Tamaqua pair falls in first round

SOUTH WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP - Sometimes having fun outweighs the outcome of an athletic event.

Both Maddie Davis and Alli Pedersen took that into mind after their opening match of the District 11 Class AA Girls Doubles Tournament.

The Tamaqua seniors dropped a 6-2, 2-6, 11-9 (third set tie-breaker) first round setback to Moravian Academy's Neelam Ferrari and Bailey Hancharik.

Instead of watching them hold their heads low, or making excuses, the Blue Raiders' head coach Jennel Swenson observed an overall attitude that any coach would want to see once they exited the gate from the Parkland High School tennis courts.

"They said they had a lot of fun playing," said Swenson. "That was the first thing they said coming off the courts. I would rather see that than watch them walk off the courts disappointed, especially with this being their last time here at districts."

Davis got caught up more in the atmosphere itself than the end results. The thought of playing with her teammate and best friend hit close to home.

"It was just a great atmosphere to be a part of," Davis said. "I'm glad we made it here. It was really a lot of fun to play doubles with her today.

"Honestly, it would have been nice to win, but it was more of an experience having fun with my doubles' partner than worry about the setback itself. It was a good time regardless of the outcome."

After relinquishing the tiebreaker lead to the Lions' pair, Pedersen pushed aside any excuses on the lapse to focus on the main idea of being there in the first place.

"It was a fun time," Pedersen said. "It was a little rough, but we pulled it together for the most part. For this being only our third time playing together as doubles' partners, we did really well."

D-11 AAA RESULTS...Pleasant Valley's doubles tandem of Haley White and Devin Kagel came up short against the duo of Celine Asmar and Emily Yenser of Whitehall, 6-0, 5-7, 11-9.

"I thought we played well," said Pleasant Valley coach Mark Allison. "We started a little slow but did a nice job of bouncing back in the second set. The tiebreaker went right down to the wire. It could have gone either way."

"Haley and Devin played very well down the stretch. They beat East Stroudsburg North, East Stroudsburg South and Stroudsburg to end the regular season and continued that strong play today. "

SEASONED TO FIRST HACK ... Pedersen, who was the Blue Raiders' No. 2 singles player, took part in her third consecutive district doubles tennis tournament with her third different teammate. As a sophomore, Pedersen made it to the second round with Beth Kistler. As a junior, she advanced to the second round with Maddie Dolinsky. For Davis, who was the Blue Raiders' No. 1 singles player, it was her first taste of the tournament atmosphere.

STAYING ALIVE ... Each class started with a bracket of 32 doubles teams. The top eight were seeded. The seeds held up as the top eight in each class won both their matches and are headed to the quarterfinal round Friday at Saucon Valley High School.

SLIPPED RIGHT OUT OF GRASP ... Davis and Pederson held a 7-4 lead in the tiebreaker, before Ferrari and Hancharik went on to outscore the Blue Raider tandem 7-2 the rest of the way to earn the right to move onto the second round. They lost their next match to Moravian Academy teammates Jenna Fromer and Maya Shustik, who are the tourney's seventh seed.