They played a tight match during the regular season. But one didn’t even qualify for the Lancaster-Lebanon League tournament.
Now, Manheim Township will be playing for a District Three Class 3A boys tennis title after the fourth-seeded Blue Streaks surprised No. 1 Hempfield 4-1 Monday afternoon at Hempfield recCenter.
Township, which finished third behind the Black Knights and Cedar Crest in L-L Section One, will take on third-seeded Dallastown in Wednesday’s 3A final at 3:30 p.m. at Hershey Racquet Club. The Wildcats defeated Cedar Crest 3-1 in Monday’s other semifinal.
In Class 2A, second-seeded Lancaster Country Day rolled past No. 3 Wyomissing 5-0. The defending champion Cougars will take on fifth-seeded Conrad Weiser, a 5-0 winner over top-seeded Hanover on Monday, in the final Wednesday at 2 p.m. at HRC.
Township (12-2), which lost 4-3 to Hempfield April 10, got all its wins in straight sets. Peter Sanchez won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Canyon Curry was a 6-4, 6-2 winner at No. 3.
In doubles, winning at No. 1 were Jack Reynolds and Jake Palandjian 6-1, 6-2 while brothers Chris and Nate Hager took the No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-4.
Cooper Lehman won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles for the Knights (15-2).
At Lebanon, Isaac Wolfe and Nathan Meng got the only win for the second-seeded Falcons (12-4), taking the No. 1 doubles match 6-2, 6-0. No. 3 seed Dallastown (17-3), the defending 3A champion, won the other doubles match as well as No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
In a rematch of Saturday’s district 3A semifinals, the Wildcats’ Hayden Koons was leading the Falcons’ Viseth Meng 6-3, 0-1 when the match was halted. Meng defeated Koons 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday before losing to three-time champion Lehman in the final.
There was very little suspense for Country Day against Wyomissing (12-2). The Cougars (16-1) didn’t lose a game at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, and just two games at No. 2. Doubles were also in straight sets, with Andrew Yanero and Ivan Bene having the closest match, winning 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1.
Also on Wednesday, Hempfield will take on Cedar Crest at 3:30 p.m. in the third-place match at Hempfield recCenter. Both teams have already qualified for the PIAA Tournament, which will begin May 14.
