Girls tennis edges Strongsville, 3-2, to reach state's Sweet Sixteen

There isn’t much that Isabella Gentile can do to be intimidating. She’s the smallest player on Avon’s varsity tennis squad, and she just doesn’t look the part of being a troublesome opponent.

But then, she and her gaudy one-loss season record step onto the court, and the truth comes out.

Playing third singles for the Eagles Friday in a match for a spot in Ohio’s Sweet Sixteen in the Coaches Cup team tournament, Gentile won the decisive match as host Avon edged Strongsville, 3-2, to earn a berth in the Northeast Ohio semifinals against Magnificat in a match yet to be scheduled.

Playing against Gentile is a lot like playing against a wall. She rarely swings hard, instead just returning the ball back over the net time, and time, and time again.

“A lot of people tell me they think it would be frustrating to play against me,” she said. “I feel like I’m really consistent and I keep the ball in play until they make their mistakes.”

When asked about Gentile’s playing style, coach Eric Korey had a lot to say after her 6-0, 6-3 victory.

“Isabell’s style is so hard to play against,” he said. “You have to have consistent weapons to damage her, and she’s able to just reset balls and reset points and keep the ball in play. It wears opponents down. It’s physically draining and mentally draining to play her, and it’s such an advantage for us to have her in our lineup.

“She has a way of continuing constant pressure on her opponents. They change their game and try something different, and it’s because they’re grasping. They’re trying to figure out some way to crack through. Their girl did a good job in the second set. But, ultimately, Isabella wins again. I think she’s 19-1 or 20-1 on the season.”

Avon easily won both doubles matches but lost at both first singles and second singles, putting the pressure squarely on Gentile’s shoulders. There were some shaky moments in the middle of the second set when she held just a 3-2 advantage, but after breaking her opponent’s serve twice, she was able to hold on for the victory.

“When I saw both No. 1 and No. 2 singles down a set and both our doubles teams had already won, I knew I was going to be the deciding match,” she said. “It definitely makes things a little more stressful, but after I got up more and more, I started to feel better about it. It feels really good to pull this one out. I’m just so glad that we could get the win and move on to the next round.”

With the victory, the Eagles have reached Ohio’s Sweet Sixteen for the third time in five years. They already have clinched at least a tie for their eighth consecutive Southwestern Conference championship—the SWC tournament will be held Saturday and Tuesday at Avon—but they really want to also do well in the Coaches Cup. The victory over Strongsville is one the Eagles have been thinking about since losing to the Mustangs last year in the regular season.

“We played Strongsville last year, and they beat us fair and square,” Korey said. “It was an odd match, to say the least, but they beat us fair and square. Anytime you lose a match, it’s fun to play that team again, and we got the chance to play them again in the Coaches Cup. We saw the bracket and saw that this matchup was probably going to happen, so we’ve been planning for it and thinking about it and working on it.”

In addition to Gentile winning third singles, Avon got victories from Sam Jackson and Samantha Gault at first doubles (6-2, 6-2) and from Karina Marsden and Grace Gedeon at second doubles (6-0, 6-1). Ashley DeHaven lost at first singles by the scores of 6-3, 6-1, and Nora Fiest lost at second singles, 6-3, 6-0.

“We know what a great team (Strongsville is),” Korey said. “We know how good their players are. So, we had to come out ready and focused. There were times our focus was not good, and we had to come out and crack the whip a little bit and get them back on track. But overall, I thought the girls fought really hard and played really hard.”