CC tennis goes about its regular business … another title trophy | News, Sports, Jobs

Courtesy photo
Members of the district champion Central Cambria girls tennis team include (from left): Ireland DeBalli, Kat Kubat, Daisy Smith, Madison Dietz, Lydia Paskowski, Taryn Ream, Chloe Sandoval, Hannah Handlon, Samantha George.

EBENSBURG — When Jeff Livermore and Jim White took over as associate head coaches of the Central Cambria High School girls tennis team this fall, they took over a program that had won a District 6 Class 2A team championship last season.

That situation can sometimes create a little bit of pressure to live up to expectations for both the coaches and players, but instead, this year’s Central Cambria team approached its title defense with a sense of calm but deliberate resolve.

That resolve paid off handsomely Thursday afternoon at the Ebensburg Tennis Center, when top-seeded Central Cambria won its second straight district team title with a 5-0 championship victory over second-seeded Westmont Hillltop.

Central Cambria, which now boasts a 15-4 season record, earned the right to advance to state competition on Tuesday, Oct. 21, when the Lady Devils will host the second-place team from District 3 in a first-round match.

“As a team, I don’t think that we thought much about the need to repeat this year,” Livermore said. “The players just worked hard to get better every week. We had a number of good wins during the regular season, and we earned the number one seed for this tournament, so we hoped to continue what we accomplished during the regular season in the district tournament.

“Westmont is a really good team that deserves a ton of credit,” Livermore said. “Our girls were ready to compete today. It was a very competitive match, and we’re obviously happy with the win.”

Lydia Paskowski, the only senior on this season’s Central Cambria team, got the ball rolling for the Lady Devils by defeating Westy junior Isabella Parrish, 6-2, 6-3, in the number one singles match. At number two singles, junior Taryn Ream outlasted sophomore Lilly Evans, 6-4, 7-5, and in the number three singles match, junior Madison Dietz topped sophomore Sophia Dixon, 6-4, 6-2.

Central Cambria’s two young doubles tandems also held up their share of the bargain with victories. In the number one doubles match, the Lady Devils team of sophomore Kat Kubat and freshman Ireland DeBalli scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over the Westmont team of senior Caridy Arnold and junior Anne Dill. In the number two doubles match, Central Cambria’s sophomore team of Chloe Sandoval and Daisy Smith logged a 7-5, 7-5 victory over the Westmont senior team of Addison Arnold and Allison Buettner.

Paskowski won a District 6 2A singles championship two weeks ago, and said that she rode that momentum to her victory Thursday.

“I think that winning district singles gave me more confidence going into today, and I played a pretty good solid match today,” Paskowski said. “My serves were good, my slices were good. Overall, it was just a pretty good match for me today.”

Livermore said that Paskowski has been a leader for this year’s team.

“Lydia has just played a really high level of tennis all season,” Livermore said. “She’s good with a variety of her shots, and she’s a really intelligent player. She got our first win to get us on the board today, and I think that was important in getting our momentum going.”

Ream won a hard-fought match with Evans in the number two singles bout.

“I had never played against her before today, but I knew that she is a good player because I’ve seen her play at events and clinics,” Ream said of Evans. “It was important for me to stay positive because it was a close match. I knew that if I didn’t stay positive, I would end up messing up.”

Like Paskowski and Ream, Dietz also won her number three singles match in straight sets.

“I felt really good today – it was the best that I played all year,” Dietz said. “I had confidence and trust in my shots today.”

Livermore said that both Ream and Dietz have been strong contributors on this year’s team.

“Taryn and Madison are both juniors, but this is really the first full season playing singles for both of them,” Livermore said. “Both of them had good records during the regular season, and the Westmont players that both played today are very good.

“Those matches were challenges and battles, and both Taryn and Madison played very well to win those matches today,” Livermore said.

The Central Cambria doubles teams of Kubat and DeBalli at number one doubles and Sandoval and Smith at number two doubles helped add an exclamation mark to Central Cambria’s victory. Both teams scored straight-set wins.

“Our doubles teams are both very young, and this is the first year for both of them playing together,” Livermore said. “They were focused on working on their shots, working on their techniques, and achieving continual improvement this season. For both teams to come through with victories today is really impressive.”

Central Cambria hopes to continue its success when it begins state competition in 12 days.

“We feel really good about both our singles players and doubles teams,” Livermore said. “We believe that they all can compete very well, and that we’ll give a battle to whoever we play at the state tournament.”

Central Cambria 5, Westmont Hilltop 0

SINGLES: 1, Paskowski, CC, def. Parrish, 6-2, 6-3. 2, Ream, CC, def. Evans, 6-4, 7-5. 3, Dietz, CC, def. Dixon, 6-4, 6-2.

DOUBLES: 1, Kubat-DeBalli, CC, def. C. Arnold-Dill, 6-4, 6-2. 2, Sandoval-Smith, CC, def. A. Arnold-Buettner, 7-5, 7-5.

Records: Westmont Hilltop (12-3); Central Cambria (15-4).