Tennis: Lower Merion defeats Wissahickon for 2nd straight District 1-AAA title

WHITEMARSH >> For the Wissahickon boys tennis team, Thursday afternoon’s District-1-AAA team final proved one thing — the only team in the district definitively better is Lower Merion.

The defending PIAA state champions defeated the Trojans 3-0 as the Aces lifted the district title for the second consecutive year.

“We gave a shot,” Wissahickon coach Mark Daniels said. “I feel proud of them. Even (Lower Merion) coach Dave (O’Connell) said they had earned every point. There wasn’t really a walk-over anywhere on the five courts so that’s a good thing.”

As for what is true between the two teams is also true for the teams’ first singles pairing. Perhaps the only player in District 1 that can beat Wissahickon’s Andrew Tran is Lower Merion’s Matt Chen. Before Thursday’s match, the most recent matchup between Chen and Tran took place in the District-1 AAA singles tournament where Chen defeated Tran 2-6,6-1,7-5 in the semifinals.

“The first singles, if you watch that match, talk about deceptive scores,” said O’Connell of Tran and Chen’s match. “They both belt the ball and they’re both exactly what I like about tennis — they play by the code, they give each other the benefit of the doubt on close calls and they really played well.” In Thursday’s match, Chen completed the season sweep of Tran in the two’s third meeting of the season, 6-2,6-1.

Click HERE to read the full article.

Lower Merion’s Thibault Vernier returns a volley during the District 1-AAA team final with Wissahickon at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday, May 12, 2016. (Gene Walsh/Digital First Media)