Rookies help Rams keep spot atop PAC
GRATERFORD » She’s positioning herself for a stellar four-year high school tennis career.
Mia Matriccino heads a crew of ninth-graders in the SpringFord girls program this fall ... one that’s filling in the blanks of a 2019 lineup that had six seniors graduate. Four of them were on display Wednesday when the Rams visited Perkiomen Valley for a Pioneer Athletic Conference match they swept, 7-0.
Matriccino got Spring-Ford rolling with her 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Gracie Strohecker at first singles. The Rams’ ladder-leader played a solid contest, marked by strong, hard shots and strong finishes when her opponent was off-balance from lunging returns.
“I’ve been playing since I was eight years old,” she said, noting she had been involved in United StatesTennis Association play for four years. “I’ve had a lot of practice with those (attack) balls.”
Joining Matriccino in the varsity lineup are classmates Alexis Luo and EvelynMejia, who played second doubles against PV, and Chloe Moore, who teamed with junior Lana Hang at third doubles. They give the SF program(40) optimism for a long, productive run over the next three years.
“A lot friends my age train together,” she said. “We all knew we were going to play inhigh school.”
The Rams also have back last year’s PAC Individual Tournment champion andMercury Girls Tennis Player of the Year, sophomore Cady Krause, at third singles. Between Krause and Matriccino is junior second singles Isabel Mejia, runner-up to Krause at PACs.
The trio is forming a formidable singles bracket for SF. Krause followed Matriccino’s lead with her 6-0, 6-0 roll over PV’s Ananya Sudarshar, andMejia added a 6-2, 6-0 win over Kaitlyn Murphy.
“This is definitely a big thing for me,” Matriccino said of highschool play. “The team and I en