Tennis: Harriton egdes Henderson for PIAA District One girls’ tennis team title

Whitemarsh – West Chester Henderson entered Tuesday’s PIAA District One Class AAA girls’ tennis team championship final at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School looking for its third consecutive district title, while Harriton was looking to spoil the party and claim its first title since moving up to Class AAA in 2012.

With the match deadlocked at 2-2, all the attention was focused on Henderson senior Emma Clark, who clinched a spot in the upcoming PIAA Class AAA individual state singles tournament and Harriton sophomore Sophia Sassoli, who will be participating in the upcoming PIAA District One Class AAA doubles tournament.

With Sassoli holding a one set advantage, Clark did not stop attacking the younger player, using a combination of power and finesse to take a 3-1 advantage in the second set. With the crowd cheering every point and both players feeling the support from teammates and family, Sassoli fought back and eventually broke Clark to take a 5-4 lead with a chance to serve for the match.

Thanks to some timely big serves and key shot placement, Sassoli held serve to win the second set and the match, 6-4, thus breaking the Warriors’ stranglehold at the top of District One and giving Harriton its first district title at the Class AAA level.

“I knew the match was tight and I knew the pressure was on but I tried not to think about because if I started thinking about it I knew the match wouldn’t end well,” said Sassoli. “I just kept telling myself ‘Legs and Swing’ and to keep it simple. It was an amazing feeling when I won the match. It was a great sense of relief to win.”

Harriton coach David Broida said, “Sophia Sassoli didn’t disappoint when the pressure was on and the team needed her to win the final match and break a 2-2 tie. After winning the first set 6-2, and down 3-4 in the second, Sophia fought back to win the last three games, finishing off her opponent on her second match point. Sophia showed determination, perseverance, and raw physical strength in powering each hit back to her opponent until the ball was not returned.”

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