Unionville shut out Abington Heights 3-0 May 13 at the Birchwood Tennis and Fitness Club in Clarks Summit, handing the Comets their only loss and ending their season by knocking them out of the Class 3A team tournament of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Tennis Championships.
Abington Heights finished 15-1 with championships of both the Lackawanna League and District 2 Class 3A.
Unionville, the fourth-place team from District 1, finished 18-4 after adding one more state tournament win and having its season end in the state semifinals.
The Comets put up a fight.
After Unionville secured points at the top two singles spots and No. 2 doubles, the other two matches were halted.
Matt Miller defeated Praneel Mallaiah 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Andrew Ou topped William Arp 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
Max Ye-Brendon Yu gave Unionville its doubles point 6-3, 6-0 over Michael Klamp-Robby Lucas.
Domenic Peters, at No. 3 singles, and Brady Comstock-Liam Farrell, at No. 1 doubles, were still competing for Abington Heights until Unionville got its third point.
District 2 Class 3A
CLARKS SUMMIT – Abington Heights continued its remarkable run atop the district with a 3-0 win over Crestwood May 7 to capture a 12th straight District 2 Class 3A championship in boys team tennis.
“Every one is special, it’s different kids every year,” Abington Heights coach Art Comstock said. “But the underlying theme is the program, what we all believe in and stand for. … We play for each other.”
A quick sweep of the doubles points by the teams of Brady Comstock-Liam Farrell and Mike Klamp-Robby Lucas earned Abington Heights two points right off the bat.
It was Domenic Peters who would slam the door shut for Abington Heights, picking up a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles to bring the match to a halt.
In the two matches halted before they could finish, Abington Heights singles stars Praneel Mallaiah and William Arp were both up a set and holding significant edges in the second set.
Abington Heights’ semifinal match earlier in the day was be a good preview of what was to come, taking down Wyoming Valley West 3-0 with just one total game dropped in the three wins.
Peters and the two doubles teams provided the points.
Crestwood drew Delaware Valley in the semifinals and won 3-1.
District 2 Class 2A
CLARKS SUMMIT — Heading into a third set, the Wyoming Seminary No. 1 doubles team of Yicheng Li and Andrew Tsui knew the stakes were high.
With two team points already in hand, the Blue Knights’ tandem could officially lock up a district title with a win over Scranton Prep’s Jackson Keating and Kyle O’Malley.
In a match tied one set apiece, it was easier said than done — but Tsui and Li put together a nearly perfect final set to win their match and bring a championship home to Wyoming Seminary.
A 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win in that match was the deciding point as Wyoming Seminary knocked off defending champ Scranton Prep 3-2 to win the District 2 Class 2A title.
Across all of six of the day’s semifinals and finals in the two classifications, only one individual match went to a third set — and it turned out to be a crucial one.
Tsui and Li roared through the first set, only for their Scranton Prep opponents to find their form to win the second, forcing the match to go the distance.
“We talked with our teammates and tried not to feel too much pressure and get frustrated,” Tsui said.
Scranton Prep’s points came in singles where Akhilesh Velaga defeated Billy Hall 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 at No. 1 and Matthew Cohen topped Luca Radovanovic 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3.
The Cavaliers reached the final with a 3-0 victory over MMI Prep in the morning semifinals.
Velaga, Cohen and the No. 2 doubles team of Nathan Woelkers-Kyle Costello earned the team points.
