Girls tennis: Avon residents Audrey, Natalie Smitek win sectional titles for Magnificat

ELYRIA — Sisters Audrey and Natalie Smitek brought home sectional championships for Magnificat on Saturday afternoon. The Avon residents, Audrey, a junior, dropped five combined games in her two matches to secure the singles title and improve on her second-place finish from last year. She defeated St. Joseph's and fellow Avon resident Tia Clemens 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals then prevailed against St. Joseph's freshman Amara Brahmbhatt 6-4, 6-0. "It's really nice," Audrey said. "This year I really wanted to win and it feels really good to. It's exciting for both of us." Natalie, a freshman, partnered with Caroline Moritz and the top-seeded doubles team dropped just one game in each of its two victories — 6-0, 6-1 over the Avon team of Alyssa McLellon and Marta Koziy in the semis and 6-1, 6-0 over their teammates Kayra Koprulu and Lexi Ospelt, who resides in Avon Lake. "I just starting thinking that at this point it's about having fun," Natalie said. "We've made it to districts, so we just wanted to go out there and have fun. It feels really good to win it, especially my freshman year. It's so cool that we won singles and doubles. I was just glad that we didn't have to compete against each other." Everyone who played Saturday had already qualified for the Medina District tournament, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at Springdale Fitness and Racquet Club. Audrey placed fifth at the Medina district last year, qualifying for the state tournament, and was the top returning sectional placer from 2019. Brahmbhatt gave her a good run in the first set with four of their games going to deuce, including a 12-point fourth game, when Smitek got the first break. Brahmbhatt put things back on serve at 5-4, but Smitek refocused and won the set with a break the next game — the first of seven-straight to close out the match. "I was getting tight and then I told myself to play how I normally play, just play loose," Smitek said. "Whatever happens, happens, but just play my normal game." Clemens shook off her loss to Smitek and placed third with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Samantha Robertson. Robertson beat Clemens in last year's third-place match, 6-2, 6-2, and went on to take fourth at the Medina district. This time around, Clemens returned the favor with a furious rally in the second set. Robertson had a break point to close out the second set, up 5-1, but Clemens held her off. She won six straight games to lock up the match. "I just put my head down and it feels great to be able to come back and win it," Clemens said. "I just took things one point at a time. I just wanted to stay in it and just kept fighting." Clemens' win was the only upset among seeded players — singles or doubles. All eight seeds made it to the semifinals and the top three singles seeds dropped a combined one game in the quarterfinals. Avon freshman Denver Johnson came the closest to pulling an upset, losing to Clemens 6-4, 7-6 Thursday. Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter. SINGLES Championship: Audrey Smitek (Magnificat) def. Amara Brahmbhatt (St. Joseph's) 6-4, 6-0. Third: Tia Clemens (St. Joseph's) def. Samantha Robertson (Rocky River) 6-3, 7-5. Semifinals: Smitek def. Clemens 6-0, 6-1; Brahmbhatt def. Robertson 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). DOUBLES Championship: Natalie Smitek/Caroline Moritz (Magnificat) def. Lexi Ospelt/Kayra Koprulu (Magnificat) 6-1, 6-0. Third: Delia Guzic/Mary Kate Kahl (St. Joseph's) def. Alyssa McLellon/Marta Koziy (Avon) 6-4, 6-2. Semifinals: Smitek/Moritz def. McLellon/Koziy 6-0, 6-1; Ospelt/Koprulu def. Guzic/Kahl 6-2, 6-4.