Girls state tennis tournament
When: Friday and Saturday; play begins at 9 a.m.
Where: Friday(first, second rounds) at Ohio State's Stickney Tennis Center; Saturday (semifinals, finals) at Hilliard Davidson High School.
Admission: $8
Area qualifiers
First-round matches (seeding in parentheses)
Division I:
Singles - (4) Marianne Bonanno, Northmont, vs. (1) April Weaver, Perrysburg.
Division II:
Singles - (1) Alyssa Ritchie, Waynesville, vs. (4) Victoria Ferry, Youngstown Liberty.
Doubles - (3) Anne Connelly/Jackie White, Oakwood, vs. (1) Alisha Angle/Elise Betscher, Lexington; (4) Sally Trout/Andrea Fetters, Milton-Union, vs. (1) Taylor Johnson/Surya Khadilkar, Gates Mills Hawken.
Down 2-6 in a third-set tiebreaker, Marianne Bonanno was having a tough time staying calm.
“Actually, I was kind of freaking out,” Bonanno said, smiling. “I was trying not to think about it too much, but it was hard not to.”
A return trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association state tennis tournament was on the line for the Northmont senior. Bonanno battled back through four match points to beat Mt. Notre Dame junior Brooke Dennis 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in the three-hour Division I district quarterfinal match last week.
“My mom was preparing what she would say to me after the loss,” Bonanno said. “People kept saying ‘I can’t believe you pulled that off,’ I couldn’t believe I pulled it off.
“I just knew how much I wanted to go back to state, especially after experiencing it last year.”
The shock has faded and the reality of Bonanno’s next task has set in as the Thunderbolts’ two-time state qualifier will face top-seeded April Weaver of Perrysburg in the first round of Division I state singles competition today in Columbus.
Bonanno, a fourth seed, is used to tough opening rounds as she faced eventual state singles champion Niki Flower of Upper Arlington in her first state match last season.
“Last year, my goal was just to qualify to state and I was happy to be there,” Bonanno said. “Now, I’d like to win a round or, even, make it to the semifinals. That would be really great.”
Perfect throughout the regular season at 18-0, Bonanno is 25-2 going into the state tournament after a pair of losses in the district semifinals and finals.
While the state tournament will mark the end of Bonanno’s high school tennis career, she plans to carry on the collegiate tennis tradition of her grandfather, who was a Rutgers team captain, and her mother, who played at Brown. She will make college trips from California (Harvey Mudd College) to Cleveland (Case Western Reserve University) in the coming weeks.
“I’ve had a great experience playing high school tennis and I’m a little sad that it’s almost over, but I’m excited about playing at the next level.”
Oakwood doubles team at state
Doubles duos: Oakwood sophomore Jackie White will make her second trip to state in as many years, this time with partner Anne Connelly in D-II doubles. Milton-Union’s Sally Trout and Andrea Fetters will make their first state tournament appearances. They are the first M-U girls tennis players to qualify for state since 2003.
Stacked field: All four of the 2009 D-II state singles semifinalists are back this year. State champion Alyssa Ritchie, Waynesville, returns. So does runner-up Courtney Earnest, Lexington, third-place finisher Rachael Morales, Columbus Bishop Hartley, and fourth-place finisher Kelsey Matthews, Indian Hill.
Division I singles champion Niki Flower, Upper Arlington, also returns to defend her title and will be joined in the D-I field by New Albany’s Meghan Buell, who won the D-I doubles title with Maddie Kobelt.
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