Girls tennis: Amherst, Avon Lake split LCAAA titles

AVON — When the dust settled, everything evened out between Amherst and Avon Lake. The Comets took two singles draws, the Shoregals took two doubles draws and the teams split the Lorain County Athletic Administrators Association team title with 37 points each at Avon on Saturday. This edition of the LCAAA was one of the closest. Only eight points separated the fifth-place team, defending champion North Ridgeville, from first. Avon, who sent its Varsity B team for the fourth straight season, took third at 31 points and Elyria Catholic had its best showing at the event in recent history with 30 points. The Comets' top two players brought home titles. Freshman Sienna Nagy won a tight final at second singles against Adalyn Latessa. The Elyria Catholic junior built a 5-2 lead in the first set, only for Nagy to come roaring back to win five straight games. Latessa broke to force a tiebreaker, which was tied at five before Nagy won the final two points. The second set was tied 4-4 when Nagy held, then broke Latessa to clinch the title. While Nagy didn't have to wait long for her first LCAAA title, teammate Kayla Bussard had been waiting four years for the same moment. Every other run at first singles for the Amherst senior had ended with a loss to state-caliber opponents — Amber Korey in the 2022 final, Elizabeth Meiners in the 2023 semifinals (Bussard finished third) and Katarina Yates in the 2024 final. This time around, she brought home the title with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win against Avon Lake sophomore Kathleen Boatwright, who broke Bussard to cut the first set to 4-2 only for Bussard to win the next eight games. "My serves got better as the match went on," Bussard said. "I just started being more strategic and it just worked for me today." The win caps a 5-0 week for Bussard, who on Thursday broke the school's all-time win record in the quarterfinals. And the previous record holder — Avon Varsity B coach Natalie Campbell (nee Keron) — was coaching her opponent. Bussard is 15-1 on the season, including a 2-1 record at doubles. If there was any doubt about what Bussard has meant to the Amherst program, at least one of her teammates was in tears as everyone not competing on the court gathered when she was awarded her first-place medal. On Thursday, the entire team wore shirts with the number 71 on the back to honor her record-breaking moment (the record is now 73 after Saturday). "I don't even know what to say," Bussard said. "I'm just so speechless. To have these two amazing accomplishments in one week is just insane. It's just amazing. I love my teammates so much. Just seeing them so happy for me, it's so nice and I love them." Amherst entered as the No. 1 seed in the third singles draw, but the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds met for the title. Avon's Christiana Hetman defeated North Ridgeville's Ella Nicholls 6-1, 6-3. Nicholls had to play four hours of tennis Thursday just to reach the semifinals, including a 90-minute play-in victory. The Comets had their chances to clinch the title outright, but Avon Lake's strong performance at doubles ultimately forced a split title. The Shoregals' second doubles team of Mina Rosenberg and Maya Kliment topped Amherst's Avery Hawley and Maria Bak 6-4, 7-5 in the final match of the day. Avon Lake seniors Avery Brown and Malaya Marijan won what was arguably the toughest flight of the four as the first doubles draw featured four strong teams. They defeated Amherst's Cali Smith and Sadi Dorazio 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals and North Ridgeville's Jordan Focht and Cassy Sole 6-3, 6-1 in the final. "It feels great," Marijan said. "Avery's ground strokes were great and I also thought my volleys were working really well. I think Avery definitely carried the serve, she had a bunch of games where her serve carried us. We focused on keeping the ball in the court and reduce the unforced errors." The Rangers reached the final with a tight semifinal win against Vermilion's Cora Frederick and Ava Leslie, who took third. The Sailors duo rallied to force a match breaker against the Rangers, but ultimately lost 6-3, 4-6, (10-6). As for the Shoregals, Brown and Marijan started down 3-1, then broke North Ridgeville on its next six service games. The pair ultimately won 11 of the final 12 games, including a run of seven straight. "Our team works well when I'm serving great and Malaya takes the weak serves with her volleys," Brown said. "We were also just making a lot of our ground strokes. We just worked well together as a team and didn't get down on ourselves when things got rough." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. TEAM SCORES: T-1. Amherst 37, T-1. Avon Lake 37, 3. Avon (Varsity B) 31, 4. Elyria Catholic 30, 5. North Ridgeville 29, 6. Vermilion 17, Elyria 15, T-8. Lake Ridge 13, T-8. Midview 13. FIRST SINGLES: Championship — Kayla Bussard (Amherst) def. Kathleen Boatwright (Avon Lake) 6-2, 6-0. Third place — Kinga Heinz (Lake Ridge) def. Elise Latessa (Elyria Catholic) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Fifth place — Isabella Gentile (Avon) def. Emma McLaughlin (Elyria) 4-1, 4-0. Seventh place — Maddie Chinchar (North Ridgeville) def. Jill Hubbard (Midview), walkover. Remaining placer — 9. Alexa Guitar (Vermilion). SECOND SINGLES: Championship — Sienna Nagy (Amherst) def. Adalyn Latessa (Elyria Catholic) 7-6 (5), 6-4. Third place — Sydney Stone (Avon) def. Brynn Wuensch (Midview), walkover. Fifth place — Lyla Head (Avon Lake) def. Olivia Yaksic (North Ridgeville) 4-1, 4-3. Seventh place — Amaya Williams (Elyria) def. Lily Fisher (Vermilion) 4-0, 4-0. Remaining placers — 9. Sukhmani Sandhu (Lake Ridge). THIRD SINGLES: Championship — Christiana Hetman (Avon) def. Ella Nicholls (North Ridgeville) 6-1, 6-3. Third place — Lila Drumm (Elyria Catholic) def. Jenna Turton (Avon Lake) 6-4, 6-2. Fifth place — Emma Timko (Amherst) def. Danica Hazzard (Midview) 4-1, 4-0. Seventh place — Danica Knepper (Elyria) def. Ava Bunn (Vermilion) 4-1, 4-1. Remaining placers — 9. Mila Sergent-Mani (Lake Ridge). FIRST DOUBLES: Championship — Avery Brown-Malaya Marijan (Avon Lake) def. Jordan Focht-Cassy Sole (North Ridgeville) 6-3, 6-1. Third place — Cora Frederick-Ava Leslie (Vermilion) def. Cali Smith-Sadi Dorazio (Amherst) 6-2, 6-3. Fifth place — Lauren Freaney-Valerie Dyson (Elyria Catholic) def. Shaina Ahlawat-Kiki Miclat (Lake Ridge) 3-4, 4-0, (10-7). Brooke Heinrich-Mia Miller (Avon) def. Mya Williams-Marissa Peacock (Elyria) 4-0, 4-1. Remaining placers — 9. Leah Vasarab-Abby Klooz. SECOND DOUBLES: Championship — Mina Rosenberg-Maya Kliment (Avon Lake) def. Avery Hawley-Maria Bak (Amherst) 6-4, 7-5. Third place — Leah Carducci-Abby Omslaer (Avon) def. Aubree Kitchen-Julia Klepper (North Ridgeville) 6-4, 6-3. Fifth place — Megan Wade-Paige Dodge (Vermilion) def. Olivia Li-Rita Hricovic (Elyria Catholic) 4-2, 3-4, (10-4). Remaining placer — 7. Ashleigh Bowens-Chloe Kekic-Harris (Elyria). Note — Lake Ridge and Midview did not field a second doubles team.