Tamaqua tennis falls
BETHLEHEM â Tamaqua coach Jennel Swenson had no grand illusions.
Facing undefeated and top-seeded Bethlehem Catholic in the opening round of the District 11 Class AA Tennis Tournament, Swenson didn't set unreachable goals.Instead of aiming for a monumental upset, Swenson and the Raiders set their sights on more realistic and reasonable targets.So even though the Golden Hawks lived up to their ranking and record with a 5-0 victory, the Raiders still achieved some of the goals Swenson had set for them."We knew Bethlehem Catholic had very good players up and down its line-up," said Swenson. "So I talked to our girls about playing hard, making them work for their points, and battling until the end."Even though we lost and the scores weren't extremely close, I feel like we accomplished what we set out to do. Scores can sometimes be a little deceiving. I thought our girls had some really nice rallies, won a number of points, and took a few games to deuce before falling. All in all, I'm happy with our effort and our performance.'Bethlehem Catholic (18-0), which captured the championship of the highly competitive Eastern Pennsylvania Conference this season, showed how talented and deep it is by surrendering a total of just eight games in the five matches.Led by freshman phenom Brenna Magliochetti at No. 1 singles, who posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Tamaqua's Maddie Davis, the Golden Hawks showed they weren't taking the Raiders (6-10) lightly."We needed them to make some mistakes for us to have a chance to win any of the five matches," said Swenson, "But give Bethlehem Catholic credit. They played well. They showed why they are the top seed in the tournament."I thought our girls made them work, but Bethlehem Catholic did a nice job of closing out the rallies. They hit some really good shots."TWENTY SOMETHING ... All three of Becahi's singles players have at least 20 wins this season. Magliochetti is now 23-2, Molly Ehrig is 21-3, and Brooke Adams is 22-1.TOURNEY TIME ... Tamaqua has made districts in six of Swenson's seven years at the helm.FINAL MATCH ... Five of Tamaqua's seven players are seniors. Davis finished with a 3-14 record at No. 1 singles, Allison Pedersen was 9-8 at No. 2, and Amy Gardiner was 10-7 at No. 3. The top doubles team of Emma Osenbach and Arie Serniak was 4-8. Kerla Saez and Alexis Breiner, the only underclassmen on the team, were 4-10 in doubles.Bethlehem Cath. 5, Tamaqua 0SINGLESBrenna Magliochetti (BC) def. Maddie Davis, 6-1, 6-0; Molly Ehrig (BC) def. Allison Pedersen, 6-0, 6-1; Brooke Adams (BC) def. Amy Gardiner, 6-2, 6-1DOUBLESMaureen Mazza/Tess Shuler (BC) def. Emma Osenbach/Arie Serniak, 6-1, 6-2; Gabby Duffy/Tori Evert (BC) def. Keyla Saez/Alexis Breiner, 8-0