Preview the upcoming season for girls tennis
Lots of experience on court in ‘17
On a late September afternoon last fall, the North Penn girls’ tennis team ended a very long drought.
It had been 23 years since the Knights had last won an SOL title, a streak predating any athletes on last year’s squad. But after sweeping the three Central Bucks schools, North Penn clinched the title with a win over Pennridge in its league finale for an undefeated SOL season.
The Knights don’t want to wait another 23 years to win the conference again and with a solid core back, North Penn heads up a host of talented teams in the Reporter/TimesHerald/Montgomery area.
The Knights bring back junior Elise Hurry at singles and Karley Alling, Felicia Yan, Madhu William, Olivia Hauser, Sabrina Palmer at doubles, although the Knights will have to re-order a couple of pairings. Likewise, North Penn has added a couple of freshmen likely to find spots in the lineup.
Repeating in the Continental won’t be an easy task, with CB West also returning a lot of skill and CB East usually fielding a stout lineup.
Lansdale Catholic had a successful 2016, reaching the PCL championship match and ad-
vancing to the District 12 AA championship match. LC has been a senior-laden team the last two seasons and graduated five starters from last year.
The Crusaders add Casey Meenan to the lineup this year. Meenan transferred to LC last fall, but too late into the season to play for the Crusaders and will slot in as the No. 2 singles player to start the season. LC’s lineup has also been bolstered by three newcomers in Kelly Orner, Delaney Smith and Rebecca Tiley.
Smith and Tiley, both softball players, have formed the No. 2 doubles pairing and have picked things up quickly according to coach Wendy Bradshaw.
“Along come these three girls, two of them (Smith and Tiley) are such great athletes and I feel like they have the potential to play as well as people I’ve been training for two years,” Bradshaw said. “(Orner), she’s just so coachable, you tell her anything and she picks up on it and just keeps working at it. I feel like we can go into the Catholic League and do well.”
The SOL American figures to be another battle between conference top dogs Wissahickon and Upper Dublin. UD topped Wiss for the American title last fall and looks strong top-tobottom with plenty of depth to help back up any injuries during the season.
Wissahickon will rely on a number of underclassmen in its bid to try and topple the Cardinals but does have experience players back in Rachel Flame, Jenny Landells and Julia Friedenberg. GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 2016 Record: 6-9 Head Coach: Lora Ball Key Returners: Seniors Renee Repella and Rachel Kliger, Junior Emma Menkowitz, Sophomores Tiffany Zhong and Alice Su Other athletes to watch: Freshmen Kendall Skalicky and Emily Wang Coach’s outlook: “GA girls tennis is anticipating a great 2017 season. With the return of our key singles players, there will be continuity in the top of our varsity squad. The season’s record will truly depend upon Souderton’s Caitlin Le sends a forehand to Lansdale Catholic’s Shannon Carr Tuesday.
the teaming of solid doubles partnerships.” LANSDALE CATHOLIC Head Coach: Wendy Bradshaw Athletes to Watch: Singles – Shannon Carr, Casey Meenan, Hannah Radi; Doubles – Lindsey Echelmeir, Emily Handschuh, Delaney Smith, Rebecca Tiley, Kelly Orner Outlook: “I was a little nervous having graduated five (starters), but we added three new players who are very athletic and coachable and have Casey Meenan joining us after transferring in last year, but too late to play for us.” NORTH PENN 2016 Record: 13-3 (6-0 SOL Continental) Head Coach: Kristina Alling Returning Athletes: Singles - Elise Hurry (Jr), Lauren Alling (Fr), Brynn Janke (Fr); Doubles Karley Alling, Felicia Yan, Madhu William, Olivia Hauser, Sabrina Palmer Other athletes to watch: Emily Gray, Samantha Tassona, Victoria Juckniewitz Outlook: A bit of a rebuilding year, but we’ve added a couple of strong freshmen. Hope to compete for the top of the league. PENNRIDGE 2016 Record: 8-6 Head Coach: Frank Flanagan Returning athletes: Katrina Janeczko, Ylan Phan Other athletes to watch: Courtney Landis Outlook: “To put a competitive team out each match, have fun, and grow as players and a team.” SOUDERTON 2016 Record: 6-5 (2-3 SOL Continental) Head Coach: Ali Aiken Athletes to Watch: Sophomore Caitlin Le (No. 1 singles), Sophomore Katherine Fursov (No.2 singles Outlook: “After the graduation of seven seniors last year our team is building and growing. A mix of wonderful returners and players that are brand new to our team have done a great job of filling in and stepping up!” UPPER DUBLIN Head Coach: David Sheaffer Returning Athletes: Singles Ksenija Tasich, Skylar Richman, and Erin Hackett. Doubles Amanda Yang, Lea Mangifesta, Belinda Jin, Hannah Yang, and Jessica Cheifetz. Athletes to Watch: Emma Yang, Eva Hunter, and Anna Zhou Outlook: “As the reigning American Conference Champions, we will look to defend our title and look to make noise in the district playoffs. Our team is fairly strong top to bottom. We have the ability to win at any position but will likely rely on our depth throughout the season for consistent points. Injuries for any of our starters is always a concern but we have a lot of players outside of our starting lineup that can step in and help the team if needed.” WILLIAM TENNENT 2016 Record: 4-11 Head Coach: Gabriela Durand Athletes to Watch: Singles - 1. Sarah Glass (Junior), 2. Taylor Weidman (Sophomore), 3. Erica Adamczyk (Senior); Doubles - 1. Evalyina (Freshman) and Zoe Khodak (Junior), 2. Maxine Fairall (Sophomore) and Sarah Oziminski (Junior), 3. Jessica Paris (Sophomore) and Tina Alania (Junior, 4. Katrina and Melissa Wolfgang (Junior) or Graciela Cohen Outlook: “Sarah Glass has been a solid first singles player for the second consecutive year and was last year’s MVP for William Tennent. We are looking to improve our overall record and win many of our close matches we had from last year.” WISSAHICKON 2016 Record: 17-4 Head Coach: Mary Ellen Devlin Athletes to Watch: Juniors Jenny Landells and Julia Friedenberg, senior Rachel Flame Outlook: “Wissahickon promises to be top contender in Suburban One League again this year with top three singles players returning and two key doubles players back. Co-captain Rachel Flame, along with teammates and doubles leaders Sam Sullivan and Lauren Kang, look to advance the team to District 1 tournament again this season. There will be contributions from sophomores Elizabeth Kooman and Amanda Malton in top doubles spots and they will be assisted by new freshmen Hannah Wang, Nicole Zappin and Olivia Welsh.”