TAMAQUA - The hot, blazing sun was pouring down on the tennis courts at Tamaqua High School on this particular day.

The Lady Raiders were ready to host Jim Thorpe in a high school tennis match. In any other year, that might not be a revelation, as the nearby schools have played multiple matches against each other in recent seasons.But this season, the Tamaqua-Jim Thorpe match is noteworthy. As a matter of fact, the idea that Tamaqua is playing any matches is a story.The Tamaqua boys tennis program had been terminated a few years ago, and as the 2016 fall sports season was set to get underway, the girls program appeared in danger.When the first official PIAA practice date dawned on Aug. 15, the Tamaqua program had no coach and just three players.But out of the dark clouds, a ray of light came forwardJessica Mazaika, an autistic support teacher in the district, felt badly that the program was ready to fade off into the late summer sunset.So depite the fact that Mazaika readily admits she knows more about throwing a bowling ball down the lane than serving a tennis ball, she stepped up to coach the team."I wasn't anticipating being a coach, and tennis was the last thing on my mind," said Mazaika. "But I heard the team really needed some help, and I couldn't let the girls down."Mazaika did pull the team from the brink of extinction to another lifecycle. And she and her co-coach Rich Gibson are hell-bent on making it work.Because of the late start, Tamaqua was forced to forfeit its first three matches.Trying to play catch-up with practices and to get in some much-needed extra work, Mazaika and Gibson stayed late with the team after dropping a 5-0 decision to the Lady Olympians last week."We're behind the other schools because they practiced throughout the summer and I came on board after things were going," said Mazaika, who is not only new to coaching , but new to the sport of tennis. "I know we're down now (after the loss), but honestly we're getting better."Mazaika sees the glass as half-full and says it has been a "positive experience" thus far."They're hard-working, they have a heart for it. We lost six seniors from last year's team, and most of our current players are new to the sport."As the program's future hung in the balance, the Tamaqua administration was determined to keep things afloat. Athletic Director Mike Hromyak and principal Thomas McCabe manned the lifeboat and held practices along with volunteers Jimmy Dean and Gibson."Thank goodness they kept the girls hopes alive," offered Mazaika. "We had only four practices, and some of our kids had to recruit players in school. Believe me, the girls we have are very dedicated, they want to succeed, so very much… they've progressively gotten better."It also helped that two of the team leaders, Kayla Saze and Brooke Williams, had some experience from last year and like their coach, were determined to keep the team from having to fold."I really was hoping that we would find a coach," said Saze who has been a starter in all four of her years for the Raiders. "I practiced all summer either at Palmerton (courts) or Pleasant Valley."Williams is only a sophomore, but she's actively recruiting more girls to come out and play the sport."I love playing tennis and I was afraid we were going to lose the team. It was upsetting to think of not having tennis," she said.Also serving as manager for the Tamaqua high school football team, Williams has an extra ordinary passion to compete and is an avid New England Patriots' fan along with her mother."I love to be a part of a team," she said. "It drives me to be good, like Tom Brady. And coach Mazaika has been amazing."A program that only had three players sign-up originally now has a solid eight-member team.Williams and Saez are joined by seniors Allison Miller and Carmen Gonzales, and sophomores Adiah Balliet, Sabrina Moyer, Samantha Farley and Kaitlyn Bender."This is something I'm proud to be part of," Mazaika said. "I'm excited to work with individuals who have that kind of heart for something they love. Together, we have been trying to rebuild our tennis team and doing our best to finish the season strong."So even though wins on the court might be hard to come by this season for the Raiders, the fact that they are even putting a team on the court is a huge victory for the program.*******HOW LOW CAN YOU GO ... Marian's Albert McFadden has carded scores in the 70's four times already this season, the most by any Times News area golfer. McFadden's crowning achievement this year came on Sept. 7 at Blue Mountain View Golf Course, when he shot a 1-under-par 70 in helping the Colts to a 315-332 victory over Pine Grove. McFadden has the two lowest scores this season in the Times News area (70 and 75), while Tamaqua's Carson Schoener (reigning Times News Golfer of the Year) is hot on his heels with scores of 75 and 76.*******LIVING THE SINGLE LIFE ... Jim Thorpe's top singles tennis player Brittney Marzen (7-3) has led her team to a 6-4 record this season with seven singles victories on the season. The seven victories is tops among Times News area singles players. Pleasant Valley's Haley White has six singles wins on the season.*******A COACHING MILESTONE ... Last Tuesday, Northwestern cross country coach Chris Stizel eclipsed the 600-win plateau in his career with a boys and girls Colonial League sweep over Northern Lehigh, Palmerton, Pen Argyl, Wilson and Bangor. Sitting at 596 wins entering the Bangor meet, the 10 victories put Stitzel at 606 career wins.*******BAD NEWS BEAR ... Pleasant Valley's Meara Hanyon has the only hat trick (three or more individual goals in a game) this season amongst Times News area field hockey players. Hanyon accomplished the feat on Sept. 8 when she recorded three goals in a 13-0 victory over Pocono Mountain West. Pleasant Valley's 13 goals is also the only time this season a Times News area team (field hockey or soccer) has scored in double-digits in a game.*******SHUTOUT STREAK ... It probably isn't too surprising that the Northwestern boys soccer team is undefeated so far this season with six straight wins. What might be a little more remarkable is the fact that all six of those victories have been shutouts, thanks to stellar defense and outstanding work by goal keeper Kyle Bellhorn. So far this season, the Tigers are outscoring their opponents 30-0. Last year, Northwestern gave up just seven goals for the entire season.*******A TRIO OF HAT TRICKS ... Northern Lehigh soccer player Jill Olewine scored all four of her team's goals on Sept. 2 in a 4-0 victory over Catasauqua. Olewine is the only player (soccer and field hockey) to score more than three goals in a game this season. The other two hat tricks in girls soccer this season were provided by a pair of Northwestern strikers. Sara Hathaway and Maggie Motelese scored three goals apiece in the 9-1 Tigers victory over Palmerton on Sept. 7.*******IN IT TO WIN IT ... On Sept. 6, the Weatherly and Tri-Valley boys soccer teams headed into overtime with the score deadlocked at 1-1. With the final seconds of overtime ticking down and a tie appearing imminent, Weatherly's Elijah Derr had other plans. Derr scored with five seconds left in overtime to propel the Wreckers to a 2-1 victory. The last-second heroics gave Weatherly (1-3) its lone win of the season to date.*******GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES ... Three Times News area boys soccer players have recorded hat tricks so far this season with Northwestern's Ken Gawelko heading the list with three goals on two separate occasions. Gawelko had three goals against Wilson on Sept. 9 and three goals against Hamburg in the championship game of the Taylor M. Seitzinger Memorial Tournament on Sept. 10. Also recording hat tricks in the early going were Lehighton's Frank Bokan (Sept. 8 against North Schuylkill) and Pleasant Valley's Randy Vicente (Sept. 7 against East Stroudsburg North).*******VETERAN'S DAY ...The Jim Thorpe boys soccer team is planning an "Honor Our Veterans/PTSD Awareness Game" at 10 a.m. this Saturday. In conjunction with the game, the team has begun the 22 Push-Up Challenge and will be encouraging others to begin at their game against Lehighton on Saturday. The team's goal is to have at least 222 people on the field at halftime to participate and help bring awareness to this important cause. The 22 Push-Up Challenge raises awareness that our Veterans are losing their battle with PTSD, and the result is an estimated 22 Veterans a day taking their own lives. The teams have invited school board members, faculty, parents, players and local dignitaries to attend. The team will be collecting donations of canned goods and raising funds for Valor House, which helps Veterans in need.*******WELCOME TO THE "500 CLUB" ... Senior outside hitter Katie Higgins of the Lehighton volleyball team recorded her 500th career point on Sept. 3 at the Pine Grove Invitational Tournament. On the day, Higgins tallied 51 digs, 42 kills and 12 aces, as the Indians advanced into the tournament semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Blue Mountain. A "point" in volleyball is classified as a kill, a block or ace. Higgins has 428 career kills, 131 career aces, 753 career digs and 561 career points.*******SUPER SATURDAY ... Four Times News area teams captured tournament championships this past Saturday. The Northwestern boys soccer team won the Taylor M. Seitzinger Memorial Tournament in Hamburg with a 3-0 victory over the host Hawks. Likewise, the Northwestern girls soccer team also captured the tournament championship of the Taylor M. Seitzinger Memorial Tournament with a 1-0 victory over Hamburg. In volleyball, both Panther Valley and Pleasant Valley emerged with championships this weekend. The Panthers repeated as champions of the North Schuylkill Tournament with a 26-24 victory over Minersville in the championship match, while Pleasant Valley captured the Pocono Classic Tournament championship, a tournament which they hosted.*******CALLING ALL COACHES ... Every Wednesday during the fall sports season, the Times News sports department will publish its weekly fall sports notebook reflecting back on the week that was, and highlighting both individual and team accomplishments, as well as interesting information that may have occurred in games, matches or meets. The notebook will cover cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball, and will consist of storylines from the previous seven days (Tuesday-Monday). Today's notebook will reflect back on all the happenings from the beginning of the fall sports season up through this past Monday. Times News sports writerJason Boriswill once again be handling the compilation of notes and is encouraging all local coaches and schools to email him with noteworthy information that can be used in this column. Emails can be sent tojboris@tnonline.com.Please note that only results and information received by the Times News during the week will be used in this column.