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WILKES-BARRE – Hazleton Area waited a quarter of a century for the school to produce its first district team tennis championship.
Another hour wasn’t going to matter.
District 2-4 Class 3A Subregional singles finalists Stephanie Mazurek and Lily Nowak quickly gave the Lady Cougars two of the three points they needed Monday afternoon at Kirby Park.
Then, the waiting game started.
It ended, less than a minute after Abington Heights rallied to tie the Subregional team championship match, when Sofia Losen locked up a straight sets win at number three singles, ending a seven-year reign as District 2 champion for the Lady Comets and sending the Lady Cougars into the state tournament.
While Mazurek, the Subregional singles champion, and Nowak watched, their teammates battled.
Abington Heights swept doubles, winning the first doubles match as Losen held the ball, ready to toss it in the air to serve at match point.
Losen, a senior who was part of Hazleton Area’s last-place, 1-12 team as a freshman, ended the wait. She closed out a 6-4, 6-2 win over Lauren Koczwara.
“I briefly see that my teammates are struggling, but then I just have to refocus, regroup and make sure that I’m playing my game,” Losen said.
The third singles match included 11 games less than the doubles match played next to it, but was the longest of the five played because of the many long points and the number of games that went to deuce multiple times.
Though she was pushed, Losen remained ahead while Abington Heights otherwise appeared to be putting together the momentum it needed to pull out another title, then won her final three games.
“I was definitely attacking her second serve a lot more,” Losen said of her strong finish.
Nowak and Mazurek gave the Lady Comets a big hill to climb.
Mazurek won the first set at first singles, 6-1, leading to Lauren Carroll’s injury default.
Carroll is set to be the second seed with Clare DellaValle in the doubles tournament that begins Tuesday morning. Once it was clear that an upset of Mazurek was not likely to materialize Monday, Carroll decided it was time to rest her injured shoulder.
Nowak is continuing to build late-season momentum after her come-from-behind, three-set win in the team semifinals put Hazleton Area in the championship match. Playing what she said feels like her best tennis, Nowak blanked DellaValle, 6-0, 6-0, to give the team a 2-0 lead.
“After that three-hour match I had, I just really stepped up my game going into singles,” Nowak said. “Throughout singles and playing Steph in the finals, I just felt that my forehand and my serve are at just the right point right now and everything is at a high.”
Needing just one more point, Hazleton Area was ahead in two of three matches.
Savannah Blaum and Julia Poulson-Houser gave Abington Heights its first point with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Sophia Sebo-Ashley Garcia at number two doubles.
After losing the first set and falling behind 3-1 in the second, Brooke Dennison-Holly Ross rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Adrianna Bohman-Alyssa Mazurek at number one doubles.
Dennison and Ross did not even make it off the court before Losen ended any hopes Abington Heights had of completing the comeback.
Nowak and Losen will work together as the top-seeded doubles team to try to give Hazleton Area a sweep of the three Class 3A tennis championships.
The doubles tournament opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday and plays until there are just four teams left in each class. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Camryn Cassetori and Lauren LaMarca are seeded second, the highest of any Wyoming Valley Conference team, in the Class 2A doubles tournament.
DISTRICT 2-4 CLASS 3A SUBREGIONAL
Final
(at Kirby Park)
Hazleton Area 3, Abington Heights 2
Singles — 1. Stephanie Mazurek (HAZ) d. Lauren Carroll, 6-1, injury default; 2. Lily Nowak (HAZ) d. Clare DellaValle, 6-0, 6-0; 3. Sofia Losen (HAZ) d. Lauren Koczwara, 6-4, 6-2.
Doubles — 1. Brooke Dennison/Holly Ross (AH) d. Adrianna Bohman/Alyssa Mazurek, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; 2. Savannah Blaum/Julia Poulson-Houser (AH) def. Sophia Sebo/Ashley Garcia, 6-0, 6-3.