EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool junior Preston Dawson came off a successful pairing last May with Norman Butler in a run to the Div. II state tennis tournament and he knew he wanted to go back.

East Liverpool senior Cole Dailey made it to last season’s district semifinal in singles and knew that maybe his pathway to a state tournament berth would run through the doubles tournament next time around.

“I really thought I would come up short again (if I played singles),” Dailey said. “So we discussed it after the state tournament last year. It wasn’t even a long discussion to be honest. It was just like we knew we could do this.”

“Last season right after the season ended, we both talked to each and said we’ll play together next season,” Dawson said. “There was no debating over it. We just knew.”

The pair delivered on their promise to return to the Div. II state tennis tournament on Saturday when they finished second at the district tournament at Ohio University.

Dailey and Dawson will play Gates Mills Hawken freshmen Zach Forte and Axel Neeley in the Div. II state opening round on Friday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. Forte and Neeley finished third in the Northeast district tournament.

“I know last year we went in and played two freshman also and they were really, really good,” East Liverpool coach Isaac Davidson said. “We definitely expect it to be really good competition no matter who we play.”

Butler, then a senior, and the then-sophomore Dawson lost to Lexington freshmen’s Karl Etzel and Ethan Remy 6-0, 6-0.

The story of the 2021 state berth was very different. That team finished fourth at sectionals and then rode an upset wave through the district tournament to reach state.

“I feel like this year we have a better shot,” Dawson said. “Both years we had very good teams, but Cole and I have both grown over the past two seasons to be better players. the improvement has shown.”

Dailey started his tennis career as a freshman when then soccer coach Zack Kinsey pulled him out of English class and told him he had to join the tennis team to fill out a team that was hurting for players. As a soccer goalkeeper and standout basketball player, the athletic Dailey found his groove on the tennis courts but it did take some time.

“I swung with two hands my freshman year,” Dailey said. “It was almost like using a baseball bat, but I worked on it all summer.”

It wasn’t too much of an issue for Dailey to work on his game as the Thompson Park tennis courts are less than a minute walk from his house.

Dailey said the reality of starting later in his athletic career hit him last year when he lost to Waverly junior Penn Morrison 6-1, 6-0.

“He was just awesome,” Dailey said. “I was just super excited to take one game from him.”

Despite being a great player in that district, Morrison only lasted until the second round of the state tournament.

Dailey and Dawson played singles during much of the regular season. It wasn’t until the OVAC tournament where they had a chance to really start to try out playing as teammates. They won an opening round match against a team from Steubenville then were stomped 8-1 by the No. 1 seed from Morgantown in the next round.

“They competed well, but definitely knew they had to work more as a team,” Davidson said. “I think playing that competition was really good for us though because playing bad competition was not going to do it. That loss at the OVAC gave a vision of what we needed to work on to get ready for the tournament.”

The week before sectionals Cambridge came to East Liverpool and the Bobcats’ top two singles players decided to play doubles that day, so the Potter duo did the same.

“(Dawson and Dailey) came out in the first set and won 6-4 and we acknowledged the little things we had to work on (after the first set), but in the second set they won 6-1 and just kind of turned it on,” Davidson said. “From there it was just a matter of them putting in the work outside of practice and matches to gain that chemistry.”

The pair genuinely like each other and each are in awe of the strengths of their partner.

“His positively (is his strength),” Dailey said about Dawson. “No matter if we’re up 5-0 or down 5-0, he’ll have the same attitude no matter what. It’s always good to hear him reassure you after every point.”

“He has such a strong sense of competitiveness and a will to win,” Dawson said about Dailey. “Whenever he’s out on the court, you know you’re going to win.”

Dailey said he got that way by being involved with many sports throughout his life.

“For every sport I’ve been involved with I’ve had coaches telling me to do etter,” Dailey, an All-Ohioan basketball player, said. “It has been like that since I was 5. I feel like that’s how I have been brought up.”

He has one last chance in his prep career to do better on Friday.

State notes

• Saturday was a tough day for the pair. They arrived in Athens at 10 a.m. and didn’t play until noon because they had a first-round bye. The semifinal didn’t take place until 5 p.m. because their opponent had a three-and-a-half hour second-round match.

“It was just tiring sitting in the sun,” Dailey said. “I think it was 93 degrees.”

The district final started outdoors but quickly got moved inside due to storms in the area. Dailey said he felt confident they would play better inside because he felt like Dawson hits harder indoors. The team did play better indoors but it was not enough to overcome Waverly’s Waylon Lamerson and Caden Nibert. The Potters lost 6-2, 7-5.

“We’re still very sore,” Dailey said on Monday.

• Tickets for the state tennis tournament are $15. Play begins at 9 a.m. with singles with doubles to follow.

• The Camargo Racquet Club and Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Cincinnati are the indoor alternate venues in case of rain.

• The state tennis tournament started in 1920 and is the second oldest Ohio high school state tournament behind track and field (1908).