MASON — The Ohio High School Athletic Association state girls tennis tournament opens Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, and Cincinnati-area players arrive with a familiar target: at least one Queen City athlete has claimed a state title every year since 2019, and this year’s field is built to keep that streak alive.
The headline act is Mason’s new top doubles team. Seniors Saanvi Reddy and Emma Wagner each won state doubles championships with different partners — Wagner back-to-back in 2023 and 2024, Reddy in an all-Mason final in 2025 — and after their partners graduated, the two joined forces this fall. They have dropped only one set all postseason, surviving a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 district final against Seton, and open the state tournament against Dublin Coffman’s Emma Zerbi and Eknoor Kaur.
In Division I singles, Turpin sophomore Makayla Malone leads the Cincinnati challengers. Malone carried Turpin to the Eastern Cincinnati Conference title, swept her sectional, and lost only one game through three district matches before beating Renee Harper 7-5, 6-4 in the district final — Harper’s first loss of the season. Malone opens against Strongsville’s Mallory Koch, with defending champion Soleil Cordell a possible semifinal opponent.
Harper, the Greater Miami Conference player of the year for a second straight season, is in the field as well after another undefeated regular season and a Mason sectional title. She opens against Hudson freshman Anna Li, and her side of the bracket offers a realistic path back to the final weekend’s last rounds.
Seton’s freshman twins, Helena and Elle Finley, are among the tournament’s best stories. The sisters moved to Ohio from South Carolina this year, played first and second singles all season, then teamed up for a postseason doubles run that included a three-set win over Mason’s second team to reach the district final. They sit on the opposite side of the bracket from Reddy and Wagner, so a Cincinnati-vs.-Cincinnati rematch could only happen in the state final.
Mason could also place a second doubles team in the semifinals for the second straight year. Underclassmen Harine Karthikeyan and Megha Soundar finished fourth at district but pushed Reddy and Wagner hard in the sectional final, and they open state play against Massillon Jackson’s Claire Williams and Ashley Helle.
In Division II, Wyoming senior Nina Myatt and Mariemont’s Lucy Hanser lead the local singles entries, while Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s Corrine Labin and Miranda Wang — state semifinalists a year ago — return in doubles alongside Indian Hill’s Ella Kim and Elle Mikula and Mariemont’s Allie Tully and Mia Eberlein. Mariemont and Mason are the only Cincinnati schools with multiple state representatives.
The tournament brings the top 64 singles players and doubles teams in the state to Mason for two days of play. By Friday evening, Cincinnati will know whether its six-year run of producing at least one state champion has reached seven.
