St. John wins girls county tennis tournament by one point

JEFFERSON — After nearly eight hours of tennis, the Saint John girls team earned a one-point victory over Geneva to claim the Ashtabula County tennis tournament title.

All five finals included Saint John and Geneva players, with the Heralds winning first and second doubles, as well as first singles to earn the one point victory.

“We are a pretty deep team … We did well in the doubles because of that,” said Saint John girls tennis coach Todd Nassief.

He said his squad is nine players deep, which helped them secure the win.

Saint John’s Maggie Hoza beat Ashlyn Thompson 6-4, 6-3 to claim the county title after the two players, both seniors, have been competing against each other for many years.

“Maggie was able to get by in straight sets,” Nassief said of her victory.

Hosa said she has been playing tennis for six years, and defeated Thompson last year in a three set tie-breaker.

“I am proud of where I am as a senior and I am proud of our team … They are great people,” she said of her teammates.

Geneva girls tennis coach Amy Thompson said she was very happy with her team’s performance. This is Thompson’s first season coaching the Eagles, and she said having her team come up one point short was a great accomplishment.

“The team did amazing. They really brought it,” she said of her players. She said her second singles player, Hannah Dunn, and third singles player, Parker Miller, won medals.

She said the second place finish puts the team in a good place leading into the rest of the season, and they are 2-1 in dual match competition.

“This gives them a huge boost,” Thompson said.

Jefferson Area High School hosted the tournament for the first time in many years.

“We have beautiful courts, beautiful facilities. I am glad we can show it off,” JAHS Athletic Director Greg Juhola.

Saint John led the scoring with 28 points, followed by Geneva with 27. The rest of the field was Jefferson with 20 points, Lakeside with 14, Edgewood, nine, and Conneaut, six.

Jefferson’s Aleyah Talley earned a third spot in first singles with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Edgewood’s Amelia Zizka.

The victorious Saint John doubles teams were Taylor Fusek and Maddie Holler in first doubles and Lili Aughinbaugh and Delaney Tirotta in second doubles.

Aughinbaugh and Tirotta led the Heralds, winning the first finals match.

The tournament was originally to start at 9 a.m., but was delayed to noon because of potential rain that never materialized.

Nassief said Thompson did a great job getting her team ready to play.