The WRA Girls Varsity tennis team played host to #9 State Ranked Massillon Jackson at home on Monday, and secured a close 3-2 victory to move their record to 15-1 on the season. Jackson and WRA came in to the contest with high Northeast Ohio District rankings in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Poll. Jackson is ranked #3 in Division 1 and WRA is ranked #6 in Division 2. WRA also entered the match at #64 on the National Universal Tennis Rating list, while Jackson was #92. With the two teams battling for over 2 hours, WRA notched a nice win with the whole team contributing to a great match.

The Pios Catie Cunningham '29 started things off with a 6-0, 6-1 win at #2 Singles over Jackson's Ralyn Moss. Rithi Hegde '29 turned in a solid 6-1, 6-1 win over the Polar Bears' Laila Tadayon to make the team score 2-0 in favor of Reserve.

With the Doubles locked in tight matches, Pio #3 Singles Dorothy Mendelson '30 clinched the win by pulling away at the end for a tight 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jackson's Lindsey Helle. All eyes shifted to two terrific doubles matches for the final 2 points.

Jackson played their playoff lineup by moving their top 2 singles players into the #1 Doubles position and moving down some players from higher lineup spots into #2 Doubles. The resulting doubles matches were highly competitive with a back-and-forth score throughout both matches.

After dropping the first set at #1 Doubles by a score of 6-1, Reserve's Lela Yajnik '27 and Sasha Hillard '29 bounced back and posted a solid 6-3 win to even the match and forcing a match tiebreaker. A close battle ensued before Jackson's Claire Williams and Ashley Helle took a tight 10-7 win. The loss was the first for the WRA duo and is a testament to their grit and competitive spirit against two of the region's top tennis players. Meanwhile, WRA's #2 Doubles team of Sia Mahesh '27 and Bella Arakaki '28 battled their way to a first set 7-5 win before dropping a close 2nd set 6-4 to the Polar Bears' Kamryn Rieder and Halle Smith. WRA jumped ahead in the tiebreaker early but eventually ended up dropping the tiebreaker 10-5. The loss was the first for Mahesh and Arakaki on the season but like the other doubles match, they showed a lot of fight and spirit against some of Jackson's strongest players.

Both teams played inspired, quality tennis while demonstrating good sportsmanship. The match drew a large and enthusiastic crowd of over 80 people.

The WRA Girls Varsity hosts national powerhouse, defending state champion and Ohio #1 ranked Orange on Tuesday, October 6. Match time is 4:00pm.

Box Score:
Western Reserve Academy 3, Massillon Jackson 2
At Western Reserve Academy
Hudson, OH
October 5, 2026

Singles:
1S Rithi Hegde (WRA) d Laila Tadayon (MJ) 6-1, 6-1
2S Catie Cunningham (WRA) d Ralyn Moss (MJ) 6-0, 6-1
3S Dorothy Mendelson (WRA) d Lindsey Helle (MJ) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles:
1D Claire Williams/Ashley Helle (MJ) d Lela Yajnik/Sasha Hillard (WRA) 6-1, 3-6, 10-7
2D Kamryn Rieder/Halle Smith (MJ) d Bella Arakaki/Sia Mahesh (WRA) 5-7, 6-4, 10-5

Time of Match: 2:15
Order of Finish: 2S, 1S, 3S*, 1D, 2D
*Clinching Point
Attendance: 82