by Tom Utescher

While many area teams have just gotten started with non-league contests, Mount St. Joseph Academy’s tennis team is about to begin its second round of league matches.

A bout with visiting Gwynedd Mercy last Thursday was the last of the Magic’s originally-scheduled matches in the first run through the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies. A win over the Gwynedd Monarchs gave the Mounties a record of 6-0 in the league, with a September 4 encounter with Nazareth Academy getting postponed to a later date. Mount St. Joe has also won a non-league match against Abington High School.

The team’s first singles player, senior and NCAA Division I recruit Stow Weiss, has not lost a match in the top spot. Gwynedd, which came into last Thursday’s bout with a 3-0 record in the AACA, had senior Kelsie Van Thuyne playing number one, and she bowed to Weiss in a pair of 6-0 sets.

Another senior, MSJ’s Elizabeth Christine, was a 6-0, 6-3 winner at second singles over visitor Isabella Kellmen.

Christine and Weiss have been playing varsity singles for four years, but it’s a new experience for the team’s number three, Grace Walker. The sophomore has met the challenge and has performed well; on Thursday she turned in a 6-0, 6-3 victory against GMA’s Tess Flanigan.

After a 6-1 win in their opening set at first doubles, MSJ senior Liz Meister and sophomore Rachel Zilligen seemed like they’d coast to the match victory. Visitors Jordan White and Audrey Keen had other ideas, extending the second set before the Magic twosome finally prevailed, 7-5.

The Magic were in command all the way through the second doubles contest, as senior Lily Doyle and sophomore Alexis Tran breezed by Gianna Troilo and Lillian Newbitt of the Monarchs, 6-0, 6-0.