Harriton Tennis Comes Up Short In States Against Sewickley Academy

The ride home was mixed with a heavy dose of winter and a lot of reflection. The  accomplished a great many things this season, like an 11th straight District 1 Class AA championship, another trip to the PIAA Class AA state championship and the hopes of an eighth straight PIAA state championship.

But the Rams’ run for that eighth straight fell into a buzzsaw, with . The Panthers ran roughshod over every other team in District 7 this season and brought its string of victories intact to the Hershey Racquet Club on Saturday.

There, Sewickley Academy brought the Rams’ incredible run to a screeching halt, shutting out the Harriton girls 4-0 in the state semifinals. SA defeated the defending state champions and ended Harriton's streak of seven straight state titles. Sewickley Academy also triumphed over undefeated Wyomissing in the championship match to capture the . 

The Panthers were led by five seniors: Eva Sung, Logan Antill, Caroline Ross, Annie Magovern and Maria Frischling, according to Sewickley Academy. Two sophomores were also featured in the Panthers' starting lineup -- Samantha Gohh and Sydney Miggantz.

“It was a great run and the scores were actually very close, much closer than 4-0 in a match would show,” Rams’ coach Jack Ladden said. “These girls have a lot to be proud about. Sewickley had a terrific team and they deserved to win. The good news was that even though there were close matches, the fact is, it’s 4-0 rather than 3-2. No one has the added weight on their shoulders that it came down to them and they lost it.

“My team played great. was the better team. Everyone is looking forward to next year. I told the girls that it was a great run while they had it, and they lost to a better team. We were 16-1 before this game, and it’s not their fault their predecessors went undefeated the last seven years. No one basically lost it for us. The girls could live with that.”

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared in its entirety on