Girls tennis: Avon's Natalie Smitek about to put finishing touches on a stellar high school career with her fourth state tournament appearance

There are a couple of things that will make Natalie Smitek's final trip to the state tournament a little different than her three previous ones. The first is a much closer location with this year's tournament at the College of Wooster instead of its recent home at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. Smitek, along with the Avon Lake doubles team of Amber and Autumn Korey, will represent Lorain County in Division I. Play begins Thursday with the first two rounds and continues Friday with the semifinals and placement matches. Both sessions start at 9 a.m. The bigger change is her fourth-place district finish which resulted in her lowest seed at the state tournament. The finish was largely a result of a district singles field that featured three of the state's five best players, including Smitek, but the senior elected to not compete in her third-place match because of a back injury. Smitek carried the brunt of the tough draw as she and Westlake's Amara Brahmbhatt met in the Magnificat sectional final with Smitek losing 6-2, 6-4. That loss put her on the same half of the district draw as Tess Bucher from Hoover, the favorite to win the state championship, where she lost 6-0, 6-0. The advantage for Smitek, though, is that the losses removed any pressure she might have put on herself to live up to her seed. "I just lost to her 6-0, 6-0 so you can only go up from here," said Smitek, who did just that two days later when she pushed Bucher to three sets in the quarterfinals of the state team tournament Monday, losing 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3. "I lost to both of them, so now I'll just go down there, play my game and hope I can do better. I literally have no pressure." Losses have been rare for Smitek as she's dominated Lorain County and established herself as one of the state's top players in her four years — the first two with Magnificat. Smitek is 123-9 in her career. Only eight players, including three doubles teams, can say they've beaten her (one person has a win in singles and doubles). Only 11 of her matches went to a third set, including match breakers, with Smitek going 8-3. Bucher is the one player who's consistently beaten Smitek, holding a 4-1 record over her, all in singles. The only other player to beat Smitek twice is Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw, who handed Smitek her only regular-season loss Sept. 10, 2022, snapping Smitek's perfect singles record after 46 straight wins. Hinshaw's other win came with Clara Owen against Smitek and her sister Audrey in the doubles semifinals at the 2021 state tournament. Playing doubles, especially with her sister, is something Smitek remembers fondly. The pair took third in the state that season. She also finished fourth her freshman year with Caroline Moritz. "I loved playing doubles, it was a lot less stressful than singles," Smitek said. "Playing with Audrey was a really, really fun experience. I loved spending my first two years playing doubles to see that I could do it and then doing singles. I've had a really good experience overall." Smitek holds a 61-6 record since joining Avon her junior season, going 2-0 at doubles with the rest at first singles. This allowed the Eagles to move Denver Johnson, now the school's all-time wins leader, to second singles and give them the lineup needed to make two straight deep runs in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association state team tournament. The program earned its first trip to the district final this season, losing to Hoover on Monday. "She's a fierce competitor," Avon coach Eric Korey said. "Obviously tennis is her thing, but even in things like pickleball or little things like a team game with our JV players, she wants to win. That drive to compete and that drive to improve is what's pushing her all the time. She plays in tournaments all the time because of her drive to get better. She doesn't rest on her own laurels, she wants to be the best player she can possibly be. And she makes others around her better, that's the definition of a good teammate. She elevates everyone around her and she does more for our team than just the one court she plays on." Like last year, Smitek will be the only representative from Avon at state. Her first trip in singles ended in the state quarterfinals, losing her rubber match to Bucher. Smitek won the regular-season meeting, but Bucher won both postseason matchups. Smitek was originally placed in Bucher's quadrant, but was redrawn to face Owen in the opening round — a partial rematch from their 2021 meeting in the state doubles semifinal. The winner will face either Lauren Burkett, a No. 1 seed from Dublin Coffman, or Ally Haynes, a No. 6 seed from Highland. Bucher is the probable semifinal opponent for whoever wins this quadrant. "A lot of my friends graduated so this trip does feel kind of lonely this time around," Smitek said. "Sam Robertson (of Rocky River) graduated and Anna Bennett (of Magnificat) isn't here. It's really weird without them. I'm ready for this to be my last one." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. SENSATIONAL SMITEK With or without a state championship, Natalie Smitek will go down as one of the most dominant tennis players in Lorain County history. Here's a look at her career by the numbers. ** 123 — Career wins in 132 matches** 104 — Consecutive sectional tournament singles games won before her first loss** 93 — Career singles wins** 67 — Regular-season wins, seven in doubles** 46 — Straight singles wins to open her career, going undefeated at singles her first two seasons** 38 — Postseason wins in 45 matches, including 23-3 in doubles ** 18 — State team tournament wins, all in singles, with one loss** 8 — Players who have beaten Smitek in singles or doubles** 7 — Championships, including three sectional titles (two doubles, one singles), two district titles (both doubles) and two Southwestern Conference first singles titles.** 4 — Trips to the state tournament, earning All-Ohio honors in her three previous trips** 3 — Career doubles losses in 33 matches, all on the final day of the state tournament** 2 — Schools, going 62-3 with Magnificat her first two seasons and 61-6 with Avon her last two** 1 — Regular-season loss, in three sets to Centerville's Caroline Hinshaw on Sept. 10, 2022