Girls tennis: Avon Lake doubles team of Elizabeth Meiners and Autumn Korey headed to state

BATH TWP. — Avon Lake was not about to let its ticket to the state tournament slip away. The doubles team of Elizabeth Meiners and Autumn Korey faced a strong run from Solon's Olivia Liu and Isabella Liu in the final games of their go-to match in the consolation semifinals of the Division I Northeast district tournament at Springside Athletic Club on Friday, but were able to hold them off for a 6-1, 6-3 win. The pair lost to Magnificat's Molly Williams and Corinne Daniels 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the fifth-place match and will take a No. 6 seed into the Division I state doubles tournament at the College of Wooster on Thursday and Friday. Meiners and Korey now have identical 27-6 overall records and are 9-3 as a team. Korey is making her second straight state tournament bid, both in doubles, while Meiners is making her first. "I'm really excited," Korey said. "It was a tough, tough draw this year and I'm glad we pushed through and were able to win it." Avon Lake got off to a strong start against Solon, winning four of the first five games before closing out the set 6-1. The Shoregals took a 5-0 lead in the second set, but Solon held to force Avon Lake to serve them out. The Comets broke back, then held, and had a break chance. However, the Shoregals won the final three points and shared a big hug as they clinched their state berth. "Elizabeth's ground strokes from the baseline really helped," Korey said. "It set me up with my volleys. Our confidence really helped us again. Since we had that early lead, we just went with it and were able to close it out at the end." Avon Lake was neck-and-neck with Magnificat in the first set. Meiners and Korey each had a chance to serve out the match — at 5-4 and 6-5 — but Magnificat broke each time to force the tiebreak. The Blue Streaks took a 6-1 lead, but the Shoregals won the next three points before a Magnificat forehand clipped off the net and dribbled over. The Blue Streaks closed out the second set by winning four straight games. "We just went for our shots," Meiners said. "We need to try and keep the point longer, and I need to work on my volleys. I thought they were good today, but for the next level putting them away more is really going to be key." In Division II, Midview's Katarina Yates wasn't able to give herself a chance to play for a state bid, losing a marathon consolation semifinal to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Amy Beebe 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3. The match lasted nearly three hours and featured a number of games that lasted more than 10 points. Yates had five break chances in the 10th game of the second set — all of them set points — but Beebe held strong, then swatted away another break/set point in the 12th game to force a tiebreak. Each player had a set point in the tiebreak, but Yates secured another and ultimately won 9-7. Beebe responded with four straight wins to open the third set, but Yates got both breaks back at 4-3 before Beebe closed her out with two straight wins. Yates finishes her standout senior season at 29-3. She won her first 28 matches and was named Southwestern Conference MVP. She is the school's all-time wins leader at 93-20. "I just had fun and stayed focused," Yates said. "I focused on the ball, didn't think about the scenario and focused on the play at hand." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.