October 25, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount tennis slips up in semifinal
by TOM UTESCHER

In a strange, protracted semifinal match that played out over three days last week, defending champion Mount St. Joseph Academy bowed out of the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies tennis playoffs in a 2-3 loss to Merion Mercy Academy.

The Mount Magic, who had been the second seed for the league tourney, finished up with a record of 10-5 in league matches, and defeated Pennsbury H.S. outside of the AACA to go 11-5 overall.

Merion, seeded third for the playoffs, had lost a pair of 2-3 matches to Mount St. Joe during the regular season. The Golden Bears left the Mount last Thursday without knowing whom they would face in the final round. Because the top-seeded Villa Maria Hurricanes still had some players involved in the PIAA District 1 tournament, they had not gotten together with number four Gwynedd Mercy to play the other Catholic Academies semifinal match.

Prior to this season, the Magic had been a fixture in the AACA finals, winning the championship more often than not. Powerful Villa Maria, well stocked with seniors, finally joined the AACA for tennis this fall, and this addition, along with a higher degree of parity between the established teams, made for tougher going for the Mounties.

The Mount/Merion semifinal got underway Tuesday on the Magic’s courts. Each team won two of the four matches that were completed during the afternoon, but the second doubles contest was halted due to darkness. Mount St. Joe’s first doubles duo, junior Sarah Hirst and freshman Catherine Baldasano, won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 over Merion’s Mairead Callahan and Allie Killeen, and at second singles junior Allie Bono was a 7-5, 6-3 victor over MMA’s Kara Brown.

In the top spot, Laura Matz of the Bears prevailed against Magic junior Katie Mischler, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, and at third singles MSJ upperclassman Gail Walsh succumbed, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-2 to sophomore Kelli Fox, the only player in the Merion line-up who is not a senior.

Visitors Kelsey Birmingham and Moriah Mifka moved ahead of Mount sophomores Meaghan Bricker and Chrissy Stefanowicz in the first set of the second doubles contest. The Bear pair led 5-2 when it became too dark to continue, and it was decided to resume the match from that point on Thursday afternoon.

With a trip to the finals on the line, team members from both schools gathered on Thursday to watch the completion of this one bout. The Mount’s Bricker and Stefanowicz took the first game of the rekindled conflict, then Birmingham and Mifka closed out the first set at 6-3. Expanding on a 2-1 lead, the Merion players wrapped up the second set in seven games, acquiring match point on a Magic stroke out over the left sideline.