Defending District 2 girls tennis champions Abington Heights and Scranton Prep put themselves in position to play for another title with strong regular seasons and quarterfinal victories when the district team tournament opened Oct. 2.
Scranton Prep went unbeaten and unscored upon in the Lackawanna League, lost only to The Lawrenceville School, a New Jersey prep school, and improved to 16-1 with a 5-0 sweep of MMI Prep in the district tournament.
Abington Heights was part of a three-way tie for second place in the Lackawanna League, but still earned the top seed for the Class 3A playoffs. The Comets improved to 14-2 when they began the postseason with a 5-0 shutout of Hazleton Area.
Both teams figured to face significant challenges when the district tournaments wrapped up with semifinal and final action Oct. 4 at Kirby Park.
Scranton Prep is seeded behind Wyoming Seminary, which went unbeaten in the Wyoming Valley Conference the last six seasons and captured a state team title in 2021. The Classics dethroned the Blue Knights as district champions last year.
Alyssa Wigley, last year’s district singles runner-up, and Emma Cuck, who played in last year’s district doubles final, are part of the Scranton Prep lineup that did not lose a point in the Lackawanna League season.
Susan Arp will be trying to repeat as district Class 3A singles champion after leading Abington Heights’ pursuit of a sixth straight team championship.
If they got past fifth-seeded Delaware Valley in the semifinals, the Comets were set to face one of the two teams they tied with in the standings, either Valley View or Wallenpaupack. Valley View defeated Abington Heights in their regular-season meeting.
The district singles tournament is planned for Oct. 9-10. The first three rounds of singles play will be held Oct. 9, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with Class 2A at Kirby Park and Class 3A at the nearby Wilkes University courts. The four semifinalists in each tournament will return to Kirby Park the next day at 1 p.m.
Doubles will follow the same format Oct. 13 and 16.
The Kingston Racquet Club and Birchwood Racquet Club are the alternate sites if weather forces a portion of the tournament indoors.
The state tournament opens with one round of team play Oct. 24 to determine the eight quarterfinalists that head to Hershey for the completion of the tournament Oct. 27-28.
All District 2 singles and doubles champions make it to the bracket of 16 for state play in Hershey Nov. 3-4
