WOOSTER — Eaton junior Mallory Hitchcock proved she belonged on tennis’ center stage as a singles player.

After winning back-to-back state titles as a doubles player, Hitchcock qualified for the state tennis tournament for the first time as a singles player.

As luck would have it, Hitchcock ran into defending state champion and nationally ranked Amiya Bowles of Columbus Bexley in the semifinals, where she suffered the first postseason loss of her career 6-1, 6-3. Bowles is ranked as the 17th best sophomore in the country, according to Eaton coach and Mallory’s dad, John.

After her loss, she regrouped and finished third in Division II with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 defeat of Hamilton Badin’s Caroline Boyle.

The state tournament was held Thursday and Friday, Oct. 19-20 at The College of Wooster.

“Mallory didn’t get any favors with her state tournament draw after a tightly contested districts,” John said. “We were very much hoping that she would at least be in the opposite half of the girl from Bexley. That wasn’t the case. On top of that, she got put in the same quarter (of the bracket) with two girls from the NE who always bring strong players to state.”

Hitchcock won her first two matches on Thursday. She defeated Abigail Lynch of Gilmour Academy 6-0, 6-2 in the first round. In the quarterfinals, she beat Haley Slay of Arkon Archbishop Hoban 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

“Luckily weather cooperated enough to start outdoors where Mallory had a straightforward win over a freshman from Gilmour Academy 0 & 2, John said. “The match was closer than the score indicated as her opponent was a solid player. She definitely made Mallory step up her game right off the bat and I think that was a good thing because Mallory’s next opponent was a big hitter with a big serve.”

Round two proved to be much like the district.

“Once again, similar to districts, Mallory found herself in a very challenging second round match that determines whether you qualify for Friday or not,” John said. “Mallory was sharp in the first set against the Hoban girl as she played great defense getting enough balls back to ultimately draw the error out of her opponent.

“However, the girl caught fire in the second set and just could not miss. Mallory’s level didn’t even really drop but this girl just started blasting winners left and right. Forcing a third set, we were hoping that she would not be able to sustain that level and luckily Mallory came out and won the first couple of games. That put pressure back on her opponent which created a few more unforced errors like what was occurring in the first set.

“Then the nerves start kicking in even more because this match determines whether you’re in the top four in the State or if you’re going home. So a huge credit to Mallory because she really stayed mentally tough at that point. I think she really benefited from being there, done that attitude.”

That win set up her match with Bowles.

“At that point though, it created her toughest match up to date in the semi-finals. Her opponent was last year’s champion as a freshman and very well known in the juniors,” John said. “She is a blue-chip recruit and ranked 17th in the nation for her class. Her game is predicated on power. To make matters worse, the matches were moved indoors due to rain which tends to favor big servers and big hitters since there is zero wind to have a negative impact.”

Mallory won the first six points of the match but couldn’t maintain her momentum.

“Mallory came out strong winning the first six points but then it went all downhill from there. She couldn’t get much traction as her opponent was dictating the majority of the points,” John said. “Once the first set ended, she needed to find a way to reset and change her mindset. In the second set, Mallory started having a bit more belief and started to put a little more pressure on her opponent who hadn’t had a challenging match all season. In fact, Mallory was the first girl to even win a game while the other girl was serving. Unfortunately, after clawing her way back to 3-5 in the second set, her opponent finally closed out the match.

“Mallory would like to have the first set back. She wasn’t quite has focused and she was letting the fact that this wasn’t the finals get to her more than it should. To be a state champ, you were going to have to beat her at some point.”

For the third-place match, Mallory faced off with Boyle, whom she beat in the semis at districts. After kind of cruising through the first set, she was hoping for a similar second set, according to John.

“It was not going to be her lucky day. Her opponent really stepped up her game and the points started becoming long and grueling. Mallory had a chance to try and get it to 5 all in the second but an untimely double fault gave the set to her opponent. In the third, Mallory really kept her composure and took advantage of several unforced errors by her opponent. She had to really battle the entire set, as her opponent was not giving up. At one point, Mallory was one point from going up 5-1 and running away with the set. So, give the girl credit for making Mallory earn it. Ultimately 6-3 in the third.”

John said it was a great win.

“This was a great win for Mallory. Not because of securing third but for coming back after a deflating semi-final,” he said. “This shows a lot of character, heart, and fight. It would’ve been easy for her to kind of throw in the towel on this one after losing earlier. But to pull yourself up and get ready to go in an hour shows some grit.”

Three of the final four players were from the Southwest District, which came as no surprise to John.

“As expected, three of the top four girls in D2 singles were from our own SW district. So, for Mallory to come away as district champ was no small task,” he said. “And to be top three in the entire state is quite an accomplishment. I think we’re victims of our own success and have set a very high bar. We’ve had such a fortunate stretch of bringing home state titles that anything less seems like we under performed. That just isn’t the case. This was hard fought and well earned.”

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.