High school girls tennis: Avon wins eighth straight Southwestern Conference championship by claiming league tournament title

AVON — At this rate, Avon is going to need a longer banner outside of its tennis courts. The Eagles, who completed another perfect season in match play at 7-0, won their eighth straight Southwestern Conference girls tennis title Tuesday evening by also bringing home the team tournament title. The Eagles once again sent its entire lineup to the finals, winning three of five draws. "It's amazing," said Avon's Sam Jackson, who partnered with Samantha Gault to win the first doubles title 6-2, 6-3. "It makes me feel special as a player knowing all my hard work during the offseason is going to something for sure. Most of us all came back from last year, we've all grown as players." Also winning championships for Avon were Isabella Gentile 6-0, 6-0 at third singles and the second doubles team of Nora Feist and Karina Marsden 6-2, 6-2. The Eagles faced three schools in the championship matches as Amherst sent its top two players — sophomores Katelyn Bussard and Sienna Nagy — to the first and second singles finals, respectively. Senior Ella Nicholls represented North Ridgeville in the third singles final and Avon Lake sent its two doubles teams of Mina Rosenberg-Laney Kuhn and Hailey Pashayan-Alyssa Damman to the respective first and second doubles finals. Elyria's Amya Williams (second singles) was the only player not from Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake or North Ridgeville to play for first or third place. The Comets needed just three wins Tuesday to lock up second place for the second straight year after going 6-1 in league play. Bussard delivered a win in the top draw 6-0, 6-1 against Avon's Ashley DeHaven. But Nagy again had to work in the second singles final. Last year she won a thriller against Fiest, and this year she defeated Gracie Gedeon 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in what was easily the match of the evening, lasting three hours and 14 minutes and featuring many games that lasted more than 10 points. Nagy rallied down two breaks in the third set to tie things at 4-all. After a pair of holds, Gedeon broke back and had a chance to serve out the championship, but Nagy forced a tiebreaker. The Amherst sophomore took a 3-0 lead in the breaker, Gedeon cut the lead to 4-3 and then 5-4 before Nagy won the final two points. "I just told myself there's always going to be another point to keep going," Nagy said. "I had the mentality that it's going to be a tough match because it's Avon, they're good at everything. I just had to be prepared for the good and the bad. I'm just proud of all of my team. Every single one of my teammates has put so much work in." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.