Girls tennis 2021: Avon sisters Audrey and Natalie Smitek hope to make Magnificat a state contender

Whether they're leading the charge at singles or teaming up at doubles, sisters Audrey and Natalie Smitek give Magnificat a formidable one-two punch. The pair have primarily played first and second singles, respectively, throughout their time on varsity together, with Audrey a two-time state qualifier in singles and Natalie posting a 34-2 record at second singles in her debut last season. Now the Avon residents are ready to pick up where they left off. "They're extremely dedicated," Magnificat coach Chris Johnson said. "They play year-round, they've been playing for a long time. They are always, always on the court. They have a really strong all-court game. I can give them any strategy and they can apply it at any point. It makes it easy to adapt to top-level players because we're able to counter what they do well because they have so much variety in their game." Audrey joined Magnificat's top varsity team her sophomore season in 2019 and went on to qualify for the state tournament after a fifth-place finish at the Medina district. Last year she moved up to first singles and went 29-5, winning the Elyria sectional title, taking third at district and making it back to state. While she lost in the first round both times at state, the experience of advancing deep into the postseason has been important in her development. "I used to put a lot of pressure on myself," Audrey said. "You always get nervous, but I wasn't as mentally tough. Those tournaments helped me become mentally tough and put less pressure on myself because that doesn't usually help me. I just play the match, think about what I'm doing and tune out everything else." Even though Natalie had a dominant run in singles, she decided to pair up with Caroline Moritz and play doubles in the postseason. That decision paid off big as the duo won their first 11 postseason matches, capturing the Elyria sectional and Medina district championships and finishing fourth at the state tournament. "That was awesome," Natalie said. "I loved playing doubles in the postseason because I got to learn so much more about doubles. It's so different than singles. You have to learn when you want to poach, when you go for the volley and when you want to come in when you're serving. It's a different strategy than singles. And then, obviously, you need to work as a team." Like most siblings, the pair push one another, especially when they're paired off together in practice. They teamed up once last year at the Canfield doubles tournament — and won. Even better, they beat Upper Arlington's Megan Basil and Ella Hazelbaker, who defeated Natalie and Moritz 6-2, 6-2 in the state semifinals on the way to winning the Division I state championship. "It was fun, but it was also a little stressful because we hadn't played together before and it was one of the first matches of the season for me," Natalie said. "It was a lot different than it would be this year because I didn't really know how to play doubles. It was a great experience to play with her and I'm excited to again." Recently, they defended their Canfield title, winning Flight A and helping Magnificat sweep all four flights to capture the team title. Regardless of whether they opt to go into the postseason as a doubles team or singles players, they should give Magnificat a chance to win it all this year. "I'm hoping I can make a good run, but I think our team has a really good shot at winning state this year," Audrey said. "We played Mason and lost, but the three we lost were all three sets. I think we have the best chance we've had in all my four years here at winning state as a team." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter.