The Hollidaysburg Lady Tigers are Hershey-bound.
Again.
The Lady Tigers advanced to the Elite Eight of the PIAA Class AAA team tennis tournament by blanking DuBois, 5-0, in a first-round match Tuesday afternoon at the Leopold Center.
Coach Brian Denis' District 6 champions had little trouble with their District 9 counterparts and swept all five matches in straight sets.
Mariah Turiano, recovering from a wrist injury that sidelined her three weeks of the season, beat DuBois' Kristina Torretti, 6-0, 6-0, to set the tone for the Tigers.
Marissa Lanzel and Susie Ellis also won in singles while the teams of Alyssa Kustenbauder and Nur Cardakli and Sierra Cobler and Alyssa Pheasant were winners in doubles play.
Turiano, who won the District 6 singles title in 2011, suffered a fracture in the ulna [forearm bone] that forced her to the sidelines for a couple weeks in early September.
"I got [the injury] from playing tennis," Turiano said. "I was using a new, heavier racquet, which I thought might have been the cause, but it actually was from overuse and overplaying.
"[Injury] put me out of district singles and doubles," Turiano said. "I got back to playing the last week of September. I'm about 70 percent now, but it's healing and is going to take time.
"I'm looking forward to Hershey and competing there, though."
This will be Turiano's fifth trip to states - four times in the team division and once in the singles.
Ellis, Kustenbauder and Cardakli, in addition to Turiano, will be competing in team play for the fourth straight year.
"Our seniors have put in a tremendous amount of work," Turiano said. "Our whole team is very dedicated to the sport, and we have great coaches."
"Awesome," Denis said of the team's fourth straight trip to Hershey.
"This was our goal at the beginning of the year and is pretty special to these four seniors," he said. "It caps an outstanding career with these four straight [team] victories.
"They've put in a lot of hard work, and this is icing on the cake."
Hollidaysburg will face District 1 fourth-place finisher Conestoga, a 4-0 winner over District 3 champ Manheim Township on Tuesday, at the Hershey Racquet Club at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"Our goal is to improve on our first three times there," Denis said. "Last year, we had some competitive scores and, looking at the draw, this is probably the most favorable draw we've had.
"But, at this level, when you only have eight teams left in the state, there are some quality teams," he added.
DuBois coach Doug Straub was proud of his team's play.
"If you look at the scores, it doesn't look like it was competitive," he said, "but a lot of the games went to deuce and I'm proud of them."
SINGLES: 1, Turiano, H, def. K. Torretti, 6-0, 6-0; 2, Lanzel, H, def. A. Torretti, 6-1, 6-0; 3, Ellis, H, def. Newcamp, 6-1, 6-2.
DOUBLES: 1, Kustenbauder-Cardakli, H, def. Anand-Wenerd, 6-2, 6-1; 2, Cobler-Pheasant, H, def. Adamson-Smith, 6-0, 6-3.
Records: DuBois (13-4), Hollidaysburg (19-0).
