Quaker Valley blanks Brownsville girls
HILLER – Brownsville girls tennis coach Dan LoNigro had hoped to build off the Lady Falcons first trip to the WPIAL Class AA team playoffs, but it was a young Quaker Valley squad who met the challenge Monday afternoon with a 5-0 first round road victory. The co-champions from Section 1-AA with Greensburg Central Catholic, Brownsville wasn’t able to gain any momentum in the singles matches despite the close scores.
Gina Pelehac fell behind Marissa Scalercio with a 6-0 loss in the first set. The Lady Falcons’ No. 1 singles player recovered in the second set, playing with more confidence to tie the match with a 6-2 victory in the second set.
Scalercio built a big lead in the deciding set for a 6-3 win to clinch the victory. LoNigro believes the loss at No. 1 singles had a ripple effect through the Brownsville lineup.
“We didn’t seize the opportunity. Our catalyst is our No. 1 player. She loses, it ripples down,” LoNigro said.
Danielle Davison took the first set at No. 2 singles to a tiebreaker, but Quaker Valley’s Ashley McMaster rallied for a 7-4 tiebreaker win. McMaster continued to roll in the second set for a 6-2 win and a 2-0 Quaker lead.
The Lady Falcons were still alive with Christina Libertini up a set, a 7-6 tiebreaker in the first set, at No. 3 singles. Anna Raynovich rallied to tie the match with a 6-3 win in the second set, then closed the door on any hopes of a comeback with a 6-2 third set victory.
With the match decided, Quaker Valley put on the finishing touches with straight sets victories in both doubles. Lizzie Bensink and Anna Radenback won a tiebreaker in the first set and had a 6-3 second set to win at No. 1 doubles over Brownsville’s Chantel Curcio and Maggie Craig.
Quaker Valley’s Molly Findley and Danielle Piccolo dropped only three games at No. 2 doubles against Lindsey Zidek and Chelsea DeConcilis.
Quaker Valley had a long road trip to Brownsville, getting a little lost along the way, though Sarah Baldauf didn’t seem to mind. Quaker Valley is in its third year of competition, finishing tied with Knoch in second place in Section 3-AA behind Sewickley Academy.
“We didn’t know much about Brownsville. I thought we could win No. 1 singles and both doubles,” said Baldauf. “Our No. 2 and 3 singles players are sophomores. I was a little worried they’d be nervous. Each match was close.”
LoNigro gave credit to the visitors, though he believed coming in to the opening round playoff the score would have been a lot closer.
“I didn’t lose to a bad team. They’re a quality team, but it should’ve been a 3-2 match either way,” LoNigro said. “We had the home court fans and didn’t take advantage of it. The score today is not a reflection of our season.”
LoNigro added a couple of off-the-court things that might have contributed to the loss.
“We had three days of rain before the match. That was crucial. We have no indoor facility to practice,” LoNigro said. “I think the girls were distracted by the fact we’re on strike.’