There is no girls tennis match to determine the Ashtabula County champion. Had there been such a match during the 2009 season, it would have been the one played at Geneva on Sept. 2.
The Eagles hosted Jefferson that day and defeated the Falcons, 3-2. The other three Ashtabula County schools — Lakeside, Edgewood and Conneaut — were game opponents all season long but unable to put together winning efforts against either Geneva or Jefferson.
The 2009 Star Beacon All-Ashtabula County girls tennis team reflects those results. The Eagles and Falcons have claimed all the spaces, save one, on this year’s team.
Geneva coach Scott Torok guided the Eagles to the Premier Athletic Conference championship. His team didn’t take long to adapt to its new conference, posting a 12-0 record in the PAC and going 18-3 overall. It was Geneva’s fourth straight league title, the previous three coming in the Northeastern Conference, and the ninth conference championship in Torok’s 12 years as coach. Torok is the 2009 Star Beacon Ashtabula County Coach of the Year.
Courtney Thompson, the Eagles’ No. 1 also compiled an 18-3 record. The senior was 15-2 in singles play, 3-1 while playing doubles, and 10-1 in the PAC. Thompson finished her high school career with a 78-18 record. The 78 career wins are the third most in Geneva history; only Courtney Brenkus (86-13) and Colleen Hall (82-15) have more. For the third straight year, Thompson is the Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year.
The All-Ashtabula County first-team selections are led by senior Jessica Coggins, who played second singles for the Eagles. Two of Jefferson coach Lou Murphy’s singles players earned spots on the first team: senior Chelsea Jarrel, who played first singles for the Falcons, and Kelly Tisch, another senior, was Jefferson’s No. 2.
The two points Jefferson got in its loss to Geneva both came from its doubles teams, and those tandems are this year’s first-team doubles selection. Jefferson’s Courtney Painter and Emily Jeppson, both seniors, played first doubles, and senior Shawni DeyErmand and sophomore Jackie Piscsalko played second doubles for Jefferson.
The All-Ashtabula County second-team selections are also largely drawn from the senior class. Lakeside Erika Ginn, who played first singles for the Dragons, is the only girl on the team not from Geneva or Jefferson and she is a junior. The Eagles’ Megan Cowling, who finished her freshman year with an impressive 18-6 record, playing mostly at third singles, and Jefferson senior Jenny Piscsalko, the Falcons’ No. 3, are the other second-team singles selections.
A quartet of Geneva seniors, its first- and second-doubles teams, complete the second-team selections. Brittany Kelly and Sarah Smith were the Eagles’ first-doubles team most of the year, and Kaylee Perala and Courtney Raymond were usually paired at second doubles.
Harris is a freelance writer from Ashtabula Township.
Sports
Related Photos
-
CHELSEA JARRELL of Jefferson earned first-team Star Beacon All-Ashtabula County recognition for the fourth consecutive year this fall. BILL WEST
Discussion
Eagles, Falcons rule tennis roost
- Sports
-
-
Comforts of home
A trip home led to a meteoric improvement for Ohio State Buckeye Mallory Kreider, who destroyed her personal best in the 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) by 52 seconds Friday night during the Spire Division I Indoor Track and Field Invitational.
-
Look out for Lakeside
Lakeside coach Rob Pisano has been waiting for this moment. And waiting. And waiting.
-
Falcons fall
As the Jefferson Falcons’ rise to respectability under first-year coach Jeremy Huber continues, they have continuously improved on certain aspects of their game.
-
A case for the offense
Forget offense versus defense. When Edgewood hosted Conneaut on Friday night, It was offense versus offense. And the Warriors won, 69-59.
-
Familiar refrain for Torok & Co.
Geneva boys basketball coach Scott Torok is no Bill Murray. However, he may feel like a character in the actor’s movie “Groundhog Day.”
-
Perry raids Harvey
The Perry boys can celebrate the fact they have now won twice in a row, and they deserve to do that. But along with Friday’s 66-54 win against visiting Harvey came a sight that nobody ever wants to see.
-
Scholastic Statistics:
BOYS BASKETBALL
PREMIER
Lakeside 89, Madison 76
at Madison -
Scholastic Schedule:
SATURDAY, FEB. 11
Girls Basketball
n Madison at Chardon (1)
n Lakeview at Edgewood (1)
n Conneaut at Jefferson (6)
n Lakeside at Riverside (1)
n SJP at Badger (2, varsity only) -
Riverside sneaks past Edgewood
Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.
-
Madison rolls past Geneva
Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.
- More Sports Headlines
-
