Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Bradley tops Koons for ChesMont title
Downingtown West junior beats teammate to keep crown in the family
WEST CHESTER » It’s not close to the Ming Dynasty yet, but for girls tennis in Chester County, the Bradley Dynasty has taken hold.
After butting heads with her sister, Payton, the last couple of years, Jordan Bradley claimed a Ches-Mont League National Division girls singles championship of her own with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Downingtown West teammate Holly Koons on a perfect Friday afternoon at West Chester Henderson.
“It feels really good,” said Bradley. “Always been behind Payton, so its finally good to get my own win.”
The sixth-seeded Koons was a surprise finalist after beating No. 2 Hannah Baxter, 6-1, 6-3. The junior used superior court coverage to frustrate Baxter and take advantage of errors.
“Holly played like a machine out there,” said Downingtown West coach Justin DePietropaolo. “She didn’t miss. She played the best tennis I’ve ever seen her play.”
In the other semifinal, Bradley breezed past West Chester East’s Amanda Nguyen, 6-0, 6-0, to make her third straight National final.
It may be strange to see your teammate across from you in a final, but then again, at least it wan’t her sister.
“It’s so weird because you want your teammate to do well, but you want yourself to do well,” said Bradley. “So, it’s like, who do you put first?”
The familiarity between the two was evident as there may not have been a more congenial final.
On one point early in the first set, Koons sent a forehand that clipped the net and fell over for a winner. Bradley started chuckling, as Koons said jokingly, “I meant to do that.”
Bradley broke twice to race out to a 3-0 lead, but Koons settled down. She broke Bradley, then held serve to cut the deficit to 3-2. However, Bradley’s
power and consistency took hold as she took two straight games to serve for the set at 5-2.
The junior blistered a crosscourt volley to make it 40-0. A backhand return from Koons went long to give the set to Bradley.
The second set turned into a contest of who wanted to holds serve. The first five games featured breaks as Bradley held a 3-2 advantage.
“It was a little bit of maybe a lack of focus because we were playing each other and it was kind of a funny situation,” Bradley said in trying to explain the breaks.
She had the first hold of service to extend to a 4-2 lead. One final break put her on the verge of the championship.
Koons tried to hang in, but at 40-30, she sent a backhand long and Bradley had her championship. The title was the fifth straight for the the family after four in a row from Payton.
“It’s great to have another all-West final,” said DePietropaolo. “It’s once in a coaches liftime to get this many great players passing through, so to be a part of this is special.”
Koons cemented a spot in the district tournament to cap the day.
“It was pretty nice,” said Koons. “I wasn’t expecting it, but I got a lot of help from my teammates. It kind of pumped me up and helped a lot. I’m excited, I never been to districts before.”
Nguyen turned back Baxter, 6-2, 6-3, to clinch the third automatic spot in districts. “Excited,” Nguyen said on making districts. “This is my first time. I’ve been trying since freshman year, so it’s exciting.”