Norwalk's Trost advances to district tournament

PORT CLINTON — Norwalk junior Lydia Trost finished second on Saturday at the Division II sectional tournament held at Port Clinton High School. Trost will move on in singles competition to the district tournament, set for Wednesday back at Port Clinton. Trost opened the tournament on Oct. 2 with a win over St. Mary Central Catholic's Roth (7-6 (6), 6-1). She defeated Bellevue's Leeah Hinojosa (6-1, 6-0), then topped Huron's Emma Barnes (6-0,6 -0). The No. 2 seed, Trost returned to Port Clinton on Saturday and defeated SMCC's Rachel Spicer in three sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Earlier in the week on Sept. 30, Spicer, the No. 3 seed, defeated Trost, also in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5. In the finals, Trost was defeated by top-seeded Anastasia Hughes from Port Clinton, 6-0, 6-3. Also Thursday, Norwalk went 3-4 in other sectional matches. In singles, Addy Rospert swept Vermilion's Fisher (6-0, 6-0) before losing a 2.5-hour match to Huron's Rachel Merckens (4-6, 6-2, 6-3). Leksi Jurczek was defeated by Spicer (6-0, 6-1). In doubles, the No. 1 team of Alyssa Gruhlke and Aubrey Kluding opened with a win over Oak Harbor's Sautter and Garcia (6-0, 6-1). They were then edged by Vermilion's Leslie and Frederick (7-5, 6-3). The No. 2 doubles pairing of Chloe Hazelwood and Riley Helton had a bye, then defeated Oak Harbor's Emma Bradbury and Isabel Hand (6-2, 6-2). They fell to Port Clinton's No. 2-seeded Megan Zgodzinski and Shantha Weit (6-2, 6-0). Zgodzinski and Weit went on to improve to 30-0 by beating their own teammates, Grace Arnold and Nora Pixler, in the finals, 6-4, 6-1. At the Div. II Shelby sectional, Edison's Liz Campbell (21-2) is also district bound after falling in the finals on Saturday. Campbell won her semifinal match over Ontario's Sophia Ellis (6-3, 6-1) before falling to top-seeded Uloedo Ezike from Lexington (6-1, 6-0). The top four placers at the district tournament next week will advance to the state championships. Norwalk has one regular season match left when it heads to Port Clinton again on Thursday (Oct. 9).