The Parkland and Allentown Central Catholic girls tennis teams have been the best in District 11 all season long.
The Trojans won the EPC Tournament as well as district singles and doubles titles. They made it 4-for-4 with the District 11 Class 3A team title on Thursday via a 3-1 win over Emmaus at Lehigh University. It is the fifth straight championship for Parkland, but the first for new head coach Candace Young.
In 2A, the Vikettes repeated the team title from a year ago with a 3-0 win over Moravian Academy. This on top of the district singles title provided by Bernadette Gasser earlier this season and a doubles finalist appearance from Maddie Groff and Valentina Munoz.
Both the Trojans and Vikettes advance to the PIAA Tournament next Tuesday at the Lehigh Valley Tennis Club at a time to be determined. Parkland will face District 1’s Lower Merion, while Central Catholic renews its rivalry with District 2’s Scranton Prep.
Winners on the day for ACCHS were Bernadette Gasser at No. 1 singles, Munoz at No. 3 singles and the No. 2 doubles team of Carly Eisenhard/Charlotte Hood.
“It was really scary coming here,” Hood said. “There was more pressure on us than them because we wanted to keep it.”
What was really scary for all players were the fall-like conditions with 17 mph winds a determining factor. Central Catholic coach Jared Smith talked to his team in warmups about where the wind was coming from and the different strategies on each side of the court. That was also a factor as the Vikettes were five-for-five in the first set.
“You are always going to face challenges,” Munoz said. “Instead of getting frustrated, ‘How can you work around it?’ That’s what the game is.”
Eisenhard and Hood adjusted quickly and never let up in a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Moravian’s Katherine Anthony and Emma Cassady at No. 2 doubles.
“I knew we had a really good chance,” Eisenhard said. “You never know how it’s going to work out. Tomorrow we could have lost, yesterday we could have won. You don’t know.”
The match really swung in ACCHS’s favor on the No. 3 singles court, which appeared to be a toss-up on paper. Munoz shook off any questions with a rock-solid 6-0, 6-1 win over Annemarie Andres, who played No. 1 singles for Saucon Valley last year.
“I honestly had a hunger to win,” Munoz said. “I love the game of tennis. I think I play it very well. I just came out playing my game especially in these conditions.”
“I knew she could win,” Smith said of Munoz. “To win 6-0, 6-1 against that player is really impressive. She put her foot on the gas from the get-go and never let up. That’s an incredibly impressive performance.”
The clincher was at No. 1 singles where Bernadette Gasser battled the wind and Moravian’s uber-competitive Vicky Guo for a 6-2, 6-4 win that gave ACC its second consecutive district team title.
“I think she was doing a little bit too much slicing and drop shots,” Smith said of Gasser. “When she started punching the ball she started putting the ball away. Credit to [Guo], she hit some really good defensive shots.”
Maddie Groff and Laura Li battled it out at No. 2 singles in the match of the day with Groff up 6-4, 2-3 when play was stopped. At No. 1 doubles Giada Montone and Julia Janis led 6-0, 3-4 against Moravian’s Anika Mehta/Kim Kiuchi.
“We played even better than I thought,” Smith said. “I told them we could win all five courts. Come out with energy, play our tennis and everything will take care of itself. We had a huge win at two doubles to start it off, Val with the big upset of the former No. 1 at Saucon. She played her best tennis ever and then Bernie clinched it. I think we could have won all five courts if we finished.”
Parkland players receive their medals after winning the District 11 3A team tennis title Thursday at Lehigh University. (Dan Arkans/Special to the Morning Call)
In 3A the Trojans just needed their closer to finish it off. Last year Sonia Lee teamed up with Katie Gilchrist to clinch the win. This year Lee moved up to No. 3 singles as a sophomore and it was closing time once again to notch the 3-1 win over a tough Emmaus squad.
“It feels great, kind of crazy,” Lee said. “I did want to be the closer, second year in a row. I kind of had a feeling after Lexie came off it was up to me.”
Lee didn’t disappoint with the 6-3, 6-1 win over Gabby Tranguch. The first set was mostly about adjusting to the un-tennis like conditions while Tranguch was solid from the baseline.
“It was tough to serve,” Lee. “The ball was flying over my head. I couldn’t see anything, my hair was in my face.”
Parkland’s strengths rested on its singles players all season and it was no different on Thursday. Freshman Sadie Pollard breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles and was the first one off court.
Next across the finish line was Lexie Warsing, fresh off her District 1-3A singles title where she didn’t lose a game. In these conditions it was not her top level, but she was still impressive in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sophia Kaufman as she turned to her slices more than ever.
Warsing, an Elon commit, didn’t decide to play for Parkland this year until two weeks before the season.
“I am really happy I played,” Warsing said. “We had a lot of seniors graduate this past year so a lot of new faces. Our team chemistry is just as good and I am really excited with the win. I think with the college decision that was pretty big. I decided two weeks before the season I was going to play. It came down to the last minute. I am really happy I played. Even if we lost today I am really content with the decision I made to play.”
“I am kind of familiar with some of the players we are playing,” Warsing said of the PIAA 3A Tournament. “I am excited to see how the matchups go. As always we have a chance.”
Emmaus got its lone point with a win at No. 1 doubles behind Brooke DiGiacomo/Nat Hillegass who defeated Kiana Miles/Yihan Li 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2 doubles, the Hornets duo of Fiona Harvey and Zoe Santana led Gilchrist and Hannah Schmoyer 7-6, 4-0 when play was stopped.
Dan Arkans is a freelance writer.
