Once Alexa Roth saw the Division I girls tennis district tournament bracket, the Upper Arlington senior was certain she would face her toughest road to state yet.
Roth was in line to face Worthington Kilbourne junior Addi Bennington in the state-qualifying round Oct. 7 at UA, the only pairing between two former state qualifiers with a return berth on line.
Roth’s library of shots was limited because of a sprained right wrist that has hampered her for the past month, but that made a 6-3, 6-4 win that clinched Roth her fourth state berth all the sweeter.
“I saw [the draw] and I was like, ‘Wow, ok,’ ” said Roth, a left-hander who opened district with a 6-2, 6-0 win over DeSales senior Sanaa Lisath. “I did play her last year and won [6-2, 6-1 in a district semifinal],
but it was a good match. I also had my backhand then, but you never know what it will be this time even if you’ve won before.
“[This kind of win] builds a lot of confidence, knowing I can do it, beat people even though I don’t have the best circumstances. I just work with what I can do.”
Roth joins defending state champion Soleil Cordell of Olentangy Berlin, Watkins Memorial senior Nora Grennan and Watterson junior Ava Scott as central Ohio singles players headed to state Oct. 15 and 16 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
The top four finishers in both singles and doubles advance to state. The district semifinals and finals are Oct. 10 at UA.
Cordell, a Southern Illinois-Edwardsville commit who is 23-0 and extended her overall winning streak to 50 spanning the past two seasons, qualified with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Olentangy senior Bianca Marin.
Scott, who is in her first season playing for Watterson, shut out Olentangy Liberty junior Ella Bright 6-0, 6-0 to advance.
“I think I just use a lot of variety [in my shots],” said Scott, who previously attended Gomez Tennis Academy in Naples, Florida. “I try to not let my opponent get into a rhythm. My strength is probably my variety of slices and drop shots.”
Grennan earned her second state berth with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Westerville North senior Mira Shymalan.
Three of the qualifying matches in doubles went to three sets.
New Albany juniors Claire Siegel and Valentina Suslova won the last match of the day, edging UA seniors Kylie Husted and Carmen Kimmel 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Both earned their first state berth.
Siegel missed the 2025 season because of a torn left ACL and was cleared to play this past spring. Suslova had to retire during the state-qualifying round at district last year because of a partially torn quad in her left leg.
“We had some early controversy but once we worked past that, we got line judges and were able to calm down and focus more on our shots,” Suslova said. “We both made a commitment to high-percentage shots instead of trying to go for fancy winners. That really made the difference.”
Dublin Coffman senior Eknoor Kaur and sophomore Emma Zerbi came back to defeat Gahanna Lincoln juniors Caroline McAuley and Presley Porcher 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. Olentangy Orange seniors Aaria Gala and Zoe Haar beat UA junior Cara Tomeo and freshman Mia Ganvini 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and UA senior Nancy Li and sophomore Zoe Lloyd swept Dublin Jerome junior Nainika Sahai and freshman Sofia Rivera-Alvarez 6-1, 6-2.
Division II: Academy, CSG, Worthington Christian earn state berths
In Division II play at Columbus Academy, Columbus School for Girls senior Iva Karagirova moved to within a win of a district championship repeat with two straight-set wins.
Karagirova punched her ticket to state with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Wellington’s Paige Thompson.
She will face Academy junior Ella Tsao in the final Oct. 10 at UA. Tsao advanced with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Wellington’s Dea Singh.
Only the district champion and runner-up advance to state in Division II.
In doubles, Worthington Christian seniors Evie Bourgeois and Tori Bourgeois will play CSG senior Emme Dizon and sophomore Hannah Goldbergh in the final.
The Bourgeois sisters earned their state berth and remained undefeated for the season (19-0) by sweeping Academy’s Zephyr Harrison and Mata Joyner 6-4, 6-1.
Dizon and Goldberg topped Academy’s Simran Bhalla and Iris Sun 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in the other semifinal.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Which central Ohio tennis players earned state tournament berths?
