Avon girls place fourth in the OTCA state team tennis tournament

It wasn’t a dream ending for the Avon girls tennis team, but it certainly was a dream season.

Despite being unseeded in the Northeast Ohio district, the Eagles battled their way to the final four of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Division I team tournament, the Coaches Cup. It was the first appearance in the final four for the Avon girls program, and only the second time a girls team from Lorain County got that far.

Avon played two matches on Saturday, falling to Mason in the semifinal, 3-0, and then to Toledo St. Ursula in the third-place match, 3-1 (once a team has three winners, the other matches are stopped). The lone winners for the Eagles was the second doubles team of Samantha Gault and Karina Marsden, who won their match against St. Ursula, 6-2, 7-5.

It should be noted that Mason went on to win its 10th consecutive state team title with a victory over Upper Arlington. The Comets also had the doubles state champions in the individual tournament and another doubles team that placed third.

“Mason beat us as expected but we battled St. Ursula tight,” said coach Eric Korey. “It was an amazing experience for our team and our kids. I felt that my girls played hard in both matches and represented Avon and Northeast Ohio extremely well. No one expected us to make it this far. We were unseeded, but the girls never stopped believing in themselves and their teammates.”

Reaching the final four in the team tournament was a fitting way for the Eagles to end a season that saw them win their eighth consecutive Southwestern Conference title and send five individuals to the district tournament.