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In recent years North Allegheny has dominated PIAA girls’ tennis, amassing an unworldly 93-1 record and three consecutive state championships in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Featuring Pennsylvania’s #1 ranked high school player (Anna Li) at 1st singles, the Lady Tigers have been an unstoppable juggernaut in the post-season, winning 31 consecutive post-season matches. But the upstart Harriton Rams had reached the state semi-finals in 2015 and returned all the key pieces for the 2016 campaign. Harriton’s tough early-season loss on September 8 to arch-rival Conestoga galvanized the team … and they wouldn’t lose again. Their District One championship earned the Rams favorable seeding in the State tournament, and the Rams won their opening-round match vs. Exeter (3-0) and quarterfinal vs. Mt. Lebanon (3-2) to reach the semifinals for the second consecutive year, demonstrating their across-the-board strength at singles and their team depth at doubles.
Playing State tournament newcomer Easton in the semis, Harriton’s doubles teams (1st-doubles Sofia Kandoussi-Lauren Binnion, 2nd-doubles Sonia Groeneveld-Shaina Ginsberg) quickly overwhelmed their opponents, while Central League Singles Champion Nina Hoog easily defeated Easton’s Sophia Amato at third singles, setting up the championship match against the Lady Tigers. Groeneveld & Ginsberg quickly took command of their 2nd doubles match to show the champs that the Rams wouldn’t go down easily, winning 6-3, 6-2. Then team ace Sophia Sassoli turned up the pressure on North Allegheny by downing top-ranked senior Anna Li, 6-2, 6-2. The Tigers responded with straight-sets wins at 3rd singles and 1st doubles, putting the State Championship squarely in the lap of Harriton’s Connie Richards and N.A.’s Tina Li, who battled into the 3rd set at 2nd singles. With all other courts empty and both teams’ players, families, and fans screaming encouragement from the sidelines, Richards’ relentless ground strokes and lightning speed proved too much for the Naval-Academy-bound North Allegheny senior, and on her third match point Richards slammed a down-the-line winner to clinch her match 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and secure Harriton’s first AAA-level State Championship.
Harriton’s AAA state tennis championship is the first for a non-Pittsburgh-area school since Lower Merion’s 2005 title. When combined with Harriton’s seven AA tennis titles (2004-2010), Harriton has won more girls’ tennis team championships than any other Pennsylvania school.
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