Mason High School has mastered the tennis courts so far in Wooster this week.
The Comets celebrated their singles and doubles state champions in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state tournament Friday at the College of Wooster.
Mason junior Addison Cassidy won her first DI singles championship, while junior Pratyusha Chaudhuri and sophomore Emma Wagner won the doubles title for the second year in a row.
The pair of titles marks the first time a Division I school has won both girls singles and doubles in the same tournament since 2003, and it’s the 15th time in OHSAA history any girls tennis school has won both titles.
Cassidy won the final in dominant fashion, 6-0, 6-1 over Olentangy Berlin sophomore Soleil Cordell, who was also in the state final for the first time. Cordell had made the quarterfinals last year.
Cassidy won 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals over Rocky River Magnificat senior Anna Mancino, who was a multi-year veteran in the tournament. Cassidy dropped only five games on Thursday in the first two rounds of the tourney.
Cassidy was a state doubles finalist in 2022 as a freshman, then lost in the first round of the singles tournament last year.
This year, she changed her approach. Instead of constantly trying to hit hard shots and win quick points, she focused on playing longer points, keeping the ball in play and being confident her opponent would make a mistake before she did.
“I just had to keep my focus the same the whole time,” Cassidy said. “My goal was just make one more ball and keep it deep. Girls don’t want to be super patient. They’d rather be aggressive so it helps to just keep it high and deep so they can’t be aggressive and hit winners.”
Cassidy has worked on that part of her game all year.
“In the past year, it’s been my main focus,” she said. “I used to be the player who would try and crush every ball and I’d lose matches. It was really frustrating so I had to change my game, and this really helped. Just keeping it deep and consistent and not worry about crushing it.”
Chaudhuri and Wagner rolled through the tournament, dropping only 13 games in eight sets during their four match victories.
In the final, they beat Elena Fleming and Ella Workinger from Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, 6-1, 6-3.
Last year, they didn’t have any expectations in their first year in the tournament, so be able to handle the pressure of repeating was really meaningful.
“It feels really good, a lot better than last year,” Wagner said. “We were able to keep it going, which I think is special.”
They handled the pressure by focusing on having fun and not worrying whether they won or lost.
“We just really work really well together,” Chaudhuri said. “Even if we don’t communicate all the time, say stuff out loud, we know where each other is on the court. And we’re always laughing on court. We never take any stress because we know there’s no point in that.”
Wagner agreed.
“We’re opposites in some ways, and we complement each other on the court,” Wagner said. “We’re going to go out there and have fun.”
Indian Hill junior Sophia Thompson faced Bexley junior Amiya Bowles in the state tournament for the third year in a row.
The first two times were in the state championship match, and Bowles, currently ranked 22nd in the nation, defeated Thompson both times to win the title.
Friday, they met again in the semifinals. Thompson lost a long and dramatic three-set thriller that lasted nearly four hours. After winning the first set 7-6 in a tiebreaker that went extra points (10-8), Bowles won the next two sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Bowles went on to win her third state title with a 6-4, 6-1 win in the final.
“It was amazing,” Thompson said. “I played her the last two years in the final, so I wanted it this year. It was the closest match we ever had. I gave it my all and she’s incredible, so hats off to her.”
Thompson said her key was patience and keeping the ball in play, which contributed to the length of the match. The first set lasted two hours.
“I’ve been working really hard this year to get better,” Thompson said. “Obviously, she has, too, but how we both kept the ball super deep made a big difference.”
Thompson said she and Bowles are friends who see each other all the time in junior tournaments.
“We’re definitely friendly,” she said. “On the court, we’re yelling ‘Come on’ at each other. But off the court, we’re completely good. We’re friendly with each other at other tournaments.”
Thompson was set to play Eaton’s Mallory Hitchcock for third place an hour after her semifinal loss, but forfeited the match to save energy for Saturday’s team tournament.
Badin senior Caroline Boyle, a three-time state qualifier, lost in the second round to Pepper Pike Orange freshman Genevieve Hayden, who was state runner-up to Bowles Friday.
Indian Hill seniors Caroline Brown and Cassie Larsen lost in the state semifinals in three sets, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, to Gilmour Academy freshmen Grier Peckham and Caroline Koch, who went on to win the state title.
The Indian Hill pair went on to win the third-place match over Toledo Ottawa Hills, 6-1, 6-1.
It was the third time in the state tourney for Brown and second time for Larsen.
Summit Country Day seniors Maggie Marburger and Katelyn Bastos lost in the first round on Thursday.
Mason and Indian Hill will stay in Wooster to try to repeat as team state champions.
The Ohio Tennis Coaches Association will conduct the semifinals and finals of their team state championships. These matchups will be team dual matches featuring three singles players and two doubles teams.
Anthony Wayne, Highland and Upper Arlington will join Mason in the DI semifinals.
Joining Indian Hill in DII are Columbus Academy, Gilmour Academy and Maumee Valley Country Day.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Mason tennis players win Division I state championships
