Avon Lake’s Nikki Chiricosta has already won a Division I state title in doubles and has a year of experience in the state singles tournament under her belt.
So it’s no surprise the junior was awarded the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye at this week’s sectional tournament at Oberlin College. The hurdles, however, will appear in the next round for the Shoregal.
“In the districts, we’ll have (Kyle) McPhillips from Willoughby South and Kara Sherwood from Mentor,” Chiricosta said. “So it should be a pretty tough tournament.”
Sherwood matched Chiricosta’s 1-1 performance in Columbus last season, while McPhillips, just a freshman, is ranked No. 2 in the country by the USTA in the 14-and-under age group. There’s also Magnificat’s Stephanie Hollis — who also went to state last season — to contend with at sectionals and districts.
“I played against Stephanie earlier this year and won in a really good match,” Chiricosta said. “I was supposed to play against Willoughby South, but our match got canceled because it was scheduled for the day when that shooting happened.”
A 15-year-old student fired two shots — one into the ceiling and another into a trophy case — early in the day on Sept. 2. The school was shut down for the remainder of the day.
Chiricosta has been rolling through the regular season, picking up trophies at the Lorain County Athletic Administrators Association and Southwestern Conference tournaments. She has a 23-1 record — her only loss coming to Gilmour Academy freshman Lauren Davis, who is the person ranked higher than McPhillips by the USTA.
“She’s in Division II, so that’s good,” Chiricosta said.
Chiricosta, who won the doubles title as a freshman with her sister Christine, said the year of experience as a sophomore has helped a lot and she has added some things to her game this season. Avon Lake coach Rich Mostardi agreed.
“Her serve’s a lot better and she’s not being such a defensive player,” Mostardi said. “Last year, when she played the better players she just tried to get balls back in play. She’s being a lot more offensive-minded this season.”

Demons all over

Westlake, which finished runner-up in the SWC and advanced to the final eight in the state coach’s cup tournament, has five of its seven varsity players seeded for the Division I sectional.
The Demons’ No. 1 singles player, sophomore Kelsey Weinhanen, is the No. 3 seed at Oberlin College, while the first doubles team of Julie Wang and Michelle Djohan was awarded the second seed and the second doubles team of Stephanie McCalister and Karen Nedorost is seeded fourth.
“They’ve worked very hard to get where they’re at,” Demons coach Ralph Dunbar said. “They’re proud of their accomplishments this season. All three singles players finished third at the SWC tournament, the first doubles team took second and the second doubles team won the tournament.”
Weinhanen is in her first year with Westlake because she skipped her freshman season to work on her game with her club coaches. She said the tough schedule this year has helped prepare her for a challenging postseason.
“I got to play Nikki a couple of times and I feel I can do better against her the next time we meet,” Weinhanen said. “I played Steph Hollis in the first match of the season. I know most of the girls in the sectional tournament pretty well. They all hit at the same club that I do.”

Panther power

Elyria Catholic had a good showing in the seeding for the Division II sectional tournament at Tri-City Park in Rocky River this week. The Panthers’ No. 1 singles player, Becky Mittler, earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament and Emily Mueller and Morgan Baker — EC’s Nos. 2 and 3 singles players, respectively — are the top-seeded doubles team.
“We had a good season as a team — we pretty much hit most of our goals,” Panthers coach Terry Butler said. “We went 16-3, won the North Coast League title and finished second down in the Pickerington doubles tournament, which is right about what we had hoped for.”
Butler likes the sectional draws of his players, and said Mittler should be able to make it to the semifinals, where she’d face Celia Waggoner from Rocky River — the No. 2 seed.
“Celia beat her in the very first match of the season, so that should be a good rematch,” Butler said.
Just like Chiricosta in Division I, Mittler would have to face the toughest of competitors at the district tournament at Canton’s Weis Park. That’s where Gilmour’s Davis should be waiting.
“I played her in the final match of the season,” Mittler said. “She’s an amazing player and probably the best that I’m going to see. I took a game off her, so I was kind of excited about that.”
Baker and Mueller, like Mittler, advanced to the district tournament a year ago and hope for better results this season.
“Their only loss at sectional was to the eventual state champions — the Dorsey sisters,” Butler said. “Then at districts they drew the Orange girls (Lydia Colvin and Cathy Tokman) and that team ended up going to Columbus, too.
“They’ve played exceptional tennis this season, each finished 22-2. They really want to get to Columbus.”
The Bay doubles team of Shawntel Layton and Sarah Chen earned the No. 4 seed at the Division II sectional tournament.
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Emily Mueller, Elyria Catholic

YEAR: Junior
POSITION: Second singles
RECORD: 15-1
THIS WEEK’S PERFORMANCE: Mueller has been nearly perfect at the No. 2 spot this season — she lost her first match to Orange earlier this week — and led the charge as the Panthers captured the Lorain County Athletic Administrators Association tournament championship by winning the No. 2 singles title. She has picked up recent victories over Padua, Akron Hoban, Walsh Jesuit and St. Thomas Aquinas.
BIO: Mueller has an artistic side to go along with her athletic ability. She enjoys drawing — using colored pencils to make portraits for friends and family — and she likes to play the piano — taking lessons as a kid and again recently after an absence from the instrument.
PARENTS: Marge and Mike Mueller

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.