Five Avon tennis players earn district berths in sectional tournament

After Day 2 play in the Division I sectional tournament at Medina Highland Tuesday, Avon’s girls tennis team is assured of having at least one finalist in doubles and possibly one other in singles. The semifinals and finals will be held Thursday at Magnificat.

Avon’s two doubles teams will play each other in one semifinal, and both have already earned a district berth by reaching the semifinals. Avon senior Ashley DeHaven also earned a district berth in singles.

Sam Jackson and Grace Gedeon are the top-seeded doubles team in the tournament, and they will face unseeded Eagles teammates Samantha Gault and Karina Marsden in their semifinal. Jackson and Gedeon defeated Charlaice McDonald and Lila Maurer from Lakewood in the second round, 6-1, 6-0, and then topped Aubree Kitchen and Julia Klepper of North Ridgeville in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-1.

Gault and Marsden are the only unseeded players to reach the semifinals in both singles and doubles. First, they rolled past Lily Jones and Gianna Colonna of Berea-Midpark, 6-2, 6-1, and then took down the No. four seed, Isabella Sartor and Eliza Kratt of St. Joseph Academy, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2.

DeHaven is the second seed in the singles bracket. She won both of her matches Tuesday, topping Mara Cujdeanu of St. Joseph Academy, 6-1, 6-0 and then Sofia Stoica of Padua, 6-4, 6-2. She will play No. 3 Charlotte Grauel of Strongsville in the semifinals.

Isabella Gentile fell just one match short of earning a district berth, falling to top-seeded Mallory Koch of Strongsville, 6-0, 6-1 in their quarterfinal. Gentile defeated Madi Milota of Olmsted Falls, 6-0, 6-0, to reach the quarters. Nora Fiest also reached the second round for Avon but lost to the fourth seed, Ana Morgan of Padua, 6-0, 6-1.