Downingtown East girls tennis team edged by Council Rock North in district quarterfinals

UWCHLAN — The Ches-Mont League champion Downingtown East girls’ tennis team suffered a tough 3-2 loss to Council Rock North in the second round of the PIAA District 1 3A team tournament Tuesday.

The No. 3 seed Cougars entered Tuesday’s match at Downingtown East with a 14-1 record, their only loss to Lower Merion. By winning Tuesday, Council Rock North (10-2, No. 6 seed) earned one of the four berths in the upcoming PIAA 3A state team tournament, and the Cougars were eliminated.

Downingtown East won the first two singles matches Tuesday in straight sets, and Council Rock North captured third singles, first doubles and second doubles, all in straight sets.

Downingtown East head coach Lisa Sheldon said, “It was an awesome season for our team — we were undefeated in the Ches-Mont League — but this is a disappointing loss. At the beginning of the season, this team’s goal was to go to states as a team, so I feel for our players.

“I’m proud of our players today, I feel like they all battled on the court. It was tough being two players down — our third singles player was injured, and one of our second doubles players was ill. But you keep on rolling, and we tried.”

Downingtown East freshman Brianna Litvan won 6-2, 6-1 at first singles, and Cougar sophomore Mahi Patel was victorious at second singles, 6-2, 6-3.

“I thought they both played brilliantly, with strong singles points and moving their opponents around,” said Sheldon. “I feel like they outplayed their opponents and I’m completely proud of them, especially with them being a freshman and a sophomore, they showed maturity and poise on court.”

Litvan finished second in the District 1 3A singles tournament, and will compete in the upcoming PIAA 3A state singles tourney, while Patel (along with teammate Joya Mentrikoski) won the Ches-Mont National doubles tourney last weekend and will compete in the upcoming District 1 3A doubles tournament. In addition, sophomores Maya Shankar and Isabelle Ross placed third at Ches-Mont National doubles and qualified for district doubles.

For Council Rock North Tuesday, the post-game mood was decidedly upbeat.
Council Rock North head coach Jessica Ryan said, “This is the first time in a long time that the (CR North) girls or boys tennis team has gone to states, so it’s really exciting. At the beginning of the season, we really didn’t expect to be as good as we are, but I think the key to our team is how close the girls are and how well they work as a team. Our players are so excited and they really earned this (state berth) this year.”

The individual winners for CR North Tuesday included freshman Sofia Yi, who won third singles, 6-0, 6-2; senior Lean-Ann Abraham and sophomore Xinni Wang, who won first doubles, 6-3, 6-2; and sophomore Tahmina Rahmatova and junior Ellie Bonn, who won second doubles, 7-5, 6-2.

Abraham said, “Going to states as a team feels very good and very well-deserved. The key to our match was staying positive and playing our game; we’ve been working hard for this. When we’d make a mistake in the match, we just forgot about it and kept on moving on and kept up our energy.”

With the team match tied at 2-2, the outcome came down to the final match to be completed, second doubles.

“I think the key to our match was staying positive for the entire time, and not getting down on ourselves when we’d make a mistake, keep our energy up,” said Bonn. “Going to states for the first time as a team feels great.”

Council Rock North 3, Downingtown East 2
Singles: 1. Brianna Litvan (DE) def. Avery Goesling (CRN), 6-2, 6-1; 2. Mahi Patel (DE) def. Alyce Zhang (CRN), 6-2, 6-3; 3. Sofia Yi (CRN) def. Laasya (Lucky) Puvvadi (DE), 6-0, 6-2.
Doubles: 1. Lean-Ann Abraham/Xinni Wang (CRN) def. Joya Mentrikoski/Isabelle Ross (DE), 6-3, 6-2; 2. Tahmina Rahmatova/Ellie Bonn (CRN) def. Kanakvi Pulekar/Lyla Salmon (DE), 7-5, 6-2.