Locals eliminated from state tennis

May 30, 2015 at 12:06a.m.

The excitement of playing in the boys state tennis tournament was short-lived for Valley participants.

Both the Canfield High School doubles team of Timmy Cianciola and Bobby Long and Lakeview High School singles qualifier, Zach Teffner, were one-and-done in Columbus on Friday.

Cianciola and Long fell 6-3, 6-4 in their opening-round match in the Division I doubles draw to Nick Blair and Graeme Green of New Albany High School.

Teffner lost to the Division II southwest district’s top-seeded player, Asher Hirsch, 6-0, 6-0.

For the Cardinals’ duo, it was valuable experience for a two young players. Long, a sophomore, and Cianciola, a freshman, only began playing doubles together at the start of the sectional tournament. They have plenty of time to work their way back to state competition.

“The other team was just little bit better than us today,” Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky said.

“This was really good experience for two really young players and I’m extremely proud of how they handled themselves at this level.”

Blair and Green lost their next match to Alex Taylor and Nakul Narendran of Cincinnati Sycamore High School, 6-3, 6-3. Narendran, a senior, was a part of last year’s Division I state champion doubles team.

Teffner, a junior, will have one more crack at the state tournament next year. Hirsch took down Brayden Streng of Sandusky High School in the next round, 6-2, 6-0.

The state tennis tournament concludes today at the Ohio State Outdoor Varsity Tennis Courts, beginning at 9 a.m.