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Sports

Harriton Tennis Comes Up Short In States Against Sewickley Academy

The Rams could reflect on a great many positives about this season.

The ride home was mixed with a heavy dose of winter and a lot of reflection. The accomplished a great many things this season, like an 11th-straight District 1 Class AA championship, another trip to the PIAA Class AA state championship and the hopes of an eighth-straight PIAA state championship.

But the Rams’ run for that eighth-straight fell into a buzzsaw, a team from the Pittsburgh area, Sewickley Academy, which had run roughshod over every other team in District 7 and brought its string of victories intact to the Hershey Racquet Club on Saturday.

There, the Rams’ incredible run came to a screeching halt in getting shut out by Sewickley, 4-0, in the state semifinals ending the streak of seven-straight state titles. With the Rams moving up to the Class AAA level next year, perhaps no team may duplicate or exceed the amazing run had.

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“It was a great run and the scores were actually very close, much closer than 4-0 in a match would show,” Rams’ coach Jack Ladden said. “These girls have a lot to be proud about. Sewickley had a terrific team and they deserved to win. The good news was that even though there were close matches, the fact is, it’s 4-0 rather than 3-2. No one has the added weight on their shoulders that it came down to them and they lost it.

“My team played great. Sewickley was the better team. Everyone is looking forward to next year. I told the girls that it was a great run while they had it, and they lost to a better team. We were 16-1 before this game, and it’s not their fault their predecessors went undefeated the last seven years. No one basically lost it for us. The girls could live with that.”

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Senior Marni Blumenthal got to experience state championships, but she enjoyed the experience of playing high school tennis.

“In the beginning, we were all very upset about it, but as we sat in the traffic, we all realized we had fun being with each other and hanging out with each other,” Blumenthal said. “We had a great season and we all tried our hardest. We learned from it. You have to learn that you can’t win all of the time. I learned that today. You get spoiled with winning. The younger girls know they’re going to move up next year, and it will be a great experience for them. In the end, there were smiles.”

Ladden will have the nucleus of his team back, with juniors Hannah Drayton, Renee Simms and Samantha Krouse, sophomore Jenny White and freshman Rachel Benstock all returning.

“We look forward to playing in Class AAA next year,” Ladden said. “We have a talented team coming back, and I think we have a good shot of getting back to states next year. A lot of things the girls did were great, and it’s something they realize, they did some great things and there are a lot of great things the girls should be proud about.”

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the last name of a junior player; her name is Renee Simms.

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