The Northampton girls varsity tennis team sent two players to the PIAA District XI AAA singles tournament at Lehigh University earlier this week.

The tournament, which spans multiple rounds of elimination play, includes games at Lehigh University and Saucon Valley High School. Representing Northampton in the tournament were Grace Tepes and Liz Hozza.

Grace Tepes has enjoyed a good season this year with nine wins in singles competition throughout the regular season. Tepes squared off against Bangor’s GG Murgia in the first round of competition on Monday, Oct. 1, at Lehigh University. In two well-played matches, Tepes bested Murgia by scores of 6-3 and 6-1 to advance to the second round of play.

Tepes went on to face the eighth seeded player from Nazareth High School (Jenn Soika) in the second round also played on Oct. 1 at Lehigh University. While Tepes fought hard, she was defeated by Soika in two matches (6-1, 6-1) as Nazareth moved on to the third round to face Easton’s Elessa Jacobs, the number-one seated player in the tournament.

Northampton’s Liz Hozza had a similar experience at the singles tournament this week. In the first round of play Hozza was matched with Dieruff High School’s Vivian Soto. Hozza bested of her competition in two matches with scores of 6-0 and 6-1. The second round of play also provided Hozza with the opportunity to faceoff against a seated player, Natalie Sinai from Freedom High School. Sinai was seated third in the tournament. Hozza played a strong game, rallying in the second match to try to keep her tournament bid alive but, in the end, came up short against her opponent by scores of 6-1 and 7-5.

While the Northampton team did not move beyond the second round of play in the District XI singles tournament, they played well against some tough competitors and were proud of their accomplishments. As has been the case all season, Northampton’s head coach Kim Davis continues to be pleased with the team’s effort and their fighting spirit.

“They are a good group of kids,” Davis has commented. “They work hard and they know that’s what I expect.”

At press time, the Northampton girls were preparing for the East Penn Conference Championship tournament. Singles players Tepes, Hozza and Rosa Sharma will take the court for Northampton as well as the doubles pairings of Kasey Zelienka / Kaylee Kaufmann, Kat Beenders / Aviya DeMieri and Amekua Cesanek / Maddie Nika.

The East Penn Conference Championship tournament will be held at Pocono Mountain East on Friday, Oct. 5.