BEACHWOOD—One point made all the difference in Orange winning the 2019 Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division tennis tournament at Beachwood on Saturday.
The Lions finished with 21 points thanks to two individual champions, two runner-up finishes and an individual third place. Hawken finished second with 20 points. The Hawks also won two individual titles but finished with just one runner-up placement and two third-place finishes.
Beachwood (15), Chagrin Falls (10) and West Geauga (8) rounded out the field.
West Geauga’s Rylie Hanford, the No. 2 seed, upset top-seeded Blessing Nwaozuzu of Orange at first singles, 6-4, 7-5. Nwaozuzu won the regular-season matchup and the two have squared off several times previously, including in the third-place match at the Division II state tournament last fall with Hanford winning that matchup.
Top-seeded Alexis Nyborg of Orange won at second singles and second-seeded Molly Xiao of Hawken knocked off top-seeded Zilin Zhang of Beachwood at third singles, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
The top seeds didn’t survive in the doubles brackets.
Fourth-seeded Sammi Fremont and Ellie Faber of Hawken opened the tournament with 6-0, 6-0 wins over West Geauga’s doubles team then they went out and upset the top-seeded team from Beachwood before beating Orange’s second-seeded doubles team in the finals, 6-1, 6-2.
Second doubles also had its share of upsets as Orange’s third-seeded team of Sadie Meyers and Rachel Glukh beat both the No. 2 and No. 1 seeds on the way to their tournament title.
Team Scores:
1. Orange 21
2. Hawken 20
3. Beachwood 15
4. Chagrin Falls 10
5. West Geauga 8
Individual Results:
1st Singles
- 1st Place: Rylie Hanford (WG) def. Blessing Nwaozuzu (O), 6-4, 7-5
- 3rd Place: Eliana Yang (H) def. Lali Ramadan (B), retired
2nd Singles
- 1st Place: Alexis Nyborg (O) def. Sabrina Machtay (B), 6-1, 6-0
- 3rd: Place: Tina Tewari (H) def. Maggie Catney (CF), 6-1, 6-0
3rd Singles
- 1st Place: Molly Xiao (H) def. Zilin Zhang (B), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
- 3rd Place: Natalie Borsch (O) def. Morgan Dishler (CF), 6-3, 6-2
1st Doubles
- 1st Place: Sammie Fremont/Ellie Faber (H) def. Elly McCreary/Rachel Pomeranets (O), 6-1, 6-2
- 3rd Place: Anna Owens/Emily Fan (B) def. Sara McKee/Laney Gilmore (CF), 6-2, 6-4
2nd Doubles
- 1st Place: Sadie Meyers/Rachel Glukh (O) def. Rishita Morthala/Amarita Mukunda (H), 7-5, 6-2
- 3rd Place: Emily Wirbel/Kasey Ruffer (CF) def. Stephane Yen/Grace Yan (B), 6-2, 6-3
