Tough draw for locals results in losses at District 11 tennis tournament

BETHLEHEM — This season has been a memorable one for Jim Thorpe head tennis coach Norb Lienhard and his players.

With one more regular season match awaiting them, the Olympians are approaching a school record. The team is currently 13-4 and meets Allen this afternoon. If victorious, Thorpe can eclipse last year’s mark of 13 wins.

On Monday, JT’s impressive squad had another strong showing — managing to put three players into the District 11 Class 2A singles tournament. Despite the strong representation, the luck of the draw saw all three of the school’s players get a top-eight seed in the tournament’s draw.

District 11’s method provides seeds to the top eight players in the field, based on their records and strength of schedules. After those eight players, the remaining players in the field are tossed into a hat and drawn at random to fill the bracket.

The Olympians’ top player, Christy McLean, drew the tourney’s No. 8 seed — Bethlehem Catholic’s Taylor Adams. JT’s second singles player, Kaitlyn O’Neil, drew the No. 5 seed — Blue Mountain’s Lauren Gumaer — while Trista Gehris, Thorpe’s third singles player, faced off against the draw’s No. 6 player — Salisbury’s Bryn Kubinsky.

“We got a tough draw,” Lienhard said after his three players were eliminated in the first round. “We played well. I thought we could have cut down on the unforced errors, and that’s what killed us. Really, all three of them.”

The tournament’s first and second rounds are held at Lehigh’s Goodman Campus, where about 20 courts are occupied, displaying the top singles players in the district at one time.

“It was a tough situation to come into, really,” Lienhard said. “They didn’t quit, which is good. The scores don’t look it, but they stayed out there for a while and there were some long points that could’ve gone either way ... but it just didn’t (go our way) today.”

Despite the three losses, Lienhard commented on his program’s accomplishment. The Olympians were one of the only teams that actually had three players entered in the draw.

“You know, it’s always good to get three girls into the draw, and it’s tough to do,” he said. “When your team has three girls in, you’re considered in the elite of the different schools down here, because not everyone gets three girls in.”

Some schools don’t even have one entry in the tournament.

In the Class 3A draw, Pleasant Valley was represented by its No. 1 singles player, Riley Wagner, who had the best outcome of the day. Wagner fell behind early, but battled back against Sadie Jacobs of Easton. She was down 5-1 in the first set, before settling into her game and battling back to drop a 6-4 set. She lost the second set, 6-1, ending her chance of moving on.

“Riley’s a great athlete and a fighter,” Pleasant Valley head coach Mark Allison said. “She had to move from our No. 2 player up to the No. 1 singles spot earlier in the season, so I thought she handled herself well this year.”

For Jim Thorpe, it moves on to its last regular season match against Allen. Lienhard and his squad are anxious for the matchup.

“We have one more match with William Allen and if we win, that would give us 14,” Lienhard said. “Last year, we had 13 and that’s the mark to beat.”

TRUE TO FORM ... The seedings in the singles draws for both the 2A and 3A fields nearly held true after the opening day of competition. The only seed to falter was in the 3A field, where Parkland’s Leah Zolotareva upset the No. 6 seed to move into the quarterfinals.

DOWN THE ROAD ... Next up for local players and teams is the District 11 team tournament, which begins next Monday. The week after that (Oct. 14) is the doubles tournament.