PLAIN CITY, Ohio – For Orange’s doubles team of Adrian Young and Alissa Nakamoto, it took three weeks to earn a state title. For Hathaway Brown’s Ariana Iranpour, it took four years.
That’s just the luck of a state tennis draw.
On Saturday at the Elysium Tennis Center, Young and Nakamoto were crowned the 2013 OHSAA Division II doubles champions, while Iranpour took home the Division II singles title. It was the first title for all.
The journey to be called the best in the state, though, couldn’t have been more different.
Let’s start with Iranpour. A No. 1 singles player. A four-time state qualifier. A force with a powerful flat serve and a solid baseline game.
In her first three trips to state, Iranpour came away empty handed. In her fourth trip, she sprinted from the opening round to the semifinals, giving up only six games in the process.
Tennis player Ariana Iranpour, right, of Hathaway Brown is hugged by friend Catherine Areklett and teammates following her three-set victory against Ali Miller of Portsmouth that earned Iranpour her first state championship. (Joe Maiorana, ImpactActionPhotos.com)
Then came the marathon. In a match that lasted 2.5 hours and went three sets, Iranpour stayed patient and powered through corner shots on clutch points to beat Ali Miller of Portsmouth, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
“We both had a lot of highs and lows,” Iranpour said. “I think it was just sticking it out there and being confident enough to know anyone can win but you should be the one to pull through.”
Iranpour said after finally winning the title, she was speechless.
Then came the doubles team of Young and Nakamoto. The two are actually the No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, respectively, for Orange – and they often played like singles players in their doubles matches, by sticking in long rallies instead of rushing the net.
That didn’t matter to them. They realized they were stronger as a team after a USTA regional tournament in the summer. They figured by the time sectionals came, they should go into the postseason as a unit.
“This girl is amazing at the net,” Nakamoto said of Young.
“And this girl is amazing at the baseline,” Young said of her partner. “We complement each other.”
“We’re basically sisters on court,” Nakamoto said.
Young added: “Yeah, we just know what each other is going to do.”
They aren’t exaggerating. Young, a junior, and Nakamoto, a freshman, moved on court like they’d been playing together for years. After hugging their coaches and taking photos with their parents, the doubles team even completed each other’s sentences the way they helped each other close out a point.
There were a few games, though, it looked like it was going to slip away from Orange. With a 6-2 first set already won and a 5-2 lead in the second, a thought started to float through Nakamoto’s mind.
She realized she was just four points away from a state title. She started to play tentative and that rubbed off on Young, who also started to play tense.
Two games slipped away and they were then only up a break, 5-4.
“They just told us to play like you’re down, not like you’re (four) points away from winning state because then you’ll lose your head,” Young said of the advice from their coaches.
It took more than four points in the final game, but Young and Nakamoto did pull it off.
That’s when what they learned at the USTA match over the summer confirmed their realization.
“We’re stronger together than we are alone,” Young said.
Laurel junior Danielle Buchinsky, the only other local player to advance from Friday's first round and quarterfinals, lost her semifinal to Miller, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Buchinsky placed fifth after dropping the third-place match to Danielle Wolf of Cincinnati Country Day, 6-3, 6-3.
Contact high school sports reporter Stephanie Kuzydym by email (skuzydym@cleveland.com) or on Twitter (@stephkuzy). Or log in and leave a message in the comments section below.
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