Poland netters finish 4th

Seniors Colin Larouere and Rodrigo Catunda lost to a team from Columbus Wellington.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
COLUMBUS -- The Poland High doubles team of seniors Colin Larouere and Rodrigo Catunda finished fourth at the Division II state tennis tournament Saturday.
In the semifinal match at the Schottenstein Tennis Center, the Bulldogs duo lost to Zack Fayne and Brian Steginsky of Columbus Wellington, the defending state champs, by a score of 6-2, 6-2.
Larouere and Catunda then lost the consolation match to Mike Aronson and Reed Synenbert of Beachwood, 6-4, 6-4.
"It was a rewarding season for Larouere and Catunda to compete in the state tournament and making into the second day," Poland tennis coach Janice Wilson said.
"Against Wellington, they forced deuce every game in the first set and almost every game in the second set. We made them work for every point," Wilson said.
"During the first match, they played with desire and determination, perhaps their best match of the season," Wilson said. "Their serves were really good and they had some outstanding volleys.
"In the consolation match, they made some unforced errors, but still managed to hang in there," Wilson said. "I am very pleased with our season, it was a great experience for everyone."
Larouere said, "We felt good about getting this far, but that we could have done better. At crucial moments, we weren't following through and putting the points away.
"It was one of our goals as a freshman and having a teammate able to play at the state level is a good feeling," Larouere said.
About the semis, Larouere said, "Every time we got a good shot in, they were able to get it back. Every time we got up to do something, they kept coming back. We made some outstanding shots and they returned them with some great shots.
"We weren't mentally in the consolation match," Larouere said. "We got down, then came back and they always were there waiting for us to try something. Our shots weren't as good as they normally were.
"I am not sure whether it was because we were tired or what in the second match, but we just didn't play as well as we had in the past two week," he said.
The winners
Mike and Brian Compton of Cincinnati Indian Hill reversed results from last year and topped Columbus Wellington to win the Div. II doubles title. The brothers defeated Wellington's team of Zack Fayne and Brian Steginsky 6-4, 6-2. The Comptons were beaten by Fayne and Steginsky 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the 2001 finals.
In Div. II singles, Sandusky St. Mary's junior Jeremy Miller won the title by defeating Indian Hill sophomore Mike McCarthy 6-3, 7-5. Miller dropped last year's championship match 6-4, 6-0 to Jason Zimmerman of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy.
The Div. I singles title went to Chardon senior Stephen Rozek, who beat Ross Wilson, a senior from Toledo St. Francis, 6-2, 6-1.
Cincinnati St. Xavier won the Div. I doubles championship as the team of Andy Bartish and Neil Sehgal beat Cincinnati Princeton's Will Lofgren and Tony Teufel 6-4, 7-5.