Thursday, May 15, 2014
Staff report
Three of the four seeded singles players and the top four doubles teams all clinched district tournament berths by going unbeaten in Wednesday’s opening rounds of the Division II sectional boys tennis tournament.
Poland’s Garrett Gardner, the tournament’s top seed and defending champion, won all three of his matches by 6-0, 6-0 scores. Second-seeded Aaron Paczak of Lakeview won his first two matches by 6-0, 6-0 scores, then dropped one game to Crestwood’s Justin Vaughn en route to a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Fourth-seeded Anthony Ricciardi of Poland won his first two matches by 6-0, 6-0 scores, then defeated Mooney’s Jack Higham 6-3, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Third-seeded Les Horvath of Ursuline dropped just three games in his first two matches and will meet West Branch’s Thomas Korda in today’s quarterfinals. Korda won three matches on Wednesday and OHSAA rules do not allow players to play four matches in one day.
All singles matches were at Boardman Tennis Center, while doubles matches were played at Boardman High School.
On the doubles side, top-seeded Tyler Cole and John Nader of Warren JFK did not drop a game in two matches to advance to the semifinals. Second-seeded Rich Hill and Andrew Stille of Mooney, third-seeded Eric Rohrabaugh and Zach Teffner of Lakeview and fourth-seeded Billy Phillips and Caelan Phillips of Warren JFK all advanced to the semifinals with straight-set victories.
Semifinal matches will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. at Boardman High School. with finals following after a 40-minute break. In case of inclement weather, play will be moved to the Boardman Tennis Center.