D2 TENNIS FEATURE: Holy Cross excited about returning to Class 2A semifinals
Holy Cross’ high school tennis season did not get off to a particularly good start, but it is ending right where the team wanted.
After an opening day loss to Honesdale, the Crusaders and their strong lineup of singles players turned things around quickly and finished with an 8-3 record in the Lackawanna League. After posting an upset in the District 2 Class 2A Team Championship Tournament, they are into the semifinals on Friday afternoon at Kirby Park.
“It was incredible how we turned things around,” Holy Cross’ No. 1 singles player, Alex Harrison, said after a 3-2 win over fourth-seeded MMI Prep on Wednesday. “We really focused a lot and trained a lot. I just kept playing a lot, and that is how I have been able to have a good season.”
Holy Cross (10-3) is one of five teams from the Lackawanna League still alive on what is a busy afternoon with six matches scheduled.
In Class 2A, the Crusaders face No. 1 seed and undefeated Wyoming Seminary (12-0), and No. 2 Scranton Prep (12-1) faces No. 3 Dallas (10-2), the defending champion, with both matches starting at 11:30 a.m. The championship final is at 2:30 p.m.
Top-seeded Abington Heights (12-0) plays No. 4 Valley View (8-4) and No. 3 Crestwood (9-3) plays second-seeded Delaware Valley (10-3) with both matches starting at 12:45 p.m. The championship final is at 3 p.m.
Abington Heights has won 10 straight District 2 Class 3A championships.
Holy Cross started the season with high expectations after reaching the final against Dallas in 2023.
David Huester played No. 2 singles, while Harrison teamed with Ray Zhang as the No. 1 doubles team, and the Crusaders defeated Wyoming Area, 3-2, in the semifinals and lost to Dallas, 3-2, in the final.
Following the first-match loss to Honesdale this season, Holy Cross recovered with a win over West Scranton but then fell to eventual league champion Abington Heights. Staring at a 1-2 start certainly concerned the Crusaders, but their fortunes changed dramatically.
Holy Cross went on a seven-match win streak that included a 3-2 win over Delaware Valley, a semifinalist and the No. 2 seed in Class 3A. The Crusaders lost to Scranton Prep, 4-1, but bounced right back with a 3-2 win over Holy Redeemer in a nonleague match to conclude the regular season.
“The camaraderie on the team is great,” Zhang said. “Our singles have been great, but this is a team effort overall. My serve wasn’t great at the beginning of the season. I started off with an injury on my right hand. After that healed, my serve got better, and everything improved from there.”
In the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal match against MMP Prep, which entered with an 11-2 record, Harrison defeated Xavier Bleiler, 6-1, 6-1; Zhang defeated Max Bleiler, 6-2, 6-0; and Huester beat Nate Sissick, 6-2, 6-0, to clinch a win and a spot in the semifinals.
This season, Harrison and Zhang have 11-2 records overall, and Huester is 10-2.
“We are really excited,” Huester said. “Through the season, it took us a while to get our footing, and now I think we are reaching our potential. Last year, we made it to the final and lost 3-2, which was good for us to get a taste of that last year. We are looking forward to the semifinals.”
The District 2 team champions advance to the PIAA playoffs that start May 14 with first-round matches.
Wednesday’s matches
Abington Heights 5 West Scranton 0
Singles: Praneel Mallaiah (AH) over Drew Sphabmixay, 6-0, 6-0; William Arp (AH) over Alex Sanchez, 6-0, 6-0; Domenic Peters (AH) over Pujan Nepal, 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles: Brady Comstock-Liam Farrell (SP) over Matthew D’Augustine-Alex Smeluk, 6-0, 6-0; Michael Klamp-Dakota Kilonsky (AH) over Aaron Castro-Michael Baransky, 6-0, 6-0.
Records: AH 12-0, WS 3-10.
Valley View 3, Scranton 0
Singles: Connor Peters (VV) over Tom Bergman, 6-1, 6-1; Jack Reilly (VV) over Shiram Patel, 6-3, 6-4; Patrick Kolcharno (VV) over Faneel Bhalja, 6-4, 7-5.
Doubles: Dominic Huffman-Krish R. Patel (SCR) vs. Jack Perry-Eddie Lennox, 6-3 (match halted); Nick Burak-Jimmy Lennix (VV) vs. Het Ray-Krish B. Patel, 6-2 (match halted).
Records: VV 8-4, SCR 6-6.
Delaware Valley 4 Wilkes-Barre Area 1
Singles: Michael Hamel (WBA) over Alex Mullen, 6-0, 6-2; Alex Corcoran (DV) over Luis Vanegas, 6-1, 6-0; Jackson Hazard (DV) over Robert Ashford, 6-1, 7-5.
Doubles: Christian Perunsky-Ty Bates (DV) over Harold Stella-Rashir Williams, 6-0, 6-0; Owen Carso-Nat Carso (DV) over Aaron Dotel-Luis Delgado, 6-1, 6-1.
Records: DV 10-3, WBA 3-9.
Scranton Prep 5, Tunkhannock 0
Singles: Ethan Borick (SP) over Aidan Edwards, 6-2, 6-0; Akhilesh Velaga (SP) over Boti Batyky, 6-0, 6-0; Ved Dave (SP) over Ben Landon, 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles: Matt Cohen-Dylan Tost (SP) over Ryan Negvesky-Brandon Mateus, 6-1, 6-0; David Geyfman-Jackson Keating (SP) over Lucas Mateus-Caleb Hyde, 6-1, 6-3.
Records: SP 12-1, TUN 6-6.
Wyoming Seminary 5 Dunmore 0
Singles: William Hall (SEM) over Thomas Bowen, 6-0, 6-0; Ansareli Atabayev (SEM) over Dom Desando, 6-0, 6-0; Yicheng Li (SEM) over Nate Aviles, 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles: Christopher Ramos-Andrew Tsui (SEM) over Conor Roberts-Christley Jean, 6-3, 6-1; Pablo Otero-Benen Griffin (SEM) over Evan McHale-Oum Patel, 2-6, 6-1, 10-8.
Records: SEM 12-0, DUN 5-7.
Holy Cross 3, MMI Prep 2
Singles: Alex Harrison (HC) over Xavier Bleiler, 6-1, 6-1; Ray Zhang (HC) over Max Bleiler, 6-2, 6-0; David Huester (HC) over Nate Sissick, 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles: Reed Floryshak-Blake Warren (MMI) over Ryan Boyce-Guiseppe Pilone, 6-3, 6-0; Sharan Parikh-Joe Mayernik (MMI)over Lucas Urban-Colin Riherbush, 6-1, 6-2.
