Methacton’s Liang, Nouaime defend District 1 doubles title

Their title defense was pushed to the very limit.

But for the second year in a row, Methacton’s doubles duo of Alice Liang and Hana Nouaime came out on top.

In a three-hour marathon match, Liang and Nouaime outlasted Conestoga’s Lenna Kwak and Ananya Krishnan 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 to win a second consecutive District 1-3A doubles championship.

“I just thought we did a good job of staying calm because we were on the verge of losing multiple times,” Liang said. “We just stayed calm and played each point.”

There were only eight teams in the District 1 field last season with multiple schools unable to compete in the postseason due to leagues and school boards opting out of competition.

Liang and Nouaime outlasted a field with 27 other doubles pairs this season.

After a bye in Friday’s first round, They knocked off Conestoga’s Bella Chen and Felicia Manful (6-2, 6-3) in their opening match. The Methacton pair defeated Central Bucks East’s Kaveena Ponamgi and Elizabeth Wilson (6-2, 6-0) in the quarterfinals to advance to Saturday.

Liang and Nouaime opened Saturday’s competition by defeating West Chester Henderson’s Ella Tunnell and Sophia Ming (7-5, 6-2) in the semifinals before the long-winded championship match against Kwak and Krishnan.

“It was hard to do back-to-back, especially with the competition we had this year,” Nouaime said. “I think we should be pretty proud of that.”

Liang finished third and Nouaime fourth at the Pioneer Athletic Conference Singles championships Sept. 25 before falling in the second round of the District 1 singles tournament.

Just like last season, the Warriors’ have found much more postseason success, following their back-to-back PAC doubles titles with consecutive District 1 championships.

“We see each other at practice a lot so we are very aware of our strengths and weaknesses,” Nouaime said. “Our communication is very open. I think that’s what keeps it going.”

After defeating Council Rock South’s Dasha ChichkIna and Emma Traktovenko in the 2020 District 1 doubles championship, Nouaime and Liang advanced all the way to the PIAA Class 3A championship where they were taken down by Peters Township’s Kat Wang and Marra Bruce, the District 7 champions, at the Hershey Racquet Club.

This year’s doubles championship begins Friday, Nov. 5 at the Hershey Racquet Club, where Nouaime and Liang will open against the District 3 third place team at 10 a.m.

Already possessing a state runner-up medal, the duo has its eyes on more gold.

“A lot of the players who are playing in states this year, it’s probably their first time playing in the states doubles tournament,” Liang said. “Since we already have last year under our belt, we should be more experienced in dealing with the nerves and things like that.”