Boys Tennis: Avon starts slow, then rolls over Walsh Jesuit

BATH TWP. — It's not how you start, it's how you finish. Avon took that saying to heart Saturday as it labored through the opening set in four of the five matches against Walsh Jesuit but ultimately defeated the Warriors 5-0 in the third round of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association state team tournament at Springside Athletic Club. The Eagles (12-2) advance to the OTCA Northeast district semifinals for the second straight season and will have a chance to flip the script against Massillon Jackson, the team that eliminated them last year. The match will be scheduled in the coming weeks. "It's going to be a challenge for our guys for sure," Avon junior Luke LeMaster said of Jackson. "The challenge is just not to be intimidated like we were last year. They brought their whole school, they were cheering and had energy. We just didn't step up to the challenge last time, but we hope to this time." A.J. Sidoti was the only one from Avon who had an easy first set Saturday, taking a 4-0 lead and eventually winning 6-1 against Michael Vallone. However, Vallone went up a break at 3-2 in the second, only for Sidoti to rattle off the last four games. Logan DeHaven took a 4-3 lead at first singles against Michael Ulrich, only for the Walsh senior to break back. DeHaven responded by winning the next seven games and prevailed 6-4, 6-1. LeMaster followed a similar pattern against Charlie Kealy at second singles, going down 4-3 in the first set before winning the next nine games to clinch the match 6-4, 6-0. "I just went down to the basics and tried to move faster, use my feet more," LeMaster said. "I had to focus up a little bit because when you have a long drive sometimes it takes some time to get your head in the right space. I just stuck with it." Avon's Jay Kneiss and Franco Gallo came through with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Brennan Albainy and Casey Miller at first doubles. Five of the 10 games in the opening set went to deuce, with Avon winning four, including a 16-point marathon in the opening game. "We had to keep our serve in check and move our feet," Gallo said. "Once we figured that out, we just got out of deuce and played our match. We had our head in it and stayed positive. We hit the right shots and made fewer unforced errors. That was the big thing, just stop making ourselves pay for our own mistakes." The Eagles' return game was clicking in the second set, as they broke every Walsh (10-8) service game. "In the first set I felt pretty good, but some of those forehands that I wanted to hit weren't going where I wanted them," Kneiss said. "In that second set, a lot of my forehands were hitting deep and putting pressure on them. And Franco did a really good job coming up at the net." Aneesh Yerramsetti and Sivan Manickam dropped the opening set at second doubles 6-3 to Nate Pate Cruz and Joe Demboski. The pair rallied to force a second-set tiebreaker — winning 7-1 — and, with Avon already clinching the team win, the third set was converted to a match breaker, which Avon won 10-5. Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Avon 5, Walsh Jesuit 0 FIRST SINGLES: Logan DeHaven (A) def. Michael Ulrich, 6-4, 6-1SECOND SINGLES: Luke LeMaster (A) def. Charlie Kealy, 6-4, 6-0THIRD SINGLES: A.J. Sidoti (A) def. Michael Vallone, 6-1, 6-3FIRST DOUBLES: Jay Kneiss-Franco Gallo (A) def. Brennan Albainy-Casey Miller, 6-4, 6-1SECOND DOUBLES: Aneesh Yerramsetti-Sivan Manickam (A) def. Nate Pate-Cruz-Joe Demboski, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 10-5THIRD DOUBLES (non-scoring): Jarrett Bungo-Nicholas Stamatis (A) def. Charlie Snow-Alex Behm, 6-3, 6-0