PORTSMOUTH — The Miami Trace Panthers tennis team competed in the Sectional tournament in Portsmouth Monday and Tuesday, May 7 and 8.
Both Panther doubles teams have advanced to the District tournament.
Matt Fender and Ely Schirtzinger as well as Adam Ginn and Johnathan Allen will represent the Panthers Saturday, May 19 at Ohio University in Athens.
On Monday, in singles, Miami Trace’s Nathan Taylor defeated Carson Strange of Jackson, 6-2, 6-4.
Taylor then fell to Jack Luebbe of Washington High School, 6-3, 0-6, 2-6.
Miami Trace’s Paul Natzschka won his first match, beating N. Stiltner of Portsmouth East, 6-0, 6-2.
Natzschka lost to Andrew Gunderman of Hillsboro 3-6, 3-6.
The Panthers’ Isaac Abare lost his first round match to D. Brooks of Circleville, 2-6, 6-3, 4-6.
In doubles on Monday, Fender and Schirtzinger had a first-round bye.
In the second round, they defeated Weaver and Weaver of Portsmouth West, 6-1, 6-2.
In the third round, Fender and Schirtzinger beat Wilcox and Zingh of Portsmouth Notre Dame, 6-1, 6-2.
For Ginn and Allen, they defeated Dupler and Herron of Circleville in the first round, 6-0, 6-2.
In the second round, they beat Pertuset and McCorkle of Wheelersburg, 6-2, 6-0.
In the third round, Ginn and Allen beat Hamilton and Carpenter of Gallia Academy, 6-0, 6-0.
With both doubles teams having qualified to the District, the players returned to Portsmouth Tuesday to play for seeding purposes.
Fender and Schirtzinger lost to Waverly in the first round, 2-6, 5-7.
In the second round, they beat Portsmouth, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1.
In the third round, Fender and Schirtzinger beat Minford, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.
Fender and Schirtzinger will be the No. 5 seed at the District tournament.
For Ginn and Allen on Tuesday, they began with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Minford.
They then lost to the No. 1 seeded team from Logan Elm, Clouse and Reisinger, 6-0, 6-0.
Ginn and Allen bounced back with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Waverly to take the No. 3 seed.
Notes:
The district tournament will be played at Athens on Saturday, May 19.
This is first time ever that Miami Trace boys tennis has advanced two doubles teams.
This is the third year in a row that Matt Fender has qualified for District play.
The loss to Logan Elm by Adam Ginn and Johnathan Allen was their first loss this season and the first sets they lost this year. They rebounded to claim the 3rd seed at the District.
The weather was perfect both days.
