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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

PHS girls tennis wins D-11 title

The Parkland girls tennis team continued its perfect season by winning the District 11 Class 3A team championship over Easton 4-0 last Friday at Lehigh University. It marked the school’s second consecutive district title under coach Michael Hingston.

The top-seeded Trojans, who improved to 20-0, were never tested by the second-seeded Red Rovers or for that matter any school in the three-round tournament.

In the championship, Lexie Warsing and Gigi Leonzi each recorded singles victories. Parkland’s doubles teams comprised of Anshika Gupta and Sophia Petrocelli and Sophie Elijovich and Aarohi Vaze also emerged victorious.

“Easton has a really good young team,” Hingston said. “They match up well with us.”

Parkland hammered everyone. In the quarterfinals the Trojans dismantled No. 8 seed Nazareth 5-0, losing just one game all afternoon. Warsing downed Sophia DiGiacinto, 6-0, 6-1, while No. 2 Leah Zolotareva beat Jessica Rodriguez, 6-0, 6-0. Leonzi blanked Kelly Creighton, 6-0, 6-0. All three Parkland players controlled the action and were only marginally tested during most points.

It was the same story for Gupta and Petrocelli and Elijovich and Vaze, who defeated respectively Nazareth’s Keira Smith and Nistha Prajapati, and Ahyla Elmanzalawy and Naiya Mody without a blemish.

The semifinals pitted Parkland against No. 4 seed Emmaus (14-4). This figured to be more competitive, but the Trojans wanted a drama-free tournament. Although there were some hotly-contested points, no Parkland player or team lost any set.

Warsing won by forfeit against Emmaus, while Zolotareva beat Kate Smith, 6-0, 6-1. Leonzi defeated Liza Duerholz, 6-2, 6-1 to round out the singles competition.

Gupta and Petrocelli had the most challenging match with the Green Hornets’ Anna Lyons and Ashlyn Phy, 6-2, 6-4. Elijovich and Vaze had a tough first set with Alexa Makoul and Reshma Beraj, but breezed through the second set to earn a 6-4, 6-1 win.

“Our doubles teams have games that compliment each other,” Hingston said. “They have really good chemistry and they just have clicked.”

The PIAA team tennis championship’s first round is scheduled for Oct. 25.

PRESS PHOTO BY NANCY SCHOLZ The Parkland girls tennis team won its second straight District 11 title with a victory over Easton in last week's finals.
PRESS PHOTO BY NANCY SCHOLZ Parkland's Gigi Leonzi returns a shot during the district title match.
PRESS PHOTO BY NANCY SCHOLZ Leah Zolotareva returns a volley during the district team championship match.
PRESS PHOTO BY NANCY SCHOLZ Freshman Lexi Warsing played at the No. 1 singles position this season for Parkland.
PRESS PHOTO BY NANCY SCHOLZ Anshika Gupta returns a shot during the District 11 team championships.