REYNOLDSBURG - A day after a damp, chilly OHSAA state tennis championship Saturday at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason, two schools prepared for a familiar routine the next day.
Both schools routinely fare well at the individual tournament and both are frequent visitors to the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team tournament in Reynoldsburg, outside of Columbus.
Starting Sunday morning at 9 under yet more overcast skies, both Mason and Indian Hill advanced to the respective championships in Divisions I and II. Mason prevailed, but Indian Hill came up short.
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For the Comets, the day came down to one match against New Albany. After junior Vignesh Gogineni won first singles 6-2, 6-0, senior Sam King/ junior Varnshi Singidi won first doubles 6-4, 6-0. New Albany split their state champion doubles team from the day before, so Ryan Mudre of New Albany took second singles 6-2, 6-1 over junior Akshay Joshi.
Then, the New Albany doubles team of Dhruv Chavan/Declan Freedhoff prevailed over senior Atharva Rao/junior Anish Gangavaram in three sets, leaving the third singles match of Mason senior Eric Tang and New Albany's Ben Belinko to settle the day's festivities. Tang had played doubles earlier in the day when Mason advanced past Findlay.
"It was 2-all right as Tang was going into his third set," Mason coach Mike Reid said. "It was just really intense tennis. Everyone was yelling and screaming and it whooping it up."
At that point, everyone was gathered around one court at Reynoldsburg. Reid said Tang was pumped up and minutes later his efforts were rewarded.
The senior brought it home for Mason, albeit in three sets over Ben Belinko 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, giving Mason the match 3-2. Afterward, Tang was hoisted up by his teammates.
"It was quite a finish to a great season," Reid said. "That's why the boys were carrying him. We kind of figured the season might come down to Tang at the end, at least I did. I was trying to inspire him in practice. Sometimes kids can get lazy where they don't see the future and that match when the whole state championship is on the line. I think he got the message. He played a pretty inspiring match."
Not counting last year's missed 2020 season, it's the third straight OTCA title for the Comets and coach Mike Reid. Reid's Mason girls have won four straight OTCA titles so he's used to pleasurable rides home.
"It was quite a thriller," Reid said of his latest. "I've been very lucky."
Mason's Vignesh Gogineni was the OHSAA DI singles runner-up Saturday to Gahanna Lincoln's Brandon Carpico. In doubles at the Lindner Tennis Center, the Comets used Akshay Joshi with Sam King who finished as state runners-up.
Mason defeated Findlay 4-0 to advance to the finals Sunday with Gogineni, Joshi and the doubles teams of King/Singidi and Rao/Tang winning.
To reach the DII finals, Indian Hill downed Lexington Sunday morningn 3-2.
That put the Braves against Pepper Pike Orange which featured the OHSAA DII state champion doubles team of Josh Nwaozuzu/Chika Nwaozuzz and state singles runner-up Ben Pomeranets.
In a match that came down to second doubles to break the 2-2 tie, the Braves fell short for a second-place state finish.
In Saturday's OHSAA DII tournament, freshman Jack Pollock finished fourth in singles, while the doubles pairing of Tejas Pisati and RJ Poffenberger took this place by winning the consolation match.
Prior to the state individual and team tournaments, both Mason and Indian Hill were ranked No. 1 in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association poll.
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