Sectional Tennis: Avon sending 5 to district tournament, including 2 doubles teams

ROCKY RIVER — Even though Avon couldn't beat the daylight, it once again flexed the depth of its team. The Eagles will send five players to the Division I Springside district tournament — top singles player Ashley DeHaven along with Sam Jackson, Grace Gedeon, Samantha Gault and Karina Marsden. Jackson and Gedeon took second in the Highland sectional doubles draw when play concluded at Magnificat on Thursday, while Gault and Marsden finished fourth. It's the first district qualification for all four. The Avon teams faced off in the semifinals with Jackson and Gedeon winning 6-2, 6-3. Both went on to lose their placement matches against Rocky River and St. Joseph, respectively. "I'm very excited because the past two years I lost in my first round at sectionals," Jackson said. "I'm excited to be here with the team and see that all our hard work really paid off. It's really nice and shows how much work we've put in. It's nice to have a community here. It definitely helps us play better because we have more support around us from the parents, too." DeHaven won her semifinal against Strongsville's Charlotte Grauel 6-4, 7-5, but her final against Strongsville's Mallory Koch — the No. 1 seed — was suspended because of darkness. Koch won the first set 7-6 (7) and led 2-0 in the second. The players will return to Magnificat on Saturday at 10 a.m. to complete the singles draw. Avon's only senior on varsity will make her third straight district appearance, doing so for the second straight season in singles. It's the second straight year DeHaven had to face Koch and Grauel back-to-back on the last day of the sectional, only last season she did so in reverse order. "I'm glad that I could qualify again my senior year," DeHaven said. "And now I have more people with me at districts this year, so it makes it even better. We all put in a lot of work over the offseason. You can tell it really paid off during the season because we've all really improved." Avon leads the way with five of Lorain County's 10 district qualifiers. The Solon sectional also concluded play Thursday with Magnificat's top doubles team of Elizabeth Ammori and Marissa Packer — Avon and Avon Lake residents, respectfully — bringing home the championship 6-2, 6-0 against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. Both were state qualifiers in doubles last season with Ammori reaching the state quarterfinals. Also competing at Solon were Amherst's Katelyn Bussard and Avon Lake's Kathleen Boatwright, who finished third and fourth, respectively. It's the first district appearance for Bussard, a sophomore, while Boatwright, a junior, is making her second straight district appearance. Division II also will complete its sectionals Saturday. Elyria Catholic sophomore Elise Latessa reached the semifinals by dropping just four games in three postseason matches at the Strongsville sectional. She will face Laurel's Rida Tahir — a returning state qualifier in singles — when play resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. Latessa will make her first district appearance. Vermilion also competed in the Division II Port Clinton sectional on Thursday, with Lauren Streby reaching the quarterfinals of the singles draw but concluding her freshman season one win shy of the district tournament. Both Avon doubles teams ran into tough placement matches. Rocky River's Allison Huff and Lillan Crull defeated Jackson and Gedeon 6-1, 6-1. The Pirates duo won 11 straight games before splitting the final two. "It was a hard match, but we tried our best and Rocky River played really well," Gedeon said. "I'm really happy about (qualifying for districts). Last year I wasn't a district qualifier, so it's going to be fun this year." As for DeHaven, she and Koch once again had a back-and-forth match. The pair met twice in the postseason last year with Koch winning their sectional semifinal in three sets after DeHaven won the opener. She defeated DeHaven again in the district consolation semifinals to earn a state tournament bid. Koch led DeHaven 5-2 before the Avon senior won four straight games and had a chance to serve out the set, but two double faults gave Koch the opening she needed to force a tiebreak. Koch led the tiebreak 6-4, but DeHaven won the next three before Koch held off a set point and closed it out two points later. The Strongsville junior caried the momentum into the second set, winning the first six points before surviving another DeHaven rally to hold at 2-0. "I'm used to playing every day," DeHaven said. "I really just try to stay in my matches and just focus on playing my game and do what I'm comfortable with. And when I have to go outside of my comfort zone I try to learn from my mistakes." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.