However, Worthington Christian's Christiana Raymond (2006's singles champion) and Gates Mills Gilmour Academy's Lauren Davis (last year's champion) picked up eight of those wins. Last year, four freshmen made it to the Division II singles tournament and three of them lost in the first round.

One of three freshmen in the Division II singles draw, Thai plays Toledo Ottawa Hills sophomore Drew Fillis, the Northwest District runner-up, in the first round Friday at Ohio State's Stickney Center. The semifinals and final will be Saturday at Davidson.

Fillis lost in the first round at state last year. The winner will play Waynesville junior Alyssa Ritchie, the Southwest champion, or Canton South senior Morgan Murray, the third-place finisher from the Northeast.

"Making it to state was one of my goals," said Thai, who placed second in the district tournament last Friday and Saturday at Columbus School for Girls. "All of the players are going to have pressure on them because they want to go out and do well. But being a freshman, I think there's less pressure on me than an upperclassmen. This is just my first time and I have nothing to lose."

Thai defeated Granville's Lydia Tritschler 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and Wellington's Nisha Crouser 6-2, 6-1 in a semifinal before losing to Hartley's Rachael Morales 7-6, 6-1.

"I couldn't have made it without my coaches (Wayne Wookey and Ben Lily) and my club coach Steve (Miller at Wickertree)," Thai said.

Ashley Thai, Lauren's cousin, just missed making it to state. She defeated Worthington Christian's Kaelyn Naim 6-3, 6-1 in the first round and lost to Morales 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals last Friday.

Thai is 27-5, including a 9-1 mark against Division II competition. Three of her losses came against New Albany's Maddie Kobelt and the other loss was to Olentangy Liberty's Alex Power. Both of those players advanced to the Division I state tournament.

"It's a new experience," said Bradley coach Wayne Wookey, who has produced state qualifiers in 29 of the 30 years he has coached at the Wellington School and Upper Arlington. "There are a lot of new faces, many different situations and a new place. You have to focus on your match. It's really helpful if you can do that."

•After a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Liberty's Power in a Division I district quarterfinal, Davidson's Nutka Hrycyszyn knew she was beaten by a better player.

"That's one of the nice things about Nutka," said coach Kim Shepherd, whose team finished 13-10. "She's mature enough and honest enough that if she loses to someone who may be a little better than her, she can accept it."

An exchange student from Poland, Hrycyszyn was one of seven seniors who helped make Davidson a stronger team this year. The Wildcats advanced to an OTCA district semifinal before losing to Dublin Jerome 5-0 on Oct. 5.

Davidson struggled in the OCC-Central Division, placing fifth with a 1-4 record and 18 points behind champion Upper Arlington (5-0, 58). Dublin Coffman (4-1, 47), Thomas Worthington (3-2, 23), Worthington Kilbourne (2-3, 23), Davidson and Hilliard Darby (0-5, 6) rounded out the rest of the standing.

Sophomore Mackenzie Donalson had the best finish, placing second at third singles after losing to Dublin Coffman's Jenny Yang 6-2, 6-1 in the finals. Junior Yuji Kim was third at second singles, defeating Kilbourne's Kelley Jiang 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 in the consolation final. After winning the first set, Hrycyszyn retired against Kilbourne's Kristin Cellentani to place fourth.

In doubles, seniors Maddie Herbert and Colleen Baker were fourth at first doubles after losing to Thomas' Shaadee Samimy and Alayne Meyer 6-3, 6-2. Senior Seolah Kim and junior Elisabeth Bennett were fifth at second doubles.

"One of the highlights was how well the kids got along with each other and how accepting they were of Nutka," Shepherd said. "I've heard from other coaches there have been times when you have a move-in or an exchange student who is talented and takes someone's spot, that there can be some resentment. But I never observed any of that with Nutka."

The Wildcats graduate captains Baker and Herbert, Hrycyszyn, Kim, Stephanie Myers, Sarah Myers and Lindsay Sherman.

"Maddie and Colleen were as solid of captains as we've had in a while. I couldn't ask for more," Shepherd said.