Harriton High School | Archive | October, 2018

The Harriton Rams girls tennis team entered the 2018 State Tournament on a high note, having won the District One championship for the third consecutive year.  Led by five senior starters (Sophia Sassoli, Nina Hoog, Connie Richards, Lauren Binnion, and Roshni Parikh), the Rams were the most experienced team at States, having made the semi-finals in 2015, won the State Championship in 2016, and finished as runner-up last year.  This year Harriton totally dominated Carlisle (round-of-16) and Shady Side Academy (quarterfinals), winning both contests 5 matches to zero without dropping a set.  In the semifinals at Hershey, PA on October 27, Harriton faced Unionville, the ChesMont conference runner-up and District One 4th-place finisher.  The Rams quickly dispatched their opponent in less than 1 hour, setting up a State Championship match against their Central League arch-rival, Conestoga.

Playing Conestoga for the third time in October, Harriton’s first singles player Sophia Sassoli, playing in her final team high school match after four spectacular years as Harriton’s top player, defeated the Pioneers’ Cassidy Landau 6-0, 6-0.  The Rams’ sensational sophomore Saige Roshkoff quickly followed with a 6-0, 6-1 victory at second singles over Priya Aravindhan.  Minutes later, seniors Lauren Binnion and Roshni Parikh nailed down the State Championship with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at second doubles over Pioneers’ Kate Wieser and Sophia Mazza, with Binnion sealing the deal with an overhead winner.  The Rams totally dominated the 2018 state tournament, winning 16 tennis matches against zero losses.  No Harriton singles player or doubles team lost even a set on their way to the state championship!

Harriton’s 2018 3A championship is Harriton’s 2nd state title in the past 3 years. Harriton is also the first girls tennis team from PIAA District One ever to win more than one 3A State Championship.  The Rams’ 2018 title is their 9th State Championship in Pennsylvania girls tennis (Harriton won the 2A State Title from 2004-2010) since PIAA introduced girls tennis team state championship play in 2000.  The Rams’ 9 championship trophies lead the State of Pennsylvania in the total number of girls’ tennis titles.

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The Rams continued their 2018 winning ways, beating 2^nd-seeded Conestoga 5-0 in the District Final to secure their third consecutive District One Championship.  Harriton marched through the four-round District tournament without dropping a match.  In the process, the Rams also secured their 5^th consecutive berth in the PIAA State Tournament.  Led by seniors Sophia Sassoli, Nina Hoog, Connie Richards, Lauren Binnion, and Roshni Parikh, combined with talented sophomores Saige Roshkoff and Mackenzie Sherman, the 2018 Rams are rolling into “States” with a 16-0 record.  These Rams are now Central League and District One 2018 Champions.  But the ultimate goal remains the same as on the season’s first day: a state championship, which would be Harriton’s second 3A title and 9^th state title overall in girls tennis.  The next step for the Rams is a first-round PIAA State Tournament matchup on Tuesday, October 23 at the Legacy Youth Sports facility (Philadelphia) against Carlisle, the third-place finisher in District 3.  The winner will travel to the Hershey Racquet Club and is likely to face District 7 second-place-finisher Shady Side Academy on Friday evening, October 26 in the quarterfinals.  Looming in the distance: North Allegheny, whom Harriton defeated in the 2016 State Championship, but lost to in last year’s final, is once again the District Seven Champion and is favored to make the State Final for the 6th consecutive year. State Semifinals and the Final are scheduled for Saturday, October 27.  Matchups and results will be posted on PIAA’s website.

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In Central League girls tennis, the Harriton-Conestoga match has traditionally determined the conference champion, and from 2008 (the year Harriton joined the Central League) until 2016, the Pioneers have utterly dominated, winning 9 consecutive conference championships.  But times changed in 2017, when home-team Harriton finally beat ‘Stoga in regular season play, then repeated the performance in last year’s District One Championship match.  But the Harriton Rams (State Champion in 2016, State Runner-Up in 2017) had never beaten Conestoga on the Pioneers’ home courts.

The 2018 regular season Rams-Pioneers match had been postponed twice due to weather, and with the regular season due to end on Thursday evening the stage was set on Monday, October 1 for a titanic battle of undefeated teams.  The Rams coasted to an early 2-0 match lead on the strength of 1st singles Sophia Sassoli’s straight-sets win again Cassidy Landau, and 2nd singles Saige Roshkoff beating Priya Aravindhan.  Soon afterwards, the Rams’ 2nd doubles senior tandem of Lauren Binnion and Roshni Parikh completed a third straight-sets win, pushing the Rams to a 3-0 lead and the brink of victory.

But ‘Stoga would not be denied so easily.  Freshman Ananya Krishnan won her first set at 3rd singles against Harriton’s two-time Central League singles champion Nina Hoog, and Conestoga’s outstanding 1st doubles team (Olivia Dodge and Leena Kwak) gave Harriton’s 1st doubles team (Connie Richards and Mackenzie Sherman) all they could handle.  Conestoga would go on to win all 3 remaining doubles matches in 3 sets.  However, Nina Hoog “dug deep” and rallied against Krishnan, winning a tight 2nd set and then dispatching her opponent 6-2 in the third to secure the 4-3 match win for Harriton.

The Rams’ historic win places them in excellent position to close out the regular season undefeated (remaining matches against non-conference foe Lower Moreland on Oct 2, then Haverford on Oct 3) and gain the top seed in the District One 16-team post-season tournament, which the Rams will open on their home courts on Tuesday, October 9.  Two wins in the District tournament would qualify the Rams to return to the State Championship Tournament and pursue their 2nd State PIAA Championship in the past three years.

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