Girls tennis: Avon gets tested but beats Amherst

AVON — The defending Southwestern Conference champions took a big step toward their seventh straight title. Avon faced a tough challenge from Amherst at second and third singles as both rallied to force a third set, but both were unable to complete the comeback as the host Eagles held on for a 4-1 win Monday evening. Avon improves to 5-0 in league play, but won't have long to enjoy this win as another big showdown with Avon Lake looms Wednesday. One more win gives the Eagles a share of the regular-season crown, but that only counts toward half of the championship as the SWC tournament is weighed equally in determining the overall champion. Amherst falls to 2-1 in league play and will face North Ridgeville on Wednesday. It already defeated Avon Lake, so it will need Avon to lose one of its remaining games in order to have a chance at forcing a split. Junior Emma Timko flipped the script against Avon's Hasita Kotagiri at third singles. Timko shook off a 6-0 loss in the first set to win the second 7-5, but Kotagiri rallied down 30-0 to break Timko in the second game of the third set. She held strong and secured a second break at 6-2 in what ultimately clinched the match for Avon. "I was really nervous, but once I started playing my own game it got better and I was able to win the third set," Kotagiri said. "I feel great. I was really surprised. The Amherst girl was really good. It was a really good third set. A lot of points went to deuce, so it was a tough set." Avon also got strong contributions from both of its doubles teams. Sam Jackson and Samantha Gault went down 4-3 in the first set at first doubles against Amherst's Cali Smith and Sadi Dorazio only to take the next nine games, winning the match 6-4, 6-0. The Eagles second doubles team of Karina Marsden and Gracie Gedeon built a 4-3 lead in the first against Avery Hawley and Maria Bak, breaking the duo to clinch the first set 6-3. They then won the final three games of the second set to clinch the match 6-2. "Last year we struggled to win doubles matches against good teams," Avon coach Eric Korey said. "This year our doubles is undefeated in every match. We haven't lost a doubles court. The girls have dedicated themselves this year to improve the things we talked about improving. They expect to win every match. Kudos to Amherst. I felt their doubles teams challenged us." Amherst won the spotlight match between two of the SWC's top players. Avon's Ashley DeHaven and Amherst's Kayla Bussard both entered Monday undefeated at first singles. DeHaven at 6-0 and Bussard 5-0. The Amherst senior took advantage of some early double faults by DeHaven to build a 4-0 lead, but DeHaven bounced back to give Bussard some tough games — Bussard needed 18 points to break her in the opening game of the second set. Ultimately, Bussard remained unbeaten at singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win and improved to 8-1 overall. She went 2-1 at the Norwalk doubles tournament with freshman Sienna Nagy. Nagy also shook off a tough first set, losing to Nora Feist 6-2, but winning the second 6-3. Even though the team score was decided long before her 2:22 marathon ended, Nagy took a 4-3 lead in the third, but Feist won the next three games to close her out 6-4. "The powerhouse of the SWC has been Avon," Amherst coach Kyle Hougland said. "In the past we've had one match where we put up a good fight and the rest of us lost 6-0, 6-0 waiting for that one person. So the fact that we're sitting here at 7:30 with two matches that went to third sets, this is the closest we've been to beating Avon by far in recent memory. It never feels good to lose, but it feels good to see how much these girls fought for every point." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Avon 4, Amherst 1 FIRST SINGLES: Kayla Bussard (Am) def. Ashley DeHaven, 6-2, 6-1. SECOND SINGLES: Nora Fiest (Av) def. Sienna Nagy, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. THIRD SINGLES: Hasita Kotagiri (Av) def. Emma Timko, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. FIRST DOUBLES: Sam Jackson-Samantha Gault (Av) def. Cali Smith-Sadi Dorazio, 6-4, 6-0. SECOND DOUBLES: Karina Marsden-Gracie Gedeon (Av) def. Avery Hawley-Maria Bak, 6-3, 6-2.