Perrysburg claims eighth straight NLL girls tennis championship

Junior April Weaver, the defending champ at No. 1 singles, finished runner-up this year.

The Blade/Andy Morrison
Buy This Image

One singles title and two doubles championships were enough Thursday for Perrysburg to maintain its dominance in Northern Lakes League girls tennis.

The Yellow Jackets, who sent all seven of their players to finals matches, posted 62 points, which was good for first place in the NLL tournament at Jermain Park.

Combined with its 6-1 dual-match record during league play, Perrysburg totaled 36 overall points to capture its eighth consecutive NLL team championship.

Anthony Wayne and Northview placed second and third, respectively, in both the tournament scoring (39-37), and in overall league points (33-30).

“It's pretty exciting,” said second-year Perysburg coach Julie Weider, “and I see us getting better. It's nice to have someone like April Weaver at the top of our lineup, but we're also a really deep team.

“It's our depth that has really helped us win. We have players who can contribute at all the positions, so it's really a total team effort.”

Northview freshman Megan Miller hits a shot in the Northern Lakes League tournament No. 1 singles final against Perrysburg junior April Weaver. Miller rallied to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

In the No. 1 singles final, Northview freshman Megan Miller rose to the occasion in her first NLL tourney, rallying to take a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Weaver, a junior who was the defending champion.

But the Yellow Jackets prevailed at No. 2 singles as junior Cammy Messenger took a 6-1, 6-0 win over Anthony Wayne junior Courtney Crieg. The No. 3 singles title went to Anthony Wayne sophomore Sarah Jankowski, who topped Perrysburg junior Carmen Alkire 6-3, 6-3.

The Jackets owned the doubles competition, with seniors Megan Roberts and Maddy Karnitis beating Bowling Green seniors Gina Buzzelli and Abby Sell 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 1 final, and the team of senior Savannah Northcutt and junior Paige Zilba taking a 7-6, 0-6, 6-3 victory in the No. 2 final over the Northview team of junior Natalie Forrester and sophomore Shannon Ford.