Girls sectional tennis: Amherst's Bussard, Avon's doubles team of DeHaven-Heun advance to quarterfinals

MEDINA — Amherst singles player Kayla Bussard did what a seed is supposed to do and the Avon doubles team of Ashley DeHaven and Maddie Heun proved seeds aren't always what they're cracked up to be. The result for both was two wins Monday at the Magnificat Division I sectional and a berth in the quarterfinals, which will be held at 3:30 p.m. today at Magnificat High School after the opening round was held at Medina. A win today clinches the top-four placement necessary to advance to the Springside district. Magnificat sectional semifinal, final and third-place matches are scheduled for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Bussard, a junior who played first singles this season and lost in the sectional quarterfinals a year ago, did not drop a game while beating Olmsted Falls' Vanessa Krecic and Westlake's Natalie Chang. "I just wanted to warm up, do my best and practice for the harder matches so it's easier to win those," she said. "I think I played really, really great today. My forehand was on point. I didn't miss hardly any. That was my biggest strength today." Bussard will play Highland's unseeded Wren Marquis, a third singles player in the regular season and the winner of three matches Monday, in the quarterfinals. "I'm just going to try to keep districts out of my head and do my best," Bussard said. "If I win, I win. I just want to do my best." Avon's DeHaven, a sophomore first singles player in the regular season, and Heun, a senior who played second singles for the Eagles, beat Rocky River's Sinead McKenna and Tricia Cukon to set up a meeting against Westlake's fourth-seeded Paige Hradek and Margot Hofelich. The Eagles took the first set 6-4 and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second before the Demons tied at 4, then regrouped to pull out the win. "It's better having the underdog story that we've taken out the No. 4 seed," said DeHaven, whose brother Logan was a state singles qualifier prior to graduating from Avon in 2023. "It would be really rewarding (to reach districts). I'm keeping up the DeHaven name." The Eagles adjusted in their second match by eventually positioning both players on the baseline when Westlake served, a strategy they credited for helping them advance. "We're both opposites," said Heun, who finished fourth in doubles with Julianne Hindman at sectionals last year. "She's good at the baseline and I'm good at the net. It works because we're able to feed off each other." DeHaven and Heun will play Olmsted Falls' unseeded Abby Pimat and Molly Murphy in the quarters, while freshman teammate Karina Marsden, a second doubles player in the regular season, will meet St. Joseph Academy's second-seeded Melanie Statsevych in quarterfinal singles play after winning three matches Monday. Avon Lake resident and St. Joseph singles player Rafi Catacutan fell one victory shy of the quarters, but it wasn't due to a lack of trying. Catacutan defeated Strongsville's Charlotte Grauel, who beat her twice in the regular season, in a 7-5, 6-4 slugfest in her opening match, with the players exchanging a warm embrace at the net at its conclusion. She then triumphed 6-1, 6-1 over North Ridgeville's Lily Sante to set up a memorable match with Highland's Marquis, who won 3-6, 6-2 and 10-6 in a 10-point third-set tiebreaker. Already with an ailing hamstring and also beginning to cramp as the second set progressed, a trailing Catacutan began spraying balls all over the place in an attempt to limit her movement and get to the third-set tiebreaker as quickly as possible. The strategy nearly worked. Marquis jumped to a 5-1 lead, but Catacutan closed to 6-5 before losing four of the last five points. Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.