STATE COLLEGE – Saoirse Hopp, Selena Kesidis and Alina Muroski all went out winners as the State College Area High School girls’ tennis team celebrated senior night with a 5-0 victory over Chambersburg in the Lady Little Lions’ final regular-season home match of the season on Monday.
“Eight-game pro sets were played due to the threat of rain,” State College coach Jane Borden said. “Hopp. Kesidis and Muroski represented SC tennis with class.”
All three of the Lady Little Lion upperclassmen were in action in doubles. Hopp joined Sruthi Ramesh to top Chambersburg’s Avery Wissinger and Aspen Kimbert, 8-2, at No. 1. Kesidis and Muroski teamed at No. 2 to down Bridget Flohr and Maddie Faust, 8-1.
All three State College singles players were 8-0 victors. Quiana Guo downed Kristen Gerhart at No. 1, Catelyn Janac dispatched Stormy Jackson at No. 2 and Marissa Xu defeated Kenna Shearer at No. 3.
The team of Hopp and Ramesh – playing at No. 2 doubles – pulled out a 6-3, 6-4 victory over host Central Dauphin’s Ishana Bandyopadhyay and Lauren Kavish to lift the Lady Little Lions to a hard-fought 3-2 Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth team win on Thursday, Sept. 19.
In addition to Hopp and Ramesh’s team points against Central Dauphin, State College scored at No. 1 singles with Guo’s 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Mollie Kline and at No. 2 singles by virtue of Xu’s 6-2, 6-0 conquest of Olivia Goodman.
The Lady Little Lions were competitive in both matches they dropped. Emily Zhang came up on the short end of a 7-5, 6-4 score to Jasmine Chen at No. 3 singles, while the No. 1 doubles squad of Keya Ahrestani and Madeline Miller took Sabrina Rothstein and Grace Gibbs to three sets before succumbing, 0-6, 6-0, 6-4.
The Lady Little Lions improved to 13-1 by defeating homestanding Mercersburg Academy in a non-conference match on Tuesday. Match format was used, with singles counting for a point apiece and doubles counting for a half-point.
Janac was a double winner, prevailing at No. 2 singles by a 6-0, 6-3 score, then teaming with Guo for a 6-4 triumph in No. 1 doubles. Xu (6-1, 6-4), Zhang (6-4, 6-2) and Ahrestani (6-2, 6-0) also prevailed in singles for State. Guo (6-4, 4-6, 10-7) and Miller (6-0, 6-3) dropped their singles matches, as did the doubles pairings of Ahrestani and Xu (6-1) and Hopp and Ramesh (6-2).
