Girls tennis: Highland cruises to another win at Medina Doubles Tournament

MEDINA — A lot of the names have changed, but success remains a constant. A new-look Highland girls tennis team rolled to a championship Saturday at the eight-team Medina Doubles Tournament, reaching the finals at all four positions and winning two titles to finish with 30 points. Strongsville (24) was second, Medina (21) was third and Wadsworth (15) tied Walsh Jesuit for fourth, while Brunswick (12) was eighth. The Hornets, who five days earlier won the Medina Invitational, got titles from the second doubles team of Sarah Kelly and Elise Mancini and the third doubles team of Ava Tople and Alyssa Boucher. The Highland first doubles team of Lily Hantz and Claire Schlak, the only returning players with legitimate varsity experience, and the fourth doubles team of Vanessa Demming, Sophia Bublitz and Lacy Piechowiak finished second. Demming played the first two matches before leaving to attend a Morgan Wallen concert, with Piechowiak filling in for a championship match loss to Medina's Ella Bresler and Nellie Alber. "We had a strong team the last few years," said Tople, who like Boucher had an older sister who earned All-Gazette honors while playing on those teams. "A lot of people were wondering, 'Will Highland be able to keep it up?' All of our girls are determined to do great." Bubbly playing partner Boucher, who has to stand on her tiptoes to be 5 feet tall, fittingly gave a much shorter answer, saying, "We're just trying to live up to the legacy." On a hot and humid day, the Hornets did just that. Kelly and Mancini, who did not lose a set while winning three matches, downed Strongsville's Kadison Rood and Mia Gyure 6-4, 6-2 in the final by capturing nine of the last 11 games. "I get stressed out when I'm down," Mancini said of trailing 4-3 in the first set. "I have to remind myself it's just high school tennis. Once I calm down I play a lot better. We're good tennis players, but in a championship match like that I get real nervous. I have to think of it as just a Highland practice. Then I'm able to step up a lot better." After winning three straight games to take the first set, the Hornets weren't threatened in the second. "It helps you focus on what you're doing," Kelly said of coming from behind in the first set. "Once you get going, it's easier to keep winning games. We figured out how they played and we could place our shots a lot better." Tople and Boucher, who also didn't lose a set in three matches, downed Medina's very game M.J. Pimpo and Emily Darr 6-3, 6-4 in the final. "Our net play was really great today," Tople said. "We were both very aggressive. We ran in and put it away. I think it scares players when you're really aggressive." Boucher more than held her own at the net as well, and when opponents lobbed over her Tople was there to back her up. "It's easy when you have a great partner who can run everything down," Boucher said. "I'm getting used to it, so I just take a few steps back (to make it harder for teams to lob) and then I move back in." Medina juniors Bresler and Alber, who play second doubles together during dual matches, downed Highland's Bublitz and Piechowiak 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the final after squeaking out a 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 victory over North Royalton's Izzy Cengic and Nethra Sriram in the opening round, then cruising in the semifinals. "I always have a determination to do better when they have a better reputation," Bresler said of beating a team from Highland, which has won nine straight Suburban League American Conference titles. "I just came in with an open mind and we played really well. I wanted to win. If I want something bad enough, I'll do whatever it takes." Added the left-handed Alber: "I was kind of nervous because Highland has a strong reputation in tennis. As we started playing, we built our momentum up. We wanted to win." In addition to winning at fourth doubles and finishing second at third doubles, Medina got a fifth-place showing from the No. 1 doubles team of Ashley Wallace and Emma Morse at an event that used no-ad scoring in the first two sets and went to a 10-point tiebreaker for the third. Brunswick got a fourth-place finish from the fourth doubles team of Valerie Markowski and Ella Barbarotta and sixth-place showings from the first doubles team of Julianna Ulm and Alexis Markowski — the Blue Devils had match point against Medina in their fifth-place battle before losing 6-4, 1-6, 12-10 — and the third doubles team of Ava Kish and Ella Kaetzel. Wadsworth was led by a third-place showing from the fourth doubles team of Alli Loose and Macey Milano. The Grizzlies also got a fourth-place finish from the second doubles team of Laney Ross and Bailey Blum. "I feel good about that," Loose said of finishing third. "We both played very well." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.