Division I sectional tennis: For the first time, Avon Lake’s Chiricosta has to settle for second
Shaun Bennett | The Chronicle-Telegram
OBERLIN — Now, it’s a rivalry.
Nikki Chiricosta from Avon Lake and Stephanie Hollis from Magnificat — both juniors — have met many times during their high school tennis careers, but the series has been one-sided with Chiricosta coming away with victory after victory.
That changed Saturday afternoon at Oberlin College as Hollis rallied for a 7-5, 6-4 victory to claim the Division I sectional championship, denying top-seeded Chiricosta her third straight sectional title.
“We’ve come across each other so many times,” said Hollis, the tournament’s No. 2 seed. “I’ve been training so hard for this (postseason) so it feels good to finally get one off her.”
Chiricosta had been playing some of the best tennis of her career during the tournament. She blew through the first three matches without dropping a game and downed Magnificat’s Mia Zuber — the No. 3 seed — 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals Saturday morning. She looked as if she would roll right through the field when she picked up the early lead against Hollis in the championship match.
“I really just kind of lost my head,” Chiricosta said. “I was up on her 5-2 and she came back. She played well … it happens.”
In the past, Chiricosta has called Hollis her chief high school rival and hinted that it might only be a matter of time before the Magnificat player took a match off her. Chiricosta said they were closely matched, but Hollis said she really needed to come up with a new game plan to finally find success against the Shoregal.
“I had to make a lot of adjustments to play against her because she’s so consistent,” Hollis said. “I had to come right back at her with consistency, especially on her backhand. Nikki Chiricosta is a great opponent, so it’s awesome to be able to come out on top.”
The upset win by Hollis plants a big question mark on what could be a wild and unpredictable district tournament this week at Oberlin College. Nationally ranked Kyle McPhillips from Willoughby South and Kara Sherwood from Mentor join the field and Chiricosta knows her No. 2 seeding could make a third straight trip to the state tournament — she won the Division I doubles championship with her sister Christine during her freshman season and went 1-1 in singles competition last year — a lot more difficult.
“I’m going to have to work twice as hard this week so that I’m ready for districts,” Chiricosta said. “There’s even tougher competition there, and being seeded two I could end up playing a one. I need to work hard and, hopefully, I can get some good upsets next week.”
A pair of area doubles teams also will be part of this week’s district tournament, as Westlake’s Julie Wang and Michelle Djohan and Avon Lake’s Kate Began and Molly Clayton both qualified. Each team lost to a Magnificat doubles team in the semifinals, then the Demons downed the Shoregals 6-1, 6-4 in the consolation match — giving Westlake the No. 3 seed for the district tournament.
“That was really important because it gives us a good start for the districts,” said Djohan, who is just a freshman.
“Losing twice in one day is not so much fun, so getting one victory was good,” Wang added.
The Westlake girls were the team’s No. 1 doubles team throughout the regular season and feel they have built a natural chemistry that many postseason teams — that consist of a school’s Nos. 1 and 2 singles players — don’t have.
“You see a lot of teams that aren’t communicating really well and they get down on each other,” said Wang, who is making her first district appearance. “Me and Michelle started playing even before the season started — we’ve been good tennis buddies.”
Wang is just a junior, so the pair knows it still has another year of playing together and this year will provide valuable postseason experience.
“This summer we plan on playing a lot of USTA tournaments together, so hopefully that’ll help,” Wang said.
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.
Saturday’s results
SINGLES
SEMIFINALS: Nikki Chiricosta (Avon Lake) def. Mia Zuber (Magnificat), 6-1, 6-1; Stephanie Hollis (Magnificat) def. Chelsea Girgash (Magnificat), 6-0, 6-2. CHAMPIONSHIP: Hollis def. Chiricosta, 7-5, 6-4; THIRD-PLACE: Zuber def. Girgash, 6-2, 6-1.
DOUBLES
SEMIFINALS: Allie Wasilko-Noelle Kaufman (Magnificat) def. Kate Began-Molly Clayton (Avon Lake), 6-3, 6-0; Kaeley Doyle-Hannah Shiekh (Magnificat) def. Julie Wang-Michelle Djohan (Westlake), 6-1, 6-2. CHAMPIONSHIP: Wasilko-Kaufman def. Doyle-Shiekh, 6-1, 6-4. THIRD-PLACE: Wang-Djohan def. Began-Clayton, 6-1, 6-4.
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Filed by Shaun Bennett | The Chronicle-Telegram October 5th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 1% |
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