Five Tennis Cats have qualified for the District Tournament after a successful week at the Sectional Tournament. Those Wildcats that have advanced to Districts include Nate Day, Maki Andrich/Michael Nock and Kenny Li/Kai Vesikallio. Districts will begin on Thursday at 9 a.m. at the Springside Racquet Club.
In the quarterfinal round on Thursday, Nate Day took on Eric Vaziri from St. Edward as Sectional play continued at Elyria High School. Day continued to dominate his competition as he would be victorious, defeating Vaziri in both sets 6-0 to advance to the semifinals on Saturday.
After a win over Olmsted Falls, Nock and Andrich carried their momentum into the quarterfinal round to take on Westlake’s Yikum Zhou and Julian Coleman. Westlake and Saint Ignatius were neck and neck; the Cats came away with a 7-6 set one win. Nock and Andrich would put the match away with a 6-0 win in set two to advance to the Sectional Doubles semifinals to take on Avon.
As a top seed in the Sectional Doubles Tournament, Vesikallio and Li took on Olmsted Falls’ Evan Toth and Adam Kwan in the quarterfinal round. Both the Cats showed why they are ranked No. 1 in the tournament as they would win both sets 6-0 to advance to the semifinals to take on Westlake.
The third day of Sectional play was moved to Magnificat High School for the semifinal and final rounds. Play began in the morning as Day took on Rahul Jain from Westlake. Day would defeat Jain in two sets to advance to the Finals. In the Sectional Tournament Finals, Day took on Logan DeHaven. Day won the Sectional Singles Finals with a 6-2 and 6-3 victory against DeHaven.
Nock and Andrich took on Avon’s Nick Janos and Jeremy Wiersch in the semifinal round on Saturday in the Sectional Doubles Tournament. With a win against the Eagles, the Wildcats doubles team advanced to the finals to take on Li and Vesikallio. Li and Vesikallio advanced to the finals with a win over Westlake’s JP Mogyordy and Rohit Jain.
In the Sectional Doubles Tournament Finals, Li and Vesikallio were victorious over their teammates Nock and Andrich, winning in two sets, 6-2 and 6-3. Although Nock and Andrich fell, they still are District qualifiers for Saint Ignatius. Li and Vesikallio will be high seeds in the District Tournament.
The Wildcats will take the courts at Springside Racquet Club in Akron this Thursday at 9 a.m. for the opening rounds of Districts. Day two will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. The Tennis Cats will look to qualify for the State Tournament.