Pa. Boys | Lower Merion gets into AAA quarters with tennis victory

Streaks are made to be broken, but

Lower Merion

's tennis team does not appear inclined to give up an impressive one any time soon.

The Aces advanced to the Class AAA team quarterfinals with their 43d straight team match win, a 5-0 first-round state playoff win over Manheim Central yesterday at Perkiomen Valley.

Courtney Scott at first singles and Robbie Kay at second singles both coasted. The defending state champion Aces also got a straight-set singles win from William Zhang at No. 3.

In another state first-round match, Council Rock South made a productive trip to the city with a 4-1 win over District 12 champion Central. Both Dillion Kady (No. 1) and Vadim Nevsky (No. 2) earned 6-0, 6-0 wins at singles. Central's lone win came at No. 3 singles, where Gabe Steerman defeated Josh Nickerson, 6-3, 7-5.

At ELCO, Brad Nelson rallied in the third set to beat Eric Redm, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, and give Pennsbury a 3-2 win over Cumberland Valley. Nelson, a junior, was down 5-2 in the third set.

Class AA. In a round-of-16 match at Bloomsburg University, Lower Moreland topped Masterman, 5-0. Taylor Cohen defeated Kenny Greene, 6-0, 6-1, at first singles.

Friends Schools League. Top-seeded Friends' Central coasted into tomorrow's league championship match with a 4-1 semifinal win over George School.

Noah Bachow and Brendan Kaminsky earned singles wins for the Phoenix.

Westtown

tuned up for its appearance in today's Friends Schools League semifinals with an 18-7 win at

George School

.

The Quakers got five goals and an assist from Caith McKee and three goals apiece from Mike Geiger and Irfan Somair.

Nonleague. Rob Moccia had 19 saves for Great Valley in a 4-1 win at Downingtown West.

Travis Hughes pitched a six-inning two-hitter, striking out 14, as

Conwell-Egan

won at

Cardinal Dougherty

, 10-0, in a Catholic League Northern Division game.

Penn-Jersey. Ben Margolies went 3 for 4 with two RBIs as Akiba Hebrew beat visiting Girard College, 12-5, in one league semifinal.

The win earned the Cougars a trip to the finals tomorrow against Mercy Vocational, which upset Solebury School, 11-7, in the other semifinal.

Keystone Conference. In one semifinal, Perkiomen School's Gary Romig went 4 for 5 and pitched a five-hitter in a 15-5 win over visiting West-Mont Christian.

In the other semifinal, Adam Matteo's two-hitter gave host Church Farm a 3-2 win over Christian Academy.

Church Farm travels to Perkiomen School at 3:45 p.m. tomorrow to play for the title.

Bicentennial. Steve Sable pitched a five-hitter as host Holy Ghost Prep topped Lower Moreland, 4-0, to clinch its fourth straight league title. Kevin Smeraglio drove in a pair of runs for the Firebirds (18-1, 13-0).

Central. Lower Merion clinched only its second winning season in the last 40 years with an 8-7 win over Springfield (Delaware County) as Derek Barnes doubled in Matt Siciliano with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

Jordan Miller pitched a six-hitter and has now won 12 consecutive high school games without a career loss as host Haverford High topped Marple Newtown, 12-5. Dave Cassanelli hit a grand slam and Shawn Molvie smacked a pair of solo homers for the Fords (15-3).

Inter-Ac. Tim Cooney pitched a five-hitter as host Malvern Prep nipped Germantown Academy, 3-1.

Brandon Kamin spurred a comeback that gave host

Haverford High

a 3-2 District 1 Class AAA first-round win over

Quakertown

.

After dropping the first two games by 25-19 and 15-15, the Fords moved Kamin up into a more offensive position on the floor and the Fords were able to win the last three games by 28-26, 30-28 and 15-9.