WILMINGTON — Sweeping all three singles courts, Wilmington won Flight J of the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Coaches Classic Saturday on the WHS courts.

“What a crazy week,” WHS head coach Doug Cooper said. “We had a short practice (Sept. 17) and got rained out Monday through Thursday and didn’t reassemble as a team for an entire practice until (Friday) for a 45 minute hit after school. I think the rest did us some good. The players actually looked sharp in yesterday’s sunshine.”

Claire Burns, Jenna Taylor and Chandni Sharma all won three matches en route to titles. Burns also recorded the 100th win of her Wilmington career during the tournament. Burns is 20-2 on the year.

“I’m really happy for Claire Burns that she was able to get her 100th victory,” Blanchester head coach Matt Sexton said. “Not only is she a great player, but she’s a good kid as well. Sometimes the really good players are difficult to root for, but not Claire. I hope she keeps winning and can get back to state once again.”

Blanchester was third in the tournament, tied with McNicholas. The BHS duo of Maddy Coyle and Annie Trovillo went from singles players to a double teams and won the first doubles championship.

“With Maddy and Annie, the goal was to see how they would fare at doubles for a potential run at sectionals and I think they did well,” said Sexton. “We had a little trouble with McNicholas. They had two very good doubles teams. Overall it was a great day for them.”

Maddy moved into 2nd all-time in wins with 60. She is 17-1 on the season. Annie is up to 67 wins and is 19-1 on the season.

Taylor won at second singles and now has 68 career wins. She is third all-time in wins for WHS girls tennis, passing Allie Kees. She trails Allison Brooks and Burns.

Sharma gained the measure of the group at third singles.

“This was a real confidence booster for us heading into our league tournament Tuesday,” Cooper said. “This team knows how to compete and they want to win. Every player on the team continues to get better each week.

“The doubles teams were really thrown into the fire (in the tournament). Layna Holmes and Cary Holliday at first doubles — two freshmen — played Blan’s 1 and 2 singles who will team up again at sectionals and make a serious bid to qualify for Districts. Next, they turned around and lost 7-5 in a tie-breaker with McAuley and lost 8-5 to a pair of juniors from McNicholas. In all, they played three seniors, two juniors, and a sophomore. I could see Cary and Layna getting better as the matches went on. It was a real day of growth for them. Both doubles teams were matched up against more experienced players the entire day.”

Cooper said the week ahead will be a busy one with homecoming festivities throughout, plus Burns and Taylor in their roles on the homecoming court. In addition, the WHS coach said it was a positive to have Blanchester in the same flight and competing against WHS on the Hurricane courts.

“It was really fun to have Blanchester back on our courts for a heads-up match,” said Cooper. “They play such good tennis, they’re very well coached, and they have first class kids.”

Sexton was pleased with the play of his team on the WHS courts.

“I’m really pleased with how the day went,” he said. “We had a few goals and I think we met or exceeded most of them.

“I could not be more proud of how well we competed at singles. At full strength, we had our fourth, seventh and eighth best players at singles and they all competed well. Rianna (Mueller) was especially impressive. She ran into the buzzsaw known as Claire Burns in her first match, but then battled back to beat McNicholas’ No. 1 9-8 and just got edged by Mercy McAuley 8-6. She got better as the day went on.

“Carolyn (Bockhorst) lost a heartbreaker to Wilmington, but then battled back to win over McNicholas. I think she ran out of gas a bit in her third match, but she had a great day.

“Overall, it was great prep for the league tournament on Monday.”

SUMMARY

September 25, 2021

Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association

Coaches Classic, Flight J

@Wilmington High School

Teams

Wilmington 17 Mercy McAuley 14 Blancheser 12 McNicholas 12

First Singles

W: Claire Burns def Mueller (B) 8-0; def Villamagna (MM) 8-0; def Umstead (McN) 8-0

B: Burns Mueller was def by Burns (W) 0-8; def Umstead (McN) 8-0; was def by Villamagna (MM)

Second Singles

W: Jenna Taylor (W) def Boegeman (B) 8-0; def Dollries (MM) 8-5; def Dugle (McN) 8-2

B: Leah Boegeman was def by Taylor (W) 0-8; was def by Dugle (McN) 2-8; was def by Dollries (MM) 4-8

Third Singles

W: Chandni Sharma def Bockhorst (B) 9-7; def Junk (MM) 9-8(3); def Weidenbacher (McN) 8-2

B: Carolyn Bockhorst was def by Sharma (W) 7-9; def Weidenbacher (McN) 8-5; was def by Junk (MM) 5-8

First Doubles

W: Cary Holliday, Layna Holmes were defeated by Coyle, Trovillo 2-8; was def by Srong, Douthat (MM) 8-9(5); were def by Rose, Strebel (McN) 5-8

B: Maddy Coyle, Annie Trovillo def WHS 8-2; def Rose, Strebel (McN) 8-5; def Strong, Douthat (MM) 8-1

Second Doubles

W: Josie Heys, Reagan Henry were def by Caldwell, Irwin (B) 3-8; were def by Feese, Koebbe (MM) 3-8; were def by Ackerman, Crooker (McN) 0-8

B: Maggie Caldwell, Abbey Irwin def Heys, Henry (W) 8-3; were def by Ackerman, Crooker (McN) 3-8; were def by Feese, Koebbe (MM) 2-8

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