Norwalk second, Willard third at doubles tourneys

SHELBY — The Norwalk High School girls tennis team finished second behind host Shelby on Saturday at a doubles tournament. The fourth doubles team of Maya Phillips and Aria Beard won their bracket, while the second (Dezi Hernandez and Brooke Meade) and third (Signey Sage and Lauren Brown doubles teams each placed third. The first doubles team of Carley Nickoli and Megan Miller also tied for fifth. After a first-round bye, Phillips and Beard defeated a team for the host Whippets by scores of 4-6, 6-4 and 12-10. In the finals against Tiffin Columbian, the two won in straight sets (6-4, 6-2). Hernandez and Meade opened with a win over Columbian (6-4, 7-5), then lost to a team from Ashland in two competitive sets (7-5, 7-5) in the semifinal round. The pair then closed with an 8-0 win over Bellevue for third. At third doubles, Sage and Brown opened with a win over Ashland (6-3, 7-5), then fell to a team from Warren Howland (7-5, 6-3) before an 8-3 win over Shelby for third. Miller and Nickoli lost in two to the host Whippets (7-5, 6-2), then won their follow-up match by an 8-0 score for fifth. In junior varsity play, Annabelle Ortner and Alex Laws placed fourth; Shyla Gruhlke and Kenzie Smith took fifth; while Eva Ott and Ana Osborn along with Abby Mozina and Hailee Oney each finished seventh. Norwalk is at Archbold at 3 p.m. Wednesday in an OTCA tournament match. Willard third at Clyde's Wilson tournament CLYDE — The Crimson Flashes placed third in the six-team field on Saturday at the Bob Wilson Memorial tournament in Clyde. Bowling Green (42 points) and the host Fliers (36) finished slightly ahead of Willard (34). At third singles, Maelyn Shaarda took first place for the Flashes. After a first-round bye, she defeated Huron's Alpana Kurtz (6-1, 6-0), then defeated Clyde's Curstin Hackenburg in a lengthy match, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-8. Naomi Schag finished second at second singles, which started with a win over Tiffin Calvert's Samantha Wagner (6-0, 6-1). She beat Sylvania Southview's Eliza Wyatt (6-2, 6-0), then fell to BG's Libby Barnett in the finals (6-0, 6-0). Also placing second for the Flashes on Saturday was the second doubles team of Ashley Hamons and Moriah Slone. The pair opened with a win over Huron's Melody Hill and Claire Chambers (6-1, 6-0), then topped BG's Prachi Patel and Teeda Cromwell (6-0, 7-5). In the finals, they fell to Clyde's Maddie Perkins and Marin Gamertsfelder in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Placing third was Natalie Rothhaar and Vivian Barnett at first doubles. They opened with a bye, then were defeated by BG's Hannah Mathey and Heather Knowlton by scores of 6-2 and 6-0. In the third-place match over Tiffin Calvert's Hanna Welter and Caitlyn Borer, Rothhaar and Barnett won with an 8-3 score. At first singles, Summer Kennard placed fifth. After a loss to Clyde's Kristen Harrah (6-4, 6-2), Kennard topped Southview's Jessica Sullivan by an 8-0 score. Willard was scheduled to host Lexington at 4:15 p.m. on Monday.