Sectional Tennis: Brunswick doubles team stays positive to endure long day

BATH TWP. — Two Medina County singles players and two doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Springside Division I Sectional on Tuesday, but no one took a more difficult route than the Brunswick duo of Ava Daddario and Abby Ivory. The unseeded Blue Devils lost their first set 6-7 (4) to Wadsworth's Avery Neville and Tess Demiter after leading 5-0, then bounced back to win 6-1 and 10-7 in a 10-point third-set tiebreaker. In their next match, junior Daddario and senior Ivory persevered to down Twinsburg's Izzie Sudnick and Annalise Zimmerman 6-4, 2-6, 10-5. "We knew going in it wasn't going to be easy," Ivory said. "Keeping a straight head and high energy helped." Also reaching the quarterfinals, which will be held at 3:30 p.m. today, were fourth-seeded Medina singles player Megan Nuske, unseeded Brunswick singles player Sofia Droz and the fourth-seeded Bees doubles team of Julia Kraft and Hayden Rea. A win today guarantees the top-four placement necessary to advance to the Springside District, with sectional semifinal, final and third-place matches to be held Saturday at 9 a.m. Daddario and Ivory were cruising in the first set against Wadsworth, then suddenly they weren't. Still, the duo regrouped to win the second set and the 10-point tiebreaker in the third. "It was stressful. We played them before, and it was the longest match we had all season," Daddario said of a three-set victory at first doubles in the regular season. "We knew it was going to be tough, but we persevered." Next up for the Blue Devils is a quarterfinal meeting with Walsh Jesuit's third-seeded Megan Graham and Laura McHale, who will be big favorites. "It's important to be aggressive, especially at the net," Ivory said. "We'll play our best and try our hardest. That's all you can do, right?" Medina's Kraft and Rea also got a scare in their first match before downing Avon Lake's unseeded Malaya Marijan and Avery Brown 2-6, 6-1, 10-8. "(Assistant) coach Dan O'Brien came out and made some jokes (after the first set)," Kraft said. "We just play better when we're having fun and playing loose. Once the first set was over, that gave us a refresh." Next up for the Bees is the unseeded Hudson doubles team of Millie Griffiths and Bransyn Mathia. "We have to play strong and communicate," Rea said. "We've just got to lock in." Medina's Nuske advanced to the quarters with a pair of victories, the second a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Wadsworth's Lauren Ball that was a much better match than the score indicates. "I figured out she does well with pace on the baseline and she moves very well," the Medina senior said. "She got to everything. The more spin I put on the ball, the more she struggled, so I tried to put as much spon on the ball as possible. She's very consistent and her movement is one of her best things. She's very athletic." Ball, who was playing her third match, won the first game in both sets, but Nuske hit some incredible volleys to capture key points and set up a quarterfinal meeting with Junior Team Tennis teammate Karlie Nicolae of Archbishop Hoban. "I was proud of the way I played," said Ball, a senior. "I knew I was up against a tough opponent. I think I left it all out there, so it was a good one to go out on." Brunswick's Droz, who missed two weeks early in the season while in England and Germany for a wedding and two weeks due to COVID, went 36-3 in games played while winning three matches. "I feel like I've improved a lot," the junior said. "Last year I wasn't really consistent, but I trained a lot here at Springside and that's definitely helped me a lot with my game. I'was here at least four times a week. I was getting a lot of hitting in." Next up for Droz is Hudson's third-seeded Mallory Hannan. "I have to be consistent and hit it deeper and switch up my balls to make her move," Droz said. "I feel really good right now. I feel confident, but I know I'm going to be playing better players and I have to step up my game." In other sectionals: Magnificat D-I ROCKY RIVER — The top-seeded Highland doubles team of Ally Haynes and Claire Schlak and the third-seeded Hornets duo of Lily Hantz and Kenzi Pawlak won quarterfinal matches to clinch berths in the Springside District, while Ella Tople and Wren Marquis lost close singles matches. Haynes and Schlak downed St. Joseph Academy's Isa Iditoiu and Anna Losey 6-0, 6-0 to set up a semifinal meeting with Avon's unseeded Ashley DeHaven and Maddie Heun. Hantz and Pawlak downed Rocky River's Lily Creech and Maddie Sollars 6-1, 6-2 and will meet Magnificat's second-seeded Molly Williams and Corinne Daniels in the semis, which will be held at 3 p.m. today at Magnificat. The unseeded Tople, a second doubles player in the regular season, played a great match before falling 6-4, 6-4 to Strongsville's fourth-seeded Mallory Koch, while Marquis, primarily a third singles player, lost 6-4, 6-3 to Amherst's third-seeded Kayla Bussard. Strongsville D-II Sectional MEDINA — Rain wreaked havoc on this tournament, as Cloverleaf got in only three matches while bouncing between Paramount Tennis Club and Medina High. Singles player Jasmine Shimko won her first match and lost her second, while the doubles team of Stella Elkevizth and Desi Bohner dropped its first match. Colts singles player Brenna Carpenter got a win by forfeit. The tournament will continue today at 8:30 a.m. at Medina, with semifinal, final and third-place matches to be played Saturday at 9 a.m. at Strongsville. College of Wooster D-II Sectional WOOSTER — Buckeye has never had a girls tennis team, but sophomore Marilyn McWilliam competed in this event and won her first singles match 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 over Manchester's Leah Page before falling 6-0, 6-0 to Orange's fourth-seeded Ivy Berlin. Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.