Beaver's Holiday battles way to fourth-place finish in WPIAL girls' tennis
Beaver senior Raquel Holiday faced a tough road at the WPIAL Class AA singles tournament.
Holiday opened the tournament with South Park’s Chelsea Carter, the No. 4 seed. But Holiday won an 11-9 thriller that took over two hours. Due to the length of the match, Holiday had just 15 minutes in between her first match and her quarterfinal match with Samantha Gohh of Sewickley Academy.
Gohh jumped out to leads of 4-1 and 7-2, but then Holiday turned it all around. The senior scored eight straight points to advance to the semifinals.
“She was tired at the start of her second match, but she finally got her energy back there at the end,” Beaver coach Riley Baker said. “She wasn’t going to give this up. She has a lot of determination. She’s that type of player. She doesn’t get down on herself when she’s learning.”
Holiday met the prohibitive favorite, Quaker Valley’s Spencer Caravaggio, in the semifinals and lost 6-0, 6-0. But she still had a chance to reach states if she could win her consolation final against No. 2 seed Sydney Miggantz of Sewickley Academy. Holiday came out and won the first set 6-3, but Miggantz took the last two sets by scores of 6-3, 6-3, to take third place.
Holiday will now have to try and qualify for the PIAA Class AA doubles tournament, which she did last season with partner Cassidy Griffin. This year, Holiday will play with Mattie Taylor, the team’s No. 2 singles player. The Section 2-AA doubles tournament starts today.
Holiday opened the tournament with South Park’s Chelsea Carter, the No. 4 seed. But Holiday won an 11-9 thriller that took over two hours. Due to the length of the match, Holiday had just 15 minutes in between her first match and her quarterfinal match with Samantha Gohh of Sewickley Academy.
Gohh jumped out to leads of 4-1 and 7-2, but then Holiday turned it all around. The senior scored eight straight points to advance to the semifinals.
“She was tired at the start of her second match, but she finally got her energy back there at the end,” Beaver coach Riley Baker said. “She wasn’t going to give this up. She has a lot of determination. She’s that type of player. She doesn’t get down on herself when she’s learning.”
Holiday met the prohibitive favorite, Quaker Valley’s Spencer Caravaggio, in the semifinals and lost 6-0, 6-0. But she still had a chance to reach states if she could win her consolation final against No. 2 seed Sydney Miggantz of Sewickley Academy. Holiday came out and won the first set 6-3, but Miggantz took the last two sets by scores of 6-3, 6-3, to take third place.
Holiday will now have to try and qualify for the PIAA Class AA doubles tournament, which she did last season with partner Cassidy Griffin. This year, Holiday will play with Mattie Taylor, the team’s No. 2 singles player. The Section 2-AA doubles tournament starts today.
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