Ursuline’s Meranto finishes career at state
Trending
Maria Meranto recently made history for Ursuline's girls tennis program.
After a fourth-place finish at the Division II northeast district tennis tournament, the senior became the school's second girls singles player to qualify for the OHSAA Division II girls state tournament this past month at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
At state, Meranto finished off her high school tennis career with a top-eight finish in the tournament bracket. She won her opening-round match in straight sets, downing Waverly's Claire Morrison 6-1, 6-4, before falling in the quarterfinals to Cincinnati Wyoming's Nina Myatt, 7-5, 6-1.
To get to state, Meranto had to make her way through both the sectional and district tournament brackets.
She cruised through the sectional tournament at Boardman, winning each of her matches in straight sets, before defeating Beachwood's Sarah Zhou 6-0, 6-3 for the sectional championship.
She then finished as one of the five state qualifiers from the northeast district bracket at Springside Tennis Club in Akron. Meranto won each of her first two matches in straight sets, but lost in the semifinals to Laurel's Rida Tahir. Meranto then fell in the third-place match to earn the fourth-place seed from the district for state.
Meranto was the only area player to qualify for state, and she wrapped up her high school career with more than 70 match wins under her belt.