Eighteen central Ohio girls tennis players, led by a defending champion who has not lost a high school match in almost two years, are preparing for the state tournament Oct. 15 and 16 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
Olentangy Berlin senior Soleil Cordell won the Division I singles championship a season ago
, giving central Ohio at least one winner for the fourth year in a row and 22nd time in the past 25 years.Six singles players and the same number of doubles teams – four in Division I and two in Division II – will represent the Columbus area.
Some rain is forecast for both days of the tournament. Lindner Family Tennis Center has a six-court indoor facility that would host play if weather dictates.
Here are five storylines entering the
state tournament from a central Ohio perspective. A list of local qualifiers follows.
Defending Division I champion Cordell ready for final run
Cordell brings a 52-match winning streak into state, having gone 27-0 in 2025 and 25-0 this fall. She has dropped only one set since the 2024 final.
The Southern Illinois-Edwardsville commit, four-star recruit and four-time state qualifier swept four district matches last week, including a 6-2, 6-2 win over Watterson junior Ava Scott in the final.
“Going into high school tennis, I was definitely a different player than I am now,” Cordell said. “I’m continuing to make more heavy top-spin shots on my forehand and just trying to work on small things, not missing as much randomly. Then just serving. Just trying to make higher percentage on my serves and finishing at the net when I can every once in a while.”
Cordell is trying to become the second repeat Division I singles champion this decade, after Mason’s Shyla Aggrawal in 2021 and 2022. Bexley’s Amiya Bowles won Division II singles in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Cordell downplayed any pressure in defending her title.
“It’s a new year,” she said. “I know people are trying to have their own good runs, but I am going in with full confidence.”
Worthington Christian’s Bourgeois twins roll into state in doubles
Having watched their sister reach the Division II state tournament a season ago, Worthington Christian seniors Evie and Tori Bourgeois never expected to follow suit quite like they have.
The twins are 20-0 in doubles and have dropped only three sets all year. They were similarly dominant at district, sweeping Columbus School for Girls’ Emme Dizon and Hannah Goldberg 6-1, 7-5 in the final.
The sisters said their road has featured its own twists and turns.
“At the beginning of the season, I was the net player and Evie was the baseline player,” Tori Bourgeois said. “She was really consistent from there. Then maybe during sectionals, it switched to where I became the consistent baseline player and she became the net player. We don’t know how it happened. We practiced the same. Maybe I just started liking it or we switched for different opponents.”
Elise Bourgeois lost in the first round at state last year and fell short of a return this fall, losing in the first round of district.
Columbus Academy’s Tsao thrives with ‘variety’
A veteran singles player, Academy junior Ella Tsao is treating this year’s run to the Division II state tournament like business as usual even though she will compete by herself on the season’s final weekend for the first time.
Tsao, who went 1-1 at state in doubles last year with former teammate Gabrielle Stewart, won the district singles title last week with three straight-set victories.
Tsao (15-1) qualified with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Wellington’s Dea Singh, and she beat CSG’s Iva Karagirova 6-1, 6-4 in the final.
“I’ve always had a skill set, but this past year I have been able to use it more and practice it more,” Tsao said. “My variety is probably what helps me most. I think I have a lot of variety in my shots, and my mental game is good. I don’t get upset when I play. I stay calm.”
New Albany doubles team rides bumpy road to state
The Division I district doubles championship was especially sweet for New Albany juniors Claire Siegel and Valentina Suslova, so much so that they became emotional at times in recounting what it took to earn their first state berth as a team and individually.
Siegel missed the 2025 season because of a torn left ACL, and Suslova had to bow out in the state-qualifying round last fall against Watkins Memorial’s Nora Grennan because of a leg injury. Suslova and Siegel played first and second singles, respectively, during the regular season.
Then in the district final, Siegel and Suslova overcame a 3-0 first-set deficit to sweep Upper Arlington senior Nancy Li and sophomore Zoe Lloyd 6-4, 6-1.
“I was out for 10 months; I wasn’t even playing tennis [at this time] last year,” Siegel said. “It really takes a toll on you mentally. I have worked incredibly hard. Getting back over that mental barrier was incredibly difficult. Now saying I am a state qualifier when I literally was not playing tennis last year, that’s great.”
Olentangy Orange doubles team sticks together for return to state
This time, Aaria Gala and Zoe Haar are embracing the “clap out” tradition.
The Orange seniors turned down such attention a year ago en route to their first Division I state tournament, but Gala and Haar will walk out of school before heading to Mason with a pep band in tow and their fellow students clapping and wishing good luck.
Gala and Haar went 6-5 and 5-5, respectively, at first and second singles during the regular season but teamed to win the Pickerington Central sectional and place third at district.
They were district runners-up a year ago and lost their only match at state.
“With the results from last year and how they played this year, I wanted to keep them as a doubles team,” Orange coach Emily Samples said. “Their communication is great on the court ... [and] they definitely complement each other. They are both great up at the net when they give each other the opportunity to finish a point.”
OHSAA state tennis qualifiers from central Ohio
SINGLES
Division I
*Soleil Cordell, Olentangy Berlin; Nora Grennan, Watkins Memorial; Alexa Roth, Upper Arlington; Ava Scott, Watterson
Division II
Iva Karagirova, Columbus School for Girls; *Ella Tsao, Columbus Academy
DOUBLES
Division I
Aaria Gala and Zoe Haar, Olentangy Orange; Eknoor Kaur and Emma Zerbi, Dublin Coffman; Nancy Li and Zoe Lloyd, UA; *Claire Siegel and Valentina Suslova, New Albany
Division II
*Evie Bourgeois and Tori Bourgeois, Worthington Christian; Emme Dizon and Hannah Goldberg, CSG
*Denotes district champion
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: Defending OHSAA tennis champion leads central Ohio players to state
