Moravian Academy was crowned District XI Class 2A Girls Team Tennis Champion last Thursday and Bethlehem Catholic took the silver medal, when the Lions defeated the Golden Hawks, 3-0, at Lehigh University.

Wins at two singles where Francesca Bartolacci defeated Taylor Adams, 6-1, 6-0, at three singles where Jamilie Atiyeh defeated Isabella Bautista, 6-3, 6-3, and at two doubles where Sophia Brandis and Grace Wright defeated Maddie Lennert and Ava Burkart, 7-6, 6-0, were enough for the Lions’ team victory.

Two other matches were still playing.

“Cara (Magliochetti) was playing well, and I was sure we were going to win that match,” said Becahi coach George Harmanos. “It was tough for Taylor against Chessie because she’s the best player of everybody, and Bella hardly ever lost. Both of our doubles competed well.”

Becahi’s Patty Superka and Grace Hartman were ahead of Yan Yu and Kanchan Gupta, 6-4, 2-6, 3-1.

“I think, overall, Grace and I played a really, really great match,” Superka said. “One of the rallies was at least 20 balls, and we won it. They played both back, so whenever they hit us a volley, we would hit an angle shot.”

With both players from Moravian playing back, Coach Harmanos advised Superka and Hartman on how to approach that.

“There are certain things you can do, so we were going over some of our strategies to deal with that more effectively, and Moravian did that a lot,” said Harmanos. “You usually don’t see that at one doubles, but it works effectively for Moravian.”

Superka and Hartman were disappointed that the team match ended before they finished at one doubles.

“It’s a little disappointing, but we were really consistent and kept our cool,” said Hartman. “I think today, I was much more consistent at the net. I tried to be aggressive and put it away because Moravian Academy is aggressive as well, and I wanted to match their energy and pace on the shots. Patty would put away the shots. We would set each other up, and it was a really great dynamic today.”

At one singles, Magliochetti won the first set against Isabella Bartolacci, 6-4, and was serving in the second set, 1-2.

“We did a lot better than I was expecting,” said Harmanos, who started the season with several newcomers and not a lot of depth. “We had Ava at second doubles, a freshman who never really played tennis before, and she did an awesome job. Isabella Bautista moved up from number four doubles and had a great season at three singles.”