Wyoming Seminary’s Ilana Rosenthal poses with her gold medal after winning a third straight District 2 Class 2A individual tennis championship on Monday. Rosenthal defeated Montrose’s Cara Evans in the finals.
Tom Robinson | For Times Leader
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CLARKS SUMMIT — Ilana Rosenthal keeps getting stronger from an off-season ankle injury.
The Wyoming Seminary senior and two-time state singles champion learned she needed to improve during the past 10 days.
Susan Arp found herself seeking an immediate boost in her game in Monday’s championship match at the Birchwood Tennis and Fitness Center.
Both responded like champions, winning their third straight District 2 girls tennis singles titles.
Rosenthal defeated Cara Evans 6-2, 6-0 in the Class 2A final after the Montrose sophomore had a lead on her when their team district match was halted earlier this month.
Crestwood’s Hannah Ziegler split lengthy matches with players from Class 3A team champion Abington Heights, earning a meeting with Arp for the third straight year and taking a three-game lead in the first set of the final before Arp rallied for a 7-5, 6-2 victory.
“I love the challenge,” said Rosenthal, who simply overwhelms most high school opponents. “I’m ready for the challenge.”
The challenge came from a meeting of unbeatens and from Evans showing she could match up with Rosenthal. When Wyoming Seminary had enough points to beat Montrose as a team, the No. 1 singles match was just getting interesting with Evans leading 5-3 in the first set, winning more games off Rosenthal than anyone had all season.
Rosenthal dropped just two games this time, but there many long points and games along the way.
“Cara’s a great player,” Rosenthal said. “She hits really well. We had a great match with a lot of really good points. I think last time I played her in team districts, I think I just didn’t have the right game plan against her.
“After playing that match, I was able to form some things coming into this match. I came off really strong in the beginning and I think I carried that energy through the whole match.”
The result is Rosenthal heading back to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament feeling like she is playing the best tennis of her career. She was the No. 1 singles player and scored the clinching point for a state team title as a freshman before winning her two state singles gold medals the past two years.
“I think I’m playing better than I have ever before, even before my injury,” said Rosenthal, who has added power to her already prodigious finesse, in part from working out.
Both Rosenthal and Evans started Monday with semifinal victories over players from Scranton Prep’s District 2 team champions, who are also defending state champions.
Rosenthal downed Alyssa Wigley 6-0, 6-1 as part of a tournament in which she won 30 of 33 games.
Evans, who matched Rosenthal’s three 6-0, 6-0 wins Friday, had more of a challenge from Lily Lengyel in a 6-4, 6-2 semifinal victory.
Abington Heights also had two semifinalists and Ziegler ended up facing them both.
Whereas Arp was starting the day with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Wallenpaupack’s Sarah Niemiec, Ziegler was on the court for more than an hour and 45 minutes to get past Rona Hanumali 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
“It was a long day,” Ziegler said. “The first two sets were obviously tough for me, but the third one I kind of made a little change. I upped my game and kind of upped my attitude as well.
“ … I was doubting myself in the second set, but I was able to put a smile on my face and push through that.”
As a result, Ziegler made her second straight finals appearance.
Ziegler jumped in front, winning the first three games of the final and holding a 4-1 lead in the first set before Arp won 12 of the remaining 15 games.
“I started lobbing and mixing up the pace and keeping her moving forward and backward,” Arp said. “I kind of toned down my own stuff on going for winners.”
The familiarity from previous district meetings also helped.
“She plays a really good game,” Arp said. “She has super strong ground strokes. She’s definitely a baseline player, but she’s tall so she’s really good at the net and serving, too.”