Sunday, October 21, 2001
State tennis titles elude local girls
CHCA players finish second in finals
By Dave Schutte
Enquirer Contributor
COLUMBUS — The emotional letdown was too much for Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy senior Jen Dektas. Unable to hold back the tears, Dektas accepted a state runner-up trophy for the fourth consecutive season after she and doubles partner Shaden Dowiatt were defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Worthington Christian's Tiffany Young and Kathryn Whaling in the Division II final of the girls state tennis tournament.
“I'd trade all four bronze medals for one gold,” Dektas said. “There was a lot of pressure today because I knew this was my last chance. It really hurts finishing second again.”
No area players were among Saturday's champions, the first time that has happened since 1997.
CHCA sophomore Alex Gross took second in Division II singles and Badin sophomore Kylee Wiegand was third. Cincinnati Country Day's Jenna Tysoe and Ashley Baker were third in Division II doubles.
Ursuline's Andye Kelley and Catherine Rentschler finished fourth in Division I doubles.
The tone for the Division II doubles championship match was set during player introductions.
When Worthington Christian's Young and Whaling were introduced, the crowd cheered loudly. But not a cheer was heard when Dektas and Dowiatt were announced.
“I get pumped up playing in front of a crowd,” Dektas said. “When no one cheered for us, it was hard to come out and play well early.”
Young and Whaling won in 50 minutes, and Dowiatt said she and Dektas should have done better.
“I didn't play well and I'll always look back and see this match as one we should have won,” she said.
Gross was overmatched against Laura Maurer from Bay Village Bay in the singles championship. She reached the final with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 semifinal victory over Emily Howard, a match that lasted more than two hours.
“She (Maurer) is the best I've played,” Gross said. “The semifi nal match took a lot out of me, but it didn't make any difference. I couldn't do anything and she slammed everything I hit.”
Maurer, the 40th ranked 16-and-under girl in the country, used a little intimidation in both her 6-1, 6-0 semifinal victory over Wiegand and in the final against Gross. After fewer than five minutes of warmups, she walked off the court and said she was ready.
“I've never had anybody do that to me,” Gross said. “She wasn't very nice about it. She must think she's superior to everybody.”
Wiegand lost the first set 2-6 in the third place match against Howard of Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit but, rallied in the next two, 6-4, 6-3.
“I started thinking fourth isn't to bad,” said Wiegand, the 2000 state doubles champion. “But then she (Howard) started making errors, which gave me the confidence to come back.”
Kelley and Rentschler had eventual Division I champions Angie Bhat and Kate Lohner of Toledo St. Ursula down a break in the third set of their semifinal match, 4-3, but couldn't put it away.
They lost the third-place match 7-6, 7-5 to Gina Peretti and Stephanie Berry of Youngstown Boardman.
“We could have won the first match,” Rentschler said. “We knew we had to regain our confidence, but they (Boardman) are a good team and were all over the net.”
The fourth-place finish was the second straight for Kelley.
DIVISION I
Singles
Semifinals: Anna Volberg, Jr., Toledo St. Ursula def. Tiffani Foster, Jr., Huber Heights Wayne 6-0, 6-3; Melissa Schaub, Sr., Lexington def. Kelsey Linville , Soph., Upper Arlington 6-4, 6-0.
Championship: Schaub def. Volberg 6-4, 6-4.
Consolation: Linville def. Foster 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles
Semifinals: Angie Bhat, Jr., Kate Lohner, Jr., Toledo St. Ursula def. Andye Kelley, Sr., Catherine Rentschler, Soph., Ursuline 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Eimaer Bahnson, Sr., Sarah Lodge, Soph., Upper Arlington def. Gina Peretti, Jr., Stephanie Berry, Jr., Youngstown Boardman 6-1, 6-4.
Championship: Bhat-Lohner def. Bahnson-Lodge 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).
Consolation: Peretti-Berry vs. Kelley-Rentschler 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
DIVISION II
Singles
Semifinals: Lara Maurer, Jr., Bay Village Bay def. Kylee Wiegand, Soph., Hamilton Badin 6-1, 6-0; Alex Gross, Soph., Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy def. Emily Howard, Sr., Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Championship: Maurer def. Gross 6-0, 6-1.
Consolation: Wiegand def. Howard 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles
Semifinals: Tiffany Young, Sr., Kathryn Whaling, Jr., Worthington Christian def. Jenna Tysoe, Sr., Ashley Baker, Sr., Cincinnati Country Day 6-1, 7-5; Jen Dektas, Sr., Shaden Dowiatt, Jr., Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy def. Jenny Bush, Sr., Meredith Klekotka, Jr., Gahanna Academy 6-2, 6-4.
Championship: Young-Whaling def. Dektas-Dowiatt 6-3, 6-4.
Consolation: Tysoe-Baker def. Bush-Klekotka 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
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