Girls' Tennis: O'Hara Heading Back to PCL Championship

By Bob Diehl, 10/07/16, 8:30AM EDT

The Lions deafeated Archbishop Wood in a semi-final match.

SPRINGFIELD, PA – As summer turns to fall, the Cardinal O’Hara tennis team finds itself in familiar territory – in the PCL Championship.

O’Hara beat visiting Archbishop Wood, 4-1, on Thursday to secure a birth in the title match for the third straight year. The Lions will face Lansdale Catholic, which defeated Archbishop Carroll in the other semi-final, on Tuesday.

“The girls worked hard throughout the summer and the offseason,” O’Hara head coach Patti Fitzgerald said. “We lost a couple key players last year - singles players and one of our first doubles, but they really got better every time they played. It’s just nice to see that it pays off. I’m excited for them.”

Cardinal O'Hara vs. Archbishop Wood

O’Hara is going into the championship with a head of steam. Not only are the Lions undefeated as a team, their top two doubles teams {Erin Hutchison and Jessica Dougherty and Mackenzie Gardler and Caroline Lynch} have yet to lose match. Singles player Nina Ji is also perfect on the season.

“I’m pretty shocked myself,” Ji said. “I didn’t think I’d be undefeated. I’ve been on the team for all four years so far, so I guess a lot of practice; come to practice every day, working hard every day.”

Gardler says her partnership with Lynch has its own secret to success: “Teamwork and talking to each other and just supporting each other all throughout the match.”

Ironically, the match of the day was the only one O’Hara lost. More than two and a half hours after the first serve, Archbishop Wood’s Kylie Corless outlasted O’Hara’s Cara Degnan in three sets.

But it’s Degnan and her sister, Anna Marie, who are moving on.

“I’m not too nervous,” Anna Marie said. “We were there last year. I was a freshman and now I’m a sophomore, so I still feel pretty confident about it. I’m excited to be back.”