Pennsville’s reworked doubles teams sweep to clinch undefeated Eagles SJ Group I quarterfinals win over Schalick; Woodstown eliminated by Haddon Twp.
South Jersey Group I Tournament
Tuesday’s quarterfinals
No. 3 Haddon Twp. 3, No. 6 Woodstown 2
No. 2 Pennsville 3, No. 7 Schalick 2
No. 4 Gateway 3.5, No. 5 Lower Cape May 1.5
No. 1 Pitman 4, No. 9 Audubon 1
Thursday semifinals
Haddon Twp. at Pennsville, 3 p.m.
Gateway at Pitman, 3 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNSVILLE – When a team is on the kind of roll Pennsville’s girls tennis team is enjoying the absolute last thing it needs is any kind of disruption. Especially in the doubles department in its sport where chemistry is everything.
The Eagles faced a potentially big disruption last week when they lost one of their steadiest doubles player to an injury. But coach Dan LaMont pulled out the depth chart, shuffled the deck and the Eagles haven’t missed a beat.
And it was one of those shuffled doubles teams that came through for them in a big way Tuesday, winning a super tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles to clinch their 3-2 win over Schalick in the South Jersey Group I quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Eagles, now 13-0 and one of two remaining undefeated teams statewide in Group 1, will host third-seeded Haddon Twp. in the sectional semifinals Thursday.
“It wasn’t the prettiest,” LaMont said. “There were times we were good. There were times we were not so good. And there were times we were able to pull it out.
“We’ve been finding ways all year and that’s what I keep on telling them. Who’s going to be the next hero? Who’s the one who’s going to pull out (the match)?”
That would be the No. 2 double teams of Naomi Hess and Morgan Holt, first-time partners who regrouped after losing the second set and won the clinching point 6-0, 2-6, 10-5 over Kayleigh Veach and Annie Podehl.
The Eagles’ lineup had been steady all season until Gabi Forino turned her right knee crashing into the fence before the Overbrook match. It forced LaMont to reshuffle his deck, but luckily he had cards to play.
He initially moved Holt into Forino’s spot at first doubles with Emma Cornette and they played together for two matches. He put Izzy Schrenker in that spot Tuesday and placed Holt with Hess, who had been paired with Schrenker for six matches.
“We really consider our top eight, nine our varsity,” LaMont said. “We always get them ready. I made a little decision, almost like a rotation with Morgan and Naomi, but they each always got matches in.
“A couple weeks ago (Forino) also had a little nagging injury, so we had a feeling; I don’t know why. But we got a challenge match in, so we have it all legal. I know they can play together. Even though they haven’t done much we have to make it work. We don’t have any other choice in the matter.”
Holt and Hess breezed through the first set like they were long-time partners, but Veach and Podehl evened the match with a big second set.
In the super tiebreaker, the first team to 10 was going to win it. The Schalick side went up 3-1 and 5-3, but Holt and Hess figured it out on their own – the changeover was still four points away – and won the next seven points to secure the win.
“We knew we had to win the tiebreaker,” Hess said. “We did everything we could to win the tiebreaker.”
“It was definitely scary,” said Holt, “because you really don’t want to lose. You don’t want to let your coach down and you don’t want to let your team down because everybody tries so hard. You just want to win. You want to win for everybody. I just didn’t want to lose.”
The match was just more of the same nailbiters the teams had been playing during the season. Pennsville won the first meeting 3-2 with Edwards clinching the match at No. 3 singles. The second meeting was suspended by weather with Schalick leading 2-1, but Pennsville leading in both doubles matches; that match is scheduled to resume Oct. 24.
There were still two points up for grabs as No. 2 doubles battled it out Tuesday. Pennsville won at No. 1 doubles (Cornette-Schrenker) and No. 3 singles (Edwards). Schalick won at No. 1 singles (Emma Adams) and Ally Green was leading at No. 2 singles making the doubles match the swing point.
The Cougars were the seventh seed, but a win would keep alive their hope of returning to the State Final Four. They lost in the state semifinals last year, but were looking to write their own history this year.
“I wanted to talk to them before we came out on the court and I told them I felt like all year long we hadn’t really put a full match together,” Cougars coach John Romano said. “We had spots here and there and, sure, we were beating people, but I told them you’re not riding the coat tails of last year’s team. You have your own legacy to set and today is going to be that day.
“We did really well. We were up 5-3 and had a shot to win it in the tiebreak and it just didn’t fall our way; kudos to them. I went over after and asked (Veach and Podehl) if they were OK and they said yes. I said I thought they played really well. I thought they both played a great tiebreak early on and then they both said they don’t know what happened.”
PENNSVILLE 3, SCHALICK 2
Emma Adams (S) def. Megan Morris, 6-2, 6-1
Ally Green (S) def. Regan Witt, 6-2, 6-4
Lily Edwards (P) def. Miya Watkins, 6-3, 6-1
Emma Cornette-Izzy Schrenker (P) def. Julie Langley-Helana Tyers, 6-1, 6-3
Naomi Hess-Morgan Holt (P) def. Kayleigh Veach-Annie Podehl, 6-0, 2-6, 10-5.
Records: Pennsville 13-0, Schalick 6-5
HADDON TWP. 3, WOODSTOWN 2
Ellie Smith (HT) def. Gabby Kurds, 6-0, 6-0
Kiersten Callahan (HT) def. Camille Osborn, 6-3, 6-4
Tessa Dybus (HT) def. Aubrie Rennie, 6-3, 6-1
Julianna Lindenmuth-Alyssa Berry (Wo( def. Sydney Troncone-Ani Piernola, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2
Nathalie Neron-Noelle Neron (Wo) def. Lily Steele-Olivia Fleming, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 10-8
Records: Haddon Twp. 12-6, Woodstown 9-4
Riverview Sports News 