Moravian Academy enters playoffs with clean record
Moravian Academy freshman Max Abia is new to the high school boys tennis scene but already has enough experience to know who to trust in the season’s biggest matches — his coach.
With Saucon Valley junior Louis Flowers leading 2-0 lead in the first set, Abia had to adjust his strategy and play slightly less aggressive than he’s used to.
The freshman won the final six games of the first set and fought off another rally in the second to defeat Flowers 6-2, 6-3 and clinch a 4-1 victory for Moravian Academy (11-0) over the Panthers (11-2) on Tuesday afternoon at Saucon Valley High School.
“I came out with the win today because I followed my coach’s instructions,” Abia said. “It’s not my favorite way to play but I got the job done and he knew what was best in that match.”
“He was making too many mistakes coming to the net. He needed to trust his strokes and play baseline tennis today,” Moravian Academy coach Rick Brown said. “Sometimes when you’re in a tight match you have to go to plan B. You can’t always go to plan A and that’s what you have to learn as a tennis player. If it works, you keep going but if something’s not working you have to move on and that’s what he did.”
On the court next to Abia, plan A was working just fine for Moravian Academy sophomore Aveer Chadha at second singles who cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory to get the Lions on the board quickly.
Although they’ve only played together for one season in high school, Abia had some high praise for his older teammate.
“Aveer is one of the steadiest players I know. He never has a bad day and always plays good or OK,” Abia said. “He’s a really good player.”
The team’s top singles player, Ford Koch, had an impressive showing as well despite being the only player to come away with a loss.
Playing two-time defending district champion, Deven Pandey, Koch frustrated the Saucon Valley junior and broke his serve twice in the first set to level the score at 4-4.
Pandey rallied to win the set 6-4 and finished strong with a 6-2 second set victory but Koch’s battle with one of the area’s best players was a treat to watch.
“I knew he could hang [with Pandey],” Brown said. “The thing about Ford is he always plays aggressive and I’m never going to fault him for that. I don’t want pushers; I want kids who are going to hit the ball and he does. He’s a smart kid and knows how to play. Deven’s just a little bit more consistent and that’s the difference.”
Despite the stiff resistance from Koch early on, Pandey stayed composed, trusted his game and didn’t try to change too much as the match got a bit dicey.
“I kept doing what I know how to do and kept playing the best that I could today,” Pandey said. “It’s not perfect everyday but you have to play with what you’ve got that day. I just tried to be consistent with my serve and put balls in play.”
Pandey is undefeated and will be the favorite the Colonial League and District 11 singles tournaments in the next few weeks.
“I think it gets easier [to prevent nerves] after the first two years. It was definitely nerve-racking the first year or two,” he said.
“I think I just have to stay focused by just doing what I normally do and not do anything outside of my comfort zone during these matches.”
Harry Vicic and Hunter Zicherman rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 win in first doubles for the Lions while Jackson Reid and Eric Sanchez Josa mounted a comeback in the second set of a 6-3, 7-5 sweep in second doubles.
Looking ahead, Friday’s Colonial League Tournament at Saucon Valley High School could see many of the same matches taking place again in the championships with the Panthers and Lions each having dominant seasons in league play.
“It’ll be fun. We have a good group and I’m looking forward to try to go back-to-back,” Abia said.