It’s Sunday and time to look back at an exciting week for tennis in the Lackawanna League.

Things started off with a match between Scranton and North Pocono. The overall final score showed a 5-0 win by North Pocono, which has elevated itself into the ON THE BLOG ranking of top teams. But, the match at No. 1 singles captivated the few fans who were gathered and socially distanced at the courts at North Pocono Middle School.

Yes, there is a separation with the two champions in the league with Riverside’s Karissa Ghigiarelli and Abington Heights’ Bella Peters, more on them later, and the next tier of players, but when No. 1 players face off, we sometimes get an outstanding head-to-head battle.

So, North Pocono’s Natalie Deal outlasted Scranton’s Theresa Huffman in a classic back-and-forth clash. Here’s how it played out.

 

Deal picks up exciting win to lead North Pocono

MOSCOW – Natalie Deal jogged through the fence door from the tennis court at the North Pocono Middle School to a warm greeting from her teammates and couldn’t contain her emotions.
Fighting back tears, North Pocono’s No. 1 singles player completed a comeback with almost all of the focus on her match with Scranton’s Theresa Huffman.
In a back and forth encounter between two of the top players in the Lackawanna League that featured long rallies and exciting winning shots, Deal recovered from a set down to earn a victory, 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 in a tiebreaker set, in North Pocono’s 5-0 win Monday afternoon.
“It was a very intense match,” Deal said. “I lost the first set and knew I had to settle in and work hard to come back. The second set was close, too. I am just very excited because that was a big win.”

 

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HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

CLASSIC MATCH: No. 1 vs. No. 2

 

Then, on Wednesday, the league showcased the second singles match between the two best players in District 2.

Riverside’s Karissa Ghigiarelli, the D2 Class 2A and PIAA Class 2A champion, and Abington Heights’ Bella Peters, the D2 Class 3A champion, met. They are best friends off the court and are the two most talented players the league has had arguably in its history.

For the second straight year, Ghigiarelli won and continued adding to her incredible legacy. She has never lost a set in league play and has an overall career record of 53-1.

 

 

Abington Heights, however, came away with the big win. It was a hard-fought battle with the upstart Lady Vikes, who are poised to make noise in the District 2 Class 2A Team Championships and in both Singles and Doubles Tournaments.

 

Lady Comets edge Riverside

Karissa Ghigiarelli won the battle of District 2 individual champions, but Faith Bennett came through with a huge win at No. 3 singles to keep Abington Heights unbeaten, as the Lady Comets pulled out a 3-2 win over Riverside in Lackawanna League girls tennis Wednesday at McDade Park.
Ghigiarelli, also the reigning state champion in Class 2A, rolled past District 2 Class 3A champ Bella Peters, 6-0, 6-0, and Madeline DeFaber-Schumacher posted a victory at No. 2 singles to give the Lady Vikes a commanding edge.
Bennett responded with a three-set victory over Bella Aniska, taking the decisive set, 6-4, to keep Abington Heights’ hopes alive.
Hannah Adonizio-Isabel Holland and Emily Bartell-Elina Joshi responded with doubles wins in straight sets to seal the comeback.

 

TOP 8 SINGLES RANKING

 

Far be it for ON THE BLOG to debate the tennisrecruiting.net people, so DeFaber-Schumacher jumps all the way up to No. 3 in the singles ranking behind the two District 2 champions.

 

No.	PLAYER	SCHOOL	RECORD	LAST RANK
1	Karissa Ghigiarelli	Riverside	10–0	1
2	Bella Peters	Abington Heights	8–1	2
3	Madeline DeFaber-Schumacher	Riverside	5–0	3
4	Megan McDonald	Scranton Prep	10–0	4
5	Carly Habeeb	Scranton Prep	10–0	5
6	Camilla Rinaldi	Scranton Prep	10–0	6
7	Gisele Falzone	Holy Cross	7–3	7
8	Katie Glinsky	Mid Valley	7–3	NR

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Rina Hanumali (AH); Rose Lombardo (DV); Gabrielle Chantiloupe (WS); Bella Aniska (RIV); Taralyn Reilly (VV).

 

SINGLES RECORDS

 

LACKAWANNA LEAGUE STANDINGS

 

TOP 5 TEAM RANKING

 

Scranton Prep is undefeated and looking strong. This week is the team’s toughest test. First the Classics host No. 2 Abington Heights on Tuesday. Then, they travel to McDade Park to take on No. 3 Riverside.

No.		SCHOOL	RECORD	LAST RANK
1		Scranton Prep Classics	10–0	1
2		Abington Heights Lady Comets	9–0	2
3		Riverside Lady Vikes	8–2	3
4		Holy Cross Lady Crusaders	7–3	4
5		North Pocono Lady Trojans	7–2	5

 

TEAM TO WATCH: West Scranton (7-3).

 

WHAT’S AHEAD

 

TUESDAY

Wallenpaupack at Scranton
Riverside at Honesdale
West Scranton at Montrose
Abington Heights at Scranton Prep
Delaware Valley at North Pocono
Western Wayne at Dunmore
Holy Cross at Mid Valley

 

THE RIVALRY

ABINGTON HEIGHTS		AT	SCRANTON PREP
Bella Peters	8–1		Megan McDonald	10–0
Rina Hanumali	7–1		Camilla Rinaldi	10–0
Faith Bennett	8–1		Carly Habeeb	10–0

 

 

THURSDAY

Scranton at Montrose
Scranton Prep at Riverside
Wallenpaupack at North Pocono
Western Wayne at Honesdale
West Scranton at Mid Valley
Delaware Valley at Valley View
Holy Cross at Dunmore

 

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DISTRICT 2 REMINDER

 

 

DISTRICT 2 CHAMPIONSHIPS

In this delayed and day-by-day schedule while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, right now, there is a tentative plan in place to hold the District 2 Championships.

That is good news.

Here’s what we know based on what tennis authorities John Coyle and Mike Ognosky have released on piaad2.org.

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

DATES

• Friday, October 9th (First Round if necessary) at Higher Seeded Team
• Tuesday, October 13th (Quarterfinals) at Higher Seeded Team
• Thursday, October 15th (Semifinals and Finals) at Kirby Park, Wilkes-Barre

NOTE: First Round on Friday, October 9th (if necessary – only if more than 8 qualify)

Class 3A Semifinals begin at 11 AM Class 2A Semifinals begin at 12:30 PM

 

SEEDING MEETING: Singles & Doubles Wednesday, October 14th at Dunmore High School, 7 PM.

 

SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP

DATES

• Saturday, October 17th
  • Class 2A – First three rounds 8:30 AM at Kirby Park, WIlkes-Barre
  • Class 3A – First three rounds at North Pocono Middle School
• Monday, October 19 (Semifinals and Finals) at Kirby Park, Wilkes-Barre, 1 PM.

 

DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP

• Saturday, October 24th
  • Class 2A  – First three rounds 8:30 AM at Kirby Park, Wilkes-Barre
  • Class 3A – First three rounds at North Pocono Middle School
• Monday, October 26th (Semifinals and Finals at Kirby Park, Wilkes-Barre, 1 PM

 

PIAA TOURNAMENT DATES

• TEAM: Tuesday, October 27; Friday October 30th and Saturday 31st.
• SINGLES and DOUBLES: Friday November 6th and Saturday November 7th

 

DISTRICT 2 POWER RATINGS

CLASS 2A

1	Wyoming Seminary College Prep	8-	0-	0	0.768567	1.000000	0.435530	11(3)
2	Scranton Preparatory School	10-	0-	0	0.744662	1.000000	0.377224	14(4)
3	Holy Redeemer	4-	1-	0	0.707332	0.796117	0.579570	11(6)
4	Tunkhannock	8-	1-	0	0.703528	0.885246	0.442032	11(2)
5	Riverside (2)	8-	2-	0	0.663624	0.806122	0.458566	14(4)
6	Dallas	5-	2-	0	0.624063	0.706294	0.505732	11(4)
7	Holy Cross	7-	3-	0	0.622115	0.698020	0.512887	14(4)
8	Berwick Area	5-	3-	0	0.576922	0.625000	0.507736	11(3)
9	Valley View	6-	4-	0	0.549983	0.595960	0.483822	14(4)
10	Hanover Area (2)	3-	3-	1	0.458911	0.510549	0.384603	11(4)
11	Mid Valley Secondary Center	3-	7-	0	0.334330	0.290816	0.396947	14(4)
12	Honesdale	2-	8-	0	0.329022	0.191919	0.526316	14(4)
13	Montrose	2-	8-	0	0.328155	0.191919	0.524202	14(4)
14	Wyoming Area	1-	6-	1	0.301188	0.192211	0.458008	11(3)
15	Western Wayne	0-	10-	0	0.263287	0.000000	0.642164	14(4)
16	Dunmore	0-	10-	0	0.244431	0.000000	0.596174	14(4)
17	MMI Preparatory School	0-	0-	0	0.000000	0.000000	0.000000	0(0)

Courtesy piaad2.org

 

CLASS 3A

1	Abington Heights	9-0-0	0.76	1.000000	0.4	14(5)
2	North Pocono	7-2-0	0.63	0.765363	0.44	14(5)
3	West Scranton	7-3-0	0.6	0.702020	0.45	14(4)
4	Hazleton Area	7-4-0	0.55	0.623318	0.44	13(2)
5	Delaware Valley	5-4-0	0.5	0.548023	0.42	14(5)
6	Wallenpaupack	5-6-0	0.48	0.442922	0.52	14(3)
7	Crestwood	4-5-0	0.45	0.438503	0.48	11(2)
8	SCRANTON	3-7-0	0.4	0.287879	0.56	14(4)
9	Wyoming Valley West	2-7-0	0.38	0.209945	0.64	11(2)
10	Pittston Area	2-7-0	0.34	0.218579	0.53	11(2)
11	Wilkes-Barre	0-8-0	0.23	0.000000	0.56	11(3)

Courtesy piaad2.org

 

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