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CLARKS SUMMIT — Most Wyoming Seminary girls tennis matches follow a routine.

The Blue Knights get ahead early on every court and coast home to victory.

Tuesday’s PIAA team tournament opener with Moravian Academy had an entirely different feel.

Blue Knights coach Raphael Cooper paced around the floor between points. When the first doubles team of Margaret Mihalick and Dominica Delayo looked up from Court 4, they could see all their teammates cheering through the glass, but, by their presence, also making it clear that the outcome was down to that one match.

Mihalick and Delayo came through, riding waves of momentum to fight off the last rally by Yan Yu and Kanchan Gupta for the deciding point in a 3-2 Wyoming Seminary victory over the 2020 state finalists.

After a 4-0, third-set lead was trimmed to 5-4, Mihalick-Delayo closed out the 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

“The momentum is a crazy thing here,” Cooper said. “Luckily, we weathered storms.

“It turned into almost like a basketball game – a game of runs. We’d go on a 4-0 run, then they’d rip off a 4-1 run. It was very emotional.”

To the point where it wore on Cooper at times.

“Not only did they execute, but they stayed composed,” he said. “They were composed and had poise.

“I can’t say the same for their coach.”

The win sends Wyoming Seminary to the Hershey Indoor Racquet Club for the remainder of the state tournament. The matches don’t get any easier.

The Blue Knights play defending state champion Knoch, a 3-2 winner over Villa Maria. If they get through Friday’s quarterfinal, the semifinals and final are Saturday.

Mihalick and Delayo made sure they got through Tuesday’s first round, but it wasn’t easy.

“When a team starts coming back like that, point-by-point, gaining momentum, it’s really hard not to get down on yourself,” Mihalick said. “Tennis is such a mental sport.

“ … We made the adjustments needed, but I think what ultimately won this was just staying mentally tough because it got very close a couple of times.”

The first four matches were decided in two sets with the teams splitting.

Wyoming Seminary’s two points came from first and third singles players Ilana Rosenthal and Victoria Martinez, respectively.

That left it up to the senior team of Mihalick-Delayo.

“You look up and see this sea of people, I’ve never had all of the eyes on me before,” Delayo said. “I remember freshman year, when I was starting, thinking, ‘If it ever comes down to my match,’ I thought I would crack under pressure.

“Especially when it comes down to your match and it’s third set, it’s definitely nerve-wracking.”

It’s a situation Delayo steered clear of for four full seasons, largely because Wyoming Seminary has had few tense late-match moments. The Blue Knights were unbeaten Wyoming Valley Conference and District 2 champions while only being put into such a situation once, when the pressure fell primarily on Martinez in the district semifinal against Riverside.

There were times when it looked like Mihalick-Delayo could avoid some of that tension. They won the first set and led early in the second set before having the advantage twice with the serve while playing for a 5-4 lead in the second set. After the second set got away, they won the first four games of the third set before again having to fight off a comeback.

The other team points came about easier.

Rosenthal needed barely a third of the time that went into the first doubles match, winning, 6-0, 6-0.

Martinez won in straight sets moments after the District 11 champions took the second singles point.

Four of Wyoming Seminary’s players return to Birchwood Tennis & Fitness Center Wednesday at noon for the district doubles semifinals and finals. Rosenthal and Ella Krypel form one doubles team for that tournament while Mihalick-Delayo also continue playing together.

PIAA GIRLS TENNIS TEAM TOURNAMENT

CLASS 2A FIRST ROUND

Wyoming Seminary 3, Moravian Academy 2

SINGLES — 1. Ilana Rosenthal, SEM, def. Isabella Bartolacci, 6-0, 6-0; 2. Francesca Bartolacci, MOR, def. Ella Krypel, 6-2, 6-0; 3. Victoria Martinez, SEM, def. Jamilie Atiyeh, 6-1, 6-2. DOUBLES — 1. Margaret Mihalick-Dominica Delayo, SEM, def. Yan Yu-Kanchan Gupta, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; 2. Grace Wright, MOR, def. Maria Nolte-Victoria Smulowitz, 6-4, 6-3.

CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND

Pennsbury 3, Abington Heights 2

SINGLES — 1. Bella Peters, AH, def. Noor Heiba, by default; 2. Rina Hanumali, AH, def. Megan Walsh, by default; 3. Kyra Workman, PEN, def. Susan Arp, 6-0, 6-0. DOUBLES — 1. Katelyn Baik-Emilie Bortnichak, PEN, def. Faith Bennett-Hanna Adonizio, 6-0, 6-1; 2. Mia Etkund-Jaclyn Hauben, PEN, def. Elina Joshi-Bernie Mullin, 6-0, 6-1.