The Moravian Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic girls tennis teams continue to show how dangerous District 11 is this time of year.
Moravian’s duo of senior Laura Li and sophomore Vicky Guo finished third in the PIAA 2A Doubles Tournament on Saturday in Hershey, defeating Cathedral Prep’s Lydia Beuchert/ Ella Fetzner 7-5, 6-0 in the third-place match. The Moravian pair cut down on their errors and served better in their final set of the season and Li’s last match of her high school career.
Li and Guo defeated York Catholic’s Kylie Althoff and Cydney Roberts 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the quarterfinals on Friday after beating Hughesville’s pair of Georgia Randall/Rebecca Roberts 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.
The Moravian pair lost to the eventual champions Scranton Prep’s duo of Lily Lengyel /Emma Cuck 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals.
“I thought the girls played great,” said Moravian Head Coach Rick Smith. “They got better with each match. Playing singles all season and never playing doubles together until districts, they improved with every match. They had great chemistry.”
ACC got off to a good start on Friday as sophomore Bernadette Gasser won her first round by a score of 7-5, 6-0 over District 4’s Emma McLaughlin of Williamsport. Gasser shook off any case of nerves and advanced to the second round to face Paytyn Plank of Biglersville.
Gasser and Plank fought through a tense first set which the Biglerville junior won in a tiebreak 7-1. After that Plank coasted to the 7-6, 6-2 win.
“She opened the quarters playing well,” said ACC Head Coach Jared Smith of Gasser. “Just a few balls here and there determined the set. In the second set her opponent did a good job keeping her on the defensive and forcing her into misses.”
Over in 3A, Parkland brought three players to Hershey on Friday. The one with high expectations was No. 1 singles player senior Lexie Warsing, who was a state semifinalist last season. Given a tough draw, Warsing fell to eventual champion Penn-Trafford’s Amelia Williams 6-2, 6-3 in the first round. Williams, a three-star recruit, has an impressive Universal Tennis Rating of 7.27.
Warsing finished out a stellar career which featured two district singles titles and this year she didn’t drop a game en route to Hershey.
Parkland’s young doubles duo of sophomore Sonia Lee and freshman Sadie Pollard also ran into District 7 as Shady Side Academy’s Brooke Henderson and Alexandra Merkel rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win in the first round. The Shady Side duo advanced to the state finals.
“It was not our day today,” said Young.
