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D2 TENNIS: Mallaiah and Borick receive top seeds for next week's tournament

joby fawcett, the times-tribune, scranton, pa.
·4 min read

A pair of outstanding singles players from the Lackawanna League earned the top seeds, and the pairings were announced for the District 2 Singles Championships.

Abington Heights junior Praneel Mallaiah, a former champion who is undefeated this season, headlines the Class 3A field, while Scranton Prep’s Ethan Borick is the No. 1 seed for the Class 2A tournament.

The tournaments open Tuesday with the Class 3A first three rounds at Wilkes University and the Class 2A matches at Kirby Park beginning at 9 a.m.

Semifinals and finals are Wednesday at Kirby Park, starting at 1 p.m.

Mallaiah, a two-time All-Region selection, is 12-0 this season and carries a 45-4 career record into his third tournament. He won the singles title as a freshman and reached the semifinals last season.

Wilkes-Barre Area’s Michael Hamel is the No. 2 seed. He reached the final in each of his first three seasons and finished as the runner-up each time.

Players from the Lackawanna League fill the remaining four seeded slots.

William Arp, a freshman at Abington Heights, is the third seed after an 11-1 debut season at No. 2 singles.

Valley View senior Connor Peters is the No. 4 seed. Peters has a record of 9-3. Delaware Valley’s Alex Mullen is seeded fifth, and West Scranton’s Drew Sphabmixay is the No. 6 seed.

In Class 2A, Tristan Vivona, last year’s champion from Western Wayne, transferred to a tennis academy in Florida.

That opened the door for players to vie for the top seed and will allow for a new champion.

Borick, who played at No. 2 singles last year and reached the quarterfinals, has a record of 9-1 in league and district matches this season.

Wyoming Area’s Luca Argenio, who was a teammate of Borick’s at Scranton Prep as a freshman, is the No. 2 seed.

Scranton Prep junior Akhilesh Velaga, who won the district title as a freshman and reached the final last season, is seeded third.

Wyoming Seminary’s Bill Hall, who reached the semifinals after beating Borick in the quarters, received the No. 4 seed.

Riverside’s Anthony Ghigiarelli, who plays independently because the school no longer sponsors a boys tennis program, is the No. 5 seed. He reached the semifinals last season, where he lost to Velaga in a memorable three-set clash.

Holy Cross’ Alex Harrison is seeded sixth, Holy Redeemer’s Frank Klimovitz is seventh, and Dallas’ Joe Florencio completes the list of seeded players.

DISTRICT 2 TENNIS SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS

CLASS 3ATuesday’s first round

at Wilkes University, 9 a.m.

Mateo Feola (Hazleton Area) vs. 3 Robert Ashford (Wilkes-Barre Area); Tom Bergman (Scranton) vs. Alex Sanchez (West Scranton); Peyton Sprague (Wyoming Valley West) vs. Justin Sieko (Berwick); Zhi Lin (Pittston Area) vs. Sean Rossi (Crestwood); Gadgidas Reisinger (Wyoming Valley West) vs. Alex Corcoran (Delaware Valley); Faneel Bhalja (Scranton) vs. Hernon Arias (Hazleton Area).

Second round

1-Praneel Mallaiah (Abington Heights) vs. Feola/Ashford winner; Tommy Biscotti (Crestwood) vs. Tanner Osborn (Pittston Area); 5-Alex Mullen (Delaware Valley) vs. Bergman/Sanchez winner; Sprague/Sieko winner vs. 4-Connor Peters (Valley View); 3-William Arp (Abington Heights) vs. Lin/Rossi winner; Reisinger/Corcoran winner vs. 6-Drew Sphabmixay (West Scranton); Jack Reilly (Valley View) vs. Liam Welch (Berwick); Bhalja/Arias winner vs. 2-Michael Hamel (Wilkes-Barre Area).

CLASS 2ATuesday’s first round

at Kirby Park, 9 a.m.

Michael Reiprich (Honesdale) vs. Mateo Runde (Hoy Redeemer); Ray Zhang (Holy Cross) vs. Alex Morano (Mid Valley); Max Bleiler (MMI) vs. Jon Florencio (Dallas); Kyle Mizeko (North Pocono) vs. Dom DeSando (Dunmore); Aidan Edwards (Tunkhannock) vs. Christian Abromovage (Wyoming Area); Aidan Montross (Tunkhannock) vs. Thomas Bowen (Dunmore); Erald Zyberaj (Mid Valley) vs. Leo Martinez-Valerio (Honesdale); Xavier Bleiler (MMI) vs. Ansareli Atabayev (Wyoming Seminary); Matthew Hitchcock (North Pocono) vs. Nate Linnen (Dallas).

Second round

1-Ethan Borick (Scranton Prep) vs. Reiprich/Runde winner; 5-Anthony Ghigiarelli (Riverside) vs. Mizeko-DeSando winner; 4-Bill Hall (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Edwards/Abromovage winner; 3-Akhilesh Velaga (Scranton Prep) vs. Montross/Bowen winner; 6-Alex Harrison (Holy Cross) vs. Zyberaj/Martinez-Valerio winner; 7-Frank Klimovitz (Holy Redeemer) vs. Bleiler/Atabayev winner; Hitchcock/Linnen winner vs. 2-Luca Argenio (Wyoming Area).