North Ridgeville wins LCAAA girls tennis tournament; Midview's Katarina Yates sets school record for wins

AVON — There were a lot of firsts at Saturday's Lorain County Athletic Administrators Association tournament. North Ridgeville won the team title and Amherst brought home individual championships, both for the first time in recent history. Midview's Katarina Yates set a school record for career wins and Lake Ridge's Shaina Ahlawat kept her impressive regular-season win streak going. While Amherst was the only school to win two titles, taking both doubles draws, it was the Rangers — reaching four finals and taking fourth in another — who edged out the Comets 34-32 for the team title, ending a long run of Avon and Avon Lake dominating the event as far back as at least 2018. Avon and Avon Lake elected to send their Varsity B teams to the event with their main squads competing at the Highland Invitational. The Shoregals were the two-time defending champions. "It feels amazing," said North Ridgeville senior Lily Sante, who won the Rangers' lone title, defeating Avon's Mia Miller, 6-3, 6-2, at third singles. "I never thought that I would come to this, but it's awesome. Our team has been amazing this season. We've been working so hard. We push each other and encourage each other. I definitely think that we all earned this. It's an amazing achievement." Yates stretched her record to 15-0, all at first singles, in defending her LCAAA title with a 6-4, 6-0 win against Amherst's Kayla Bussard. It's the second time this year Yates has prevailed against the Comets junior, and the pair might be in store for a third meeting at the Southwestern Conference tournament next week. But Saturday, was Yates' stage as she broke the school record for wins, now at 79 and counting. Bussard broke the Midview senior in a grueling 11-minute, 20-point game to open the match and took a 3-2 lead, but Yates won four of the next five games and ended the match by winning seven straight to clinch her second straight LCAAA first singles title, and third straight LCAAA title overall, as she won first doubles with her sister Gabriela in 2022. Yates was runnerup at first singles as a freshman. "I feel blessed," Yates said. "Just having the ability to play and be healthy. I'm very fortunate to do so. The wind was crazy. I just got used to the environment and adapted." Ahlawat defeated Emily Sewell of North Ridgeville, 6-1, 6-0, in the second singles final, improving to 8-0 on the season. However, the championship match had an unfortunate twist to it, as Sewell injured her leg three games in and had to take a lengthy medical time out. She returned and gutted out the rest of the match. It's the second straight year Lake Ridge won at least one individual draw, and Ahlawat has won her last 22 straight regular-season matches, dating back to 2023. "It feels good," Ahlawat said. "This is my first time playing so I wasn't expecting a lot. It took me a little bit of time to get back into it (after the time out), but I just got into the flow." The long, windy day ended with a pair of intense doubles championships, both pitting North Ridgeville against Amherst. The Rangers won the first set of each match, only for Amherst to rally, win the second and clinch the third in 12 games. Amherst's senior duo of Aubrey Gonzalez and Callie Christner defeated top-seeded Jordan Focht and Cassy Sole, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Amherst had a chance to serve out the match up 5-3, but North Ridgeville broke back and tied the set at five. The Comets won the final two games, breaking the Rangers to avoid a tiebreaker. It was a reversal of their SWC regular-season meeting Wednesday, when Amherst won the first set and North Ridgeville rallied to win the next two. "It feels amazing," Gonzalez said. "I only started playing tennis three years ago. I'm an avid softball player, so I only get about three months for tennis. I normally come into seasons cold, so to be able to perform this highly is kind of crazy. I'm really proud of myself and my teammate." At second doubles, the top-seeded pair of Cali Smith and Sadi Dorazio, both juniors, defeated Bella Dienes and Averi Wuorinen, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, winning four of the last five games to clinch the title. "It's crazy," Christner said. "I didn't really think we would have gone all the way, but it's awesome. We just played as loose as we could and took deep breaths throughout the whole thing." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. RESULTS Team Scores: 1. North Ridgeville 34, 2. Amherst 32, 3. Midview 29, 4. Avon 27, 5. Lake Ridge 18, 6. Elyria Catholic 15, 7. Avon Lake 13, 8. Elyria 12. FIRST SINGLES: Championship: Katarina Yates (Midview) def. Kayla Bussard (Amherst), 6-4, 6-0. Third place: Philine Fischer (Lake Ridge) def. Maddie Chinchar (North Ridgeville), 6-1, 6-4. Fifth place: Adalyn Latessa (Elyria Catholic) def. Hasita Kotagiri (Avon), 4-0, 4-1. Seventh place: Emma McLaughlin (Elyria) def. Maja Kliment (Avon Lake), walkover. SECOND SINGLES: Championship: Shaina Ahlawat (Lake Ridge) def. Emily Sewell (North Ridgeville), 6-1, 6-0. Third place: Jill Hubbard (Midview) def. McKenna Edens (Avon), 6-0, 6-4. Fifth place: Emma Timko (Amherst) def. Jenna Turston (Avon Lake), 4-1, 4-2. Seventh place: Amaya Williams (Elyria) def. Lauren Carandang (Elyria Catholic), 4-1, 4-0. THIRD SINGLES: Championship: Lily Sante (North Ridgeville) def. Mia Miller (Avon), 6-3, 6-2. Third place: Brynn Wuensch (Midview) def. MacKenzie Gutierrez (Amherst), 6-3, 6-3. Fifth place: Mina Rosenburg (Avon Lake) def. Valerie Dyson (Elyria Catholic), 4-2, 1-4, (10-7). Seventh place: Maya Williams (Elyria) def. Kiki Miclat (Lake Ridge), 4-1, 4-1. FIRST DOUBLES: Championship: Aubrey Gonzalez-Callie Christner (Amherst) def. Jordan Focht-Cassy Sole (North Ridgeville), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Third place: Leah Carducci-Brooke Heinrich (Avon) def. Courtney Hopiard-Claire Adelsberg (Elyria Catholic), 6-3, 6-2. Fifth place: Alina Deus-Aiyana Wood (Elyria) def. Danica Hazzard-Julianne Myers (Midview), 4-2, 4-1. Seventh place: Olivia Klenz-Katya Gennin (Avon Lake def. Sukhmani Sandhu-Mahika Patel (Lake Ridge), 4-0, 4-1. SECOND DOUBLES: Championship: Cali Smith-Sadi Dorazio (Amherst) def. Bella Dienes-Averi Wuorinen (North Ridgeville), 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Third place: Abby Incorvaia-Sophia Sexstella (Avon) def. Morgan Piskunoff-Hailey Doyle-O'Dea (Midview), 6-4, 6-1. Fifth place: Anna Spanos-Danica Knepper (Elyria) def. Olympia Theifylaktos-Hailey Pashayan (Avon Lake), 4-0, 4-2. Seventh place: Natalia Dyson-Lauren Freaney (Elyria Catholic) def. Alyssa Gorny-Sophia Woodward (Lake Ridge), 4-0, 4-0.