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Lady Devils win tennis title

Courtesy photo Central Cambria won the District 6 Class 2A team tennis title. Team members include (from left): First row—Sarah Segear, Emmy Sikora, Maria Farabaugh. Second row—Julia Schaffer, Kourtney Cavalier, Taylor Mazzarella, Liza Brady.

By Jon Fleck

For the Mirror

The District 6 Class 2A girls team tennis championship went down to the final set of the final match.

Top-seeded Westmont Hilltop was looking for its fifth straight district title, but Central Cambria put an end to that streak, edging the Lady Hilltoppers, 3-2, Tuesday at ProCare Health and Fitness.

Tied 2-2 with the only the No. 2 doubles match remaining, the Central Cambria duo of Sarah Segear and Emmy Sikora fought off Maeve Milligan and Sydney Podrebarac, 7-6 (11-9), 4-6, 6-3, to clinch the school’s first team title in just the program’s third year in existence.

“It’s mind-boggling. I can’t wrap my head around it right now,” Sikora said. “My heart’s pounding. I’m shaking.”

Sikora and Segear jumped out to the early lead in all three sets, but Milligan and Podrebarac climbed their way back all three times.

Sikora and Segear scratched out a win in a first-set tiebreaker 11-9 and had a 3-1 lead in the second set. The Westmont duo rebounded to take five of the next six games and win the second set.

The third set went back and forth early before Sikora and Segear won the final three games.

“We just had to persevere. At one point during a break, our coaches grabbed us both by the hands and gave us an incredible pep talk,” Sikora said. “It was the combination of that and my partner and I keeping each other positive. They’re rivals of ours and kept pushing, but we kept pushing as well.”

Four-time D6-2A singles champ Kourtney Cavalier staked Central Cambria to a 1-0 lead with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win over Lauren Criswell. Westmont’s Lindsey Pullin evened it up with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Taylor Mazzarella at No. 3 singles.

Westmont forged ahead with a victory in the first doubles match. Sam Hong and Abby Majercsik downed Liza Brady and Maria Farabaugh, 6-4, 6-4.

The No. 2 singles match took more than 2 hours before Central Cambria’s Julia Schaffer notched a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Elle Goldblatt. After taking the first set, Goldblatt was up 2-1, but the long points and running to cover the entire court caught up to her.

“I started having problems breathing,” Goldblatt said. “It was my last team match of my senior year so I toughed it out.”

After a lengthy timeout, the match continued, but Schaffer went on to take the second and third sets.

“Elle and I are almost the same player. We’re both comfortable playing at the net. It’s just a matter of who can get their shots to land,” Schaffer said. “I bounce back quickly and regain my breath pretty fast. Endurance is one of the keys to playing tennis.”

Schaffer’s win tied the match 2-2, setting the stage for the decisive second doubles match.

“Westmont gives us a lot of trouble. They are a notoriously tough team,” CC coach Janis Stratton said. “It was excruciating sitting there watching the final match go back and forth, but the girls found a way to win.”

Central Cambria will be back at ProCare on Tuesday against District 3 runner-up Lancaster Catholic in the first round of the state tourney.

“It was tight. We did everything we could have done,” Westmont coach Dan Fregly said. “We’ve won four straight district championships and had our shot to win a fifth. We just came up a little short.”

SINGLES: 1, Cavalier, CC, def. Criswell, WH, 6-1, 6-0. 2, Schaffer, CC, def. Goldblatt, WH, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. 3, Pullin, WH, def. Mazzarella, CC, 6-3, 6-2.

DOUBLES: 1, Hong-Majercsik, WH, def. Brady-Farabaugh, CC, 6-4, 6-4. 2, Segear-Sikora, CC, def. Milligan-Podrebarac, WH, 7-6 (11-9), 4-6, 6-3.

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