Harriton sweeps past Conestoga to win 3A team tennis title
HERSHEY >> Conestoga fell one step shy of securing its first state team tennis title at Hershey Racquet Club.
The Pioneers dropped a 3-0 decision to Central League rival Harriton Saturday evening, thwarting the program’s bid for its inaugural gold trophy.
Unionville was also defeated it its bid, dropping a score decision to the top-seeded Rams in Saturday morning’s semifinal round.
Harriton — the 2016 state champs — made it two in three by dispatching the Pioneers in the Class AAA title match in lightning speed, clinching the championship in 1 hour-and-five-minutes with victories at first and second singles and the No. 2 doubles court. Wins on the latter two courts came within seconds of each other and abruptly halted the proceedings. The two remaining courts still in play were abandoned.
Despite the setback to a league and District 1 powerhouse, first-year Stoga coach Brittany Aimone was proud of her senior-laden club, which made school history by just appearing in the championship round. They had to defeat defending state champ North Allegheny 3-2 in Saturday morning’s semifinal round just to make it, no small feat.
“It’s without words right now,” Aimone said. “This squad, they’re a special group of girls. Their attitude and their energy has gotten them to where we are today. I stress more than anything being a family and a unit, and they stand together today as one. It’s beyond words.
“The girls came in with the attitude of playing their best tennis today and if this was the best they can do, I’m proud of them.”
Harriton’s Sophia Sassoli was first off, at top singles, when she beat Cassidy Landau 6-0, 6-0. The match remained 1-0 in favor of the Rams for a bit until a 6-0, 6-1 win by Saige Rosekoff over Priya Araveindnan was followed literally seconds later by a 6-2, 6-1 win at second doubles to clinch the title. That match featured Harriton’s Lauren Binnion and Roshni Parikh besting Stoga’s Kate Wieser and Sophia Mazza.
Harriton head coach Kathi Rees, former program assistant coach, celebrated her first title as head of the program with her players, many of whom tasted gold two seasons ago.
“The level of tennis here is very high,” Rees said, “and we’re fortunate. The people who come into the district, they pick Harriton not only for the academics but sometimes the high level of some of the sports teams and we’ve always had strong tennis teams.”
The ruthless efficiency of her Rams in the championship match did not surprise Rees.
“We’ve played them three times this year,” she said of the Pioneers. “The first match was close, 4-3, but the second was 5-0. This is our third time. I’m just excited we had two teams from the league make the finals.”
Unionville drew Harriton after a successful Friday round that saw the Indians take out Peters Township in the quarterfinals. The run ended with a 3-0 loss to the Rams in the semifinals.
