The Lady Aves tennis team, fresh off of a 16 win, two loss season, went into the ‘sweet 16’ in the state team tournament with confidence. They had lost just two matches, which were the first two matches of the season, to Magnificat and Walsh Jesuit. Both were tough 2-3 losses, but they have since won 16 straight matches.

On Tues. Sept. 23, SHS faced off against Ursuline Academy at the Blue Ash Recreation Center, in an attempt to make it to the quarterfinals. The two captains, seniors Jamie Pescovitz and Sneha Rajagopal, made their final effort to win State team title.

“Winning state in any sport is a huge deal, but if the girls were to win, it would be huge for the SHS tennis program because the girls and the boys would win back-to-back state titles. It would be amazing for our coach Michael Teets, because he has never won a girls state team title,” said sophomore, Noah Stern, before the match.

They began with a lead, when all three singles players began to dominate, while the two doubles teams were being dominated. First singles player junior Alexa Abele was the first to finish, winning 6-1.

Junior Margaret Skwara followed suit soon after, by defeating the second singles player from Ursuline with ease. The Lady Aves doubles teams both lost easily after the singles had won making the overall match score a tight two all.

The only freshman on the team and third singles player Leah Wallihan won the first set of her match with ease, winning 6-1. Her opponent had great defense, making every point hard fought and long. Ursuline came back to win the second set 2-6, and they were all even. The third and final set was neck and neck, with each player fighting hard. During the set, Wallihan had to take multiple medical time outs, because of extreme cramping in her legs. At 5-5, the cramping became unbearable.

Urusuline edged Wallihan 5-7, and she was unable to walk off of the court because of the unfortunate cramps. The Lady Aves still have high hopes for singles and doubles individual state later this season.