For the last seven years, the girls’ tennis team has dominated the state of Pennsylvania, taking home the championship each of those years. This year, the team has continued their dominance over the Central League.
They ended their season on October 3 with a 7-0 win over Upper Darby that put them at 13-1 for the year. This was preceded by big wins against LM (6-1) and Haverford (7-0). Coming up the team will be at Districts on October 28th and will look for another chance to go to states.
Senior Marni Blumenthal, one of the team captains, and freshman Rachel Benstock will be at individual Central League doubles on October 14th and 15th and on October 21st and 22nd the same duo will be at individual district doubles with a chance to go to the state championships. The state championships will be November 4th and 5th, and everyone on the team is looking forward to another chance to take home a state championships.
The team has done an excellent job of recovering since losing many talented graduated seniors. The 1st doubles team of Sophomore Jenny White and Junior Renee Sims have also been noted as playing very well despite this being their first year together as well as the 2nd doubles team of Sophomores Samantha Kerstein and Samantha Krouse who played together on the JV team last year. Blumenthal said that she and the other captains, Seniors Rachel Heffler and Laine Solomon are, “really happy with the team and how hard everyone is working to try to win, but having a fun time doing so”. It seems that this year could be another great year in the long tradition of excellence for the Lady Rams tennis stars.
However, one player has distinguished herself from the rest, Junior Hannah Drayton. Drayton contributed heavily to the Rams’ title last year, going undefeated in the district and state tournaments. She didn’t disappoint at the Central League Championships, taking out Jasmine Merali from Radnor in the final, 6-4, 6-3, to claim the Central League singles title. Last week, Drayton was selected as Main Line Athlete of the Week.
Of course with this much success, one must wonder what Drayton will do with her talents after she leaves Harriton. In an interview with the Main Line Times, Drayton commented, “I have a lot of colleges in mind, Navy being one of them. My brother is a sophomore at the [Naval] Academy and plays tennis for them and loves it.”
Best of luck to Hannah and the rest of the team as they try to take home another state championship.