All seven players from the Perrysburg Yellow Jackets Girls Tennis Team who competed in the state tournament either upset higher seeded players or advanced further than expected. Some players/doubles teams did both.
Senior Laney Hamilton entered the sectional tournament as an unseeded singles player. She would end up upsetting the fourth seed and the second seed on her way to a third place finish. Mona Abdul-Aziz also upset the second seeded player but lost to her teammate, Sydney Onest, in the Finals. Their strong performances advanced Mona and Laney to the district tournament. Although they were eliminated in the first round, Mona and Laney both were named Honorable Mention All District.
The doubles team of Rachel Ward and Devika Bhavsar had arguably the most entertaining sectional tournament out of the Yellow Jackets. They upset the top seeded doubles team from Wapakoneta in the first round and the fourth seeded team from Findlay in the second round. Both matches were back and forth, requiring a third set. Devika and Rachel were only defeated by their teammates in the final round of the sectional tournament, but qualified for the district tournament. Although they were not able to advance to the second round of the district tournament, Devika and Rachel were also named Honorable Mention All District.
The senior duo of Julia Fujita and Grace Reiter had the deepest tournament run out of all of the doubles teams in the Northern Lakes League. They won the sectional tournament, facing the most resistance from their own teammates in the finals. This earned them a first seed in the district tournament and an easier first round. While their second round match included the drama of a third set and a rain delay, the seniors came through and won 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 over their opponents from Clay High School. Unfortunately, they fell one match short of a trip to the state finals. Grace and Julia were named First Team All District.
Undoubtedly, though, the highlight of the postseason was senior Sydney Onest’s fourth consecutive trip to the State Finals in Mason, Ohio. Sydney cruised to a sectional tournament victory and placed second in the district tournament, only losing to rival Lilly Black from Anthony Wayne. Lilly would eventually finish third in the state. Sydney was named First Team All District.
While Sydney had experience at the State Tournament, she had never advanced to the second round as a singles player. In fact, no girls tennis player at PHS has done so since 2008.
Sydney’s first round match against the top player from Dublin Coffman did not start as planned as she dropped the first two games. After a brief rain delay and some calming nerves, Sydney took control and won 12 of the next 14 games. She advanced to the second round with a score of 6-3, 6-1. At this point, only 8 singles players remained in the tournament.
Although Sydney would lose in the second round to the eventual state champion, her deepest tournament run as a singles player was the icing on the cake for an already decorated career. As a teammate, Sydney is a three time NLL Champion and played singles on a team that finished third in the OTCA Team Tournament. Individually, Sydney qualified for the state tournament all four years, twice at singles and twice at doubles. She was able to win her first round match once at doubles and now once at singles as well.
Congratulations Sydney!