenzie Pawlak (H) d. Lexi Dunn/Maggie Galvin (Wa) 6-4, 6-1; Third: Neerja Shah/Safa Hameed (NR) d. Sophia Kichurchak/Mandy Caspio (Med) 6-1, 6-0; Seventh: Megan Steffen/Bella Chismar (B) d. Emily Pawlaczyk/Anna Reed (Men) 8-3. Fourth doubles: Laryn Pelkey/Ava Madachik (Wa) d. Ella Tople/Claire Schlak (H) 7-6 (4), 6-3; Third: Ashita Kannan/Merlin Scaria (NR) d. Emersen Willis/Malea Easton (Med) 6-0, 6-1; Fifth: Audrey Greer/Kate Rodusky (S) d. Abby Ivory/Addison Burns (B) 8-2.