The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

The Harriton Banner

The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

The Harriton Banner

The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

The Harriton Banner

Harriton’s Dynasty Continues

Harritons+Dynasty+Continues

During the last few weeks of October at Harriton, we’ve come to accept some events as commonplace. We know we can always count on Spirit Week to be the talk of the school until Halloween. We know about the annual Powder Puff football game and the endless hype leading up to it. Now, in 2009, it may be safe to add a girl’s tennis victory at states to the list. While you were busy preparing for Halloween, the team secured its sixth straight state title in dramatic fashion despite being pushed to the final set. The team endured this fate and lived to tell the tale not once but twice, in both their semifinal and final matches. It’s safe to expect nothing less from what has become the most dominant Ram sports teams in recent memory.
In retrospect, it’s difficult to believe that anything the Rams could have done at states would’ve topped their predecessors’ performance in 2008. Last year, the Rams were faced with a challenge. They had only two returning players from the team that had taken home the title in 2007 and an injury to another key member, the team not only won the state championship, but also stormed through each and every one of its opponents. From the qualifying matches to the championship, not one team put up more than a single match against the Rams. The team members and coach Jack Ladden praised the way underclassmen stepped up to fill the shoes of the departed upperclassmen, a trend that would have to be continued for the Rams to seek out an unheard of sixth consecutive title.
As expected, the 2009 season began exactly the way Ladden had prophesized. The seven-spot varsity team had two slots occupied by underclassmen, coincidentally the same number of seniors the team had lost (captains Casey Robinson and Anna Matlack). From the September 1st opener against Penn Charter, the Rams wasted no time in displaying the firepower of the previous five teams, racing out to an undefeated start in its first nine matches. While there were a few roadblocks in the path as the team gelled, namely against league foes Radnor and Conestoga on unfriendly courts, the Ram players were able to once again find themselves in the District 1 Championships at the conclusion of the regular season. Facing a dangerous Lower Moreland squad, the girls needed a strong showing from their doubles competitors to pull out the 3-2 victory. The pairings of Taylor Spencer and Megan Woolbert and Laura Walzer and Renee Sims breezed past their opponents in straight sets to keep the Rams’ outstanding streak of nine straight District Championships alive.
A week later the team found itself treading familiar ground, preparing for the state qualifying match, played locally, to earn the right to take the trip to Hershey for states. However, the girls were well aware this go-around would be considerably tougher than the overwhelming victories of previous years. As junior Jennie Shulkin put it, “While everyone seems to believe that Harriton tennis has won easily for the past six years—almost like a God-given right—this definitely was not the case this year.” Ladden, praised by team members for having a supportive attitude combined with a penchant for winning, even provided an unusual motivational tactic before the team took the court against York Catholic. The numbers one through four had been written on a clipboard, each representing a match the team would have to win before they could call themselves state champions for the sixth straight time. In the opening round, a comeback singles victory by Shulkin was the turning point in a 3-1 victory much closer than the statistics showed. The second quarterfinal round, against Greensburg Central Catholic, went much more smoothly. Harriton triumphed 5-0, flawlessly winning each of the three singles matches and two doubles matches.
The team’s biggest test of the season came in a semifinal rematch against Sewickley Academy. The Rams had beaten Sewickley with relative ease in the 2008 semifinals, leaving the Panthers, who had lost just four matches all year, playing for revenge. It showed in the opening two singles matches, in which the Panthers prevailed and left Harriton dangling dangerously on the verge of elimination. Needing three straight victories to win the match, the Rams rallied around an impressive comeback from Walzer and Simms and finally sealed the match with a nail-biter of a final set from Spencer and Woolbert. A short break ensued, in which the Rams received words of motivation from Ladden and the captains, whose main advice was “Get off to a good start, stay focused, and keep your feet moving.” With the score tied 2-2 against Quaker Valley and the state championship on the line, sophomore Marni Blumenthal won an exhausting tiebreaker in the freezing cold of Halloween night and gave Harriton its sixth state title in a row. Having finally achieved the goal they had pursued so determinedly throughout the season, the Rams rushed the court in celebration of yet another successful year.
As October has come and gone, it’s tough not to be taken aback at the sheer enormity of the team’s feat. Even beyond the team effort of the Rams, Shulkin, Blumenthal, and senior Morgan Frechie have competed individually at Hershey on November 6th. Few schools in the region can boast to have a team nearly as accomplished or playing on as high a level as the girls have been for the past six years. Perhaps we don’t need a tradition to commemorate the dynasty-like achievements of the girl’s tennis team. After all, they seem perfectly capable of creating tradition on their own.

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

All The Harriton Banner Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *