Girls tennis: Seeding is believing for Avon, SWC at Division I sectional

If the seeding in the Magnificat sectional is any indication, the Southwestern Conference featured some elite tennis this season. Eight players — including six from Avon — received top four seeds in either singles or doubles at the Division I tournament, which begins play today at Medina High School and will continue Thursday and Saturday at Magnificat. "I'm excited for my girls," Avon coach Eric Korey said. "One of the reasons is we play a tough schedule, so the wins we had really count for a lot. It's almost like BCS points in the old college football days. But getting the seeds is exciting. We've got to play well and show that we earned them, too." The Eagles' top two singles players, Natalie Smitek and Denver Johnson, were seeded first and fourth, while both of their doubles teams — Ishani Kishorepuria and Victoria Sidoti and Julianne Hindman and Maddie Huen — were seeded second and third. What's more impressive is that the Eagles didn't team up any of their top singles players, so their true doubles teams were seeded ahead of many other schools that elected to pair up some of their best players. Avon Lake's Amber and Autumn Korey, the defending sectional runners-up, earned the No. 1 seed in doubles. Amber has been the Shoregals' top singles player the past three seasons while Autumn moved to the No. 3 spot this year after playing second singles the past two seasons. Half of the state-placing Magnificat team that beat them last season graduated, leading Anna Mancino to play singles this time around and clearing the path for the Korey twins to be the top seed. Fellow junior Elizabeth Meiners, who played second singles for the Shoregals, wound up in Mancino's quarterfinal of the singles draw. "It's pretty cool to get a No. 1 seed," Avon Lake coach Tariq Ismail said of the Koreys. "Getting to the final last year helped a lot because they only played the LCAAA this year. It was good that they played together there and they're both playing stronger than they were last year. We're trying not to put too much pressure on them because it's hard being the No. 1 seed, you start putting a little more pressure on yourself. I think they're both excited." The sectional should provide some strong matchups beyond the top seeds, but it's hard to overlook a probable final between Smitek and Westlake's Amara Brahmbhatt, which could deliver a state semifinal-caliber match. Brahmbhatt last played for St. Joseph in 2021, winning this sectional and reaching the state quarterfinals. Smitek won this sectional last year without losing a game, but Brahmbhatt should give her a significantly tougher test. Both players — along with North Canton Hoover's Tess Bucher, who also is a member of the same district — were three of Ohio's six representatives at the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King Girls 18U National Championships in San Diego, a Level 1 USTA event that awarded the winner an automatic bid into the U.S. Open women's singles draw. While seeing all three players face off in the same district will be fun for Northeast Ohio tennis fans, it will add a little more stress to the players because two of them meeting at the sectional level could significantly shake up the district and the state tournament draws. "The way Natalie's playing now, when she plays her best she can beat anybody," Korey said. "I think that's also true with Amara, so it would be quite the battle. They both have tools and weapons everywhere. Three of the top players in the state in the same district, and two in the same sectional, is very tough. It's stressful for the players and the coaches." The area's Division II teams will have a tougher time making it to the district level since none received a top four seed. Elyria Catholic and Lake Ridge will compete at the Strongsville sectional that features perennial state contenders Laurel and Hathaway Brown. Vermilion will be at the Port Clinton sectional. Not surprisingly, the Panthers and Royals teamed up their top two singles players to compete in doubles. Lake Ridge's Ira Metha and Erica Janmey wound up in a quadrant with Leah Ernst and Gretchen Nagel — the fourth seed from Bay — while Elyria Catholic's Elizabeth George and Adalyn Latessa were placed in a quarterfinal draw with No. 2 seed Margaret Chen and Sarah Cimoroni of Hathaway Brown. Metha and Janmey both reached the quarterfinals in singles last year before losing to state qualifiers. The pair ended the regular season with a couple of strong matches to get ready for the competition ahead, including a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Kishorepuria and Sidoti on Sept. 26. Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.