PORT CLINTON — Perrysburg sophomore tennis player Penelope Giammarco has qualified for the Division I girls state tennis tournament to be held this Thursday and Friday at The College of Wooster.
She is the only Perrysburg qualifier after all three singles players and both doubles teams qualified for the district tournament at Port Clinton.
Giammarco opens the tournament facing off with Avon senior Natalie Smitek and the winner gets the winner between North Canton Hoover senior Tess Bucher and Vandalia Butler senior Natalie Schoenherr in the quarterfinals.
At the district tournament, Giammarco was runner-up, but everyone she faced off with she had seen before, including the Barnett sisters from Bowling Green in back-to-back matches.
Giammarco lost in the championship to Sylvania Northview junior Maddie Peisley, 6-0, 6-0, but just getting there was the challenge.
“Penelope played familiar NLL opponents in her district tournament,” Perrysburg coach Charles Brigode said.
“Her opponents were from Clay, BG, BG, and Northview. While Maddie Peisley from Northview was a steep challenge in the finals, Penelope was in complete control as she qualified for states by reaching the finals.
“In her first three matches, she never lost more than two games in a set and three games for the entire match,” Brigode continued.
Giammarco opened with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Clay junior Remi Galyas, defeated BG senior Libby Barnett 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, then took down Libby’s sister, BG sophomore Julia Barnett, 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals.
Despite howling rain and wind outside, that had no effect on the tennis players because the matches were moved indoors.
“All the matches were indoors, which probably made Penelope more comfortable using all of the shots in her arsenal,” Brigode said.
“She controlled games from start to finish and didn’t give her opponents anything that they didn’t earn. My assistant coach Kelly Carter said after her second match that it was the best she had ever seen Penelope play.”
