'Part of history': Bexley's Amiya Bowles wins third straight OHSAA tennis championship
Dave PurpuraWOOSTER – Not all championships are created equal, and Bexley girls tennis phenom Amiya Bowles will remember her third consecutive Division II state singles title for myriad reasons.
Bowles gutted out more than 5 ½ hours on the court Friday at The College of Wooster, including her first dropped set in high school, but at the end of the day, she earned yet another first-place medal.
Bowles needed 3 hours, 52 minutes to outlast Cincinnati Indian Hill junior Martha Thompson 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-4 in a semifinal, then took control much earlier in the final to sweep Pepper Pike Orange freshman Genevieve Hayden 6-4, 6-1.
“It was brutal,” said Bowles, who went 16-0 this season and is 56-0 in her high school career. “I knew that (semifinal) had an effect on my body, so I just had to roll out and stretch and refocus.
“This means a lot. Three years in a row, it’s a big deal. I know it is a part of history. This is definitely something special. I felt it.”
Bowles is the seventh three-time singles champion in state history and first since Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown’s Lauren Gillinov from 2014-16.
After finally subduing Thompson in a rematch of the past two state finals, which Bowles won 6-0, 6-3 in 2022 and 6-1, 6-2 a year ago, Bowles took the hour before the final to get a sandwich and a smoothie and stretch out on a yoga mat.
Bowles trailed briefly early in the final but dominated the end of the first set and the entire second.
“This one just seems sweeter than the other two because of the adversity,” Bexley coach Heath Goolsby said. “She seems to embrace that when very few players do. I think it was just a matter of her digging (in) and being willing to grind and grind and grind.”
Bowles acknowledged already having an eye on becoming the state’s second four-time champion. The only player to do so was Indian Hill’s Andrea Farley from 1985-88.
“I have to finish the job next year,” Bowles said. “I am proud of my mental strength and grit throughout this whole tournament and season. I had some battles, but my grit, experience and knowing about myself, I was able to get through all these matches.”
Olentangy Berlin’s Cordell falls in Division I singles final
Berlin sophomore Soleil Cordell won an abbreviated Division I singles semifinal, 6-2, 4-2 (retired) against Sylvania Northview’s Maddie Peisley but ran into a buzz saw against Mason’s Addison Cassidy, falling 6-0, 6-1.
Cordell, who split two matches at state as a freshman, is the highest state placer in Berlin’s seven seasons. Ella Franz was third as a senior in 2021.
“I went into the match with the wrong strategy, but (Cassidy) is a great player,” Cordell said. “I could have played a little bit differently, performed differently, but she came out strong. I should have been more patient from the baseline.
“But this is just amazing. I knew I was capable of a state championship or something of that sort, but my goal is to try my best every single match and give it my all, all of the time.”
Upper Arlington’s Hawley, Roth place fourth in Division I doubles
Upper Arlington senior Alice Hawley and sophomore Alexa Roth came up on the short end of a back-and-forth third-place match in Division I doubles, losing to Whitehouse Anthony Wayne’s Mara Boyd and Cara Langenderfer 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4.
Hawley and Roth, who lost to eventual state champions Pratyusha Chaudhuri and Emma Wagner of Mason 6-2, 6-3 in a semifinal, led 5-0 in the first set and also led in the third.
“We kind of played a little more conservative and let the other team give us the match instead of being aggressive,” UA coach Shaun Stamps said. “They turned it around, but then it was a matter of keeping balls in play and starting points. We had some errors that cost us crucial points.”
This was the first state placement for either Hawley or Roth, both of whom were making their second appearance in the tournament. Both played with different partners in their previous trip.
Hawley and Roth still have a chance to end their seasons on a high note. UA is participating in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team state tournament Saturday at Wooster and will face Medina Highland in a semifinal. Anthony Wayne and Mason face off in the other semifinal, and the first- and third-place matches are later in the day.