Montrose’ Cara Evans returns the ball to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis final at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Montrose’ Cara Evans returns the ball to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis final at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Emma Cuck returns the ball to Montrose’ Cara Evans during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Montrose’ Cara Evans serves to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis final at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Emma Cuck returns the ball to Montrose’ Cara Evans during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Sona Hanumali returns the ball to West Scranton’s Katie Fahey during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel returns the ball to Montrose’ Anna Evans during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Katie Fahey returns the ball to Abington Heights’ Sona Hanumali during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Amishi Amit returns the ball to Valley View’s Ella Swingle during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Montrose’ Anna Evans returns the ball to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Ella Swingle returns the ball to Abington Heights’ Amishi Amit during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Valley View’s Ella Swingle returns the ball to Abington Heights’ Amishi Amit during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Montrose’ Anna Evans returns the ball to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel returns the ball to Montrose’ Anna Evans during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Amishi Amit returns the ball to Valley View’s Ella Swingle during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Katie Fahey returns the ball to Abington Heights’ Sona Hanumali during the PIAA District 2 Class 3A tennis semifinals at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Montrose’ Cara Evans returns the ball to Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel during the PIAA District 2 Class 2A tennis final at Birchwood Raquet Club in South Abington Twp. Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
S. ABINGTON TWP. — Cara Evans won’t be home in Montrose to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters this year.
Instead, the junior will be down in Hershey. And no, she won’t be looking for candy, but instead, a PIAA Class 2A gold medal.
Evans used a powerful forehand and masterful shot placement to defeat Scranton Prep’s Lily Lengyel, 6-0, 6-1, to capture the District 2 Class 2A singles championship Monday afternoon at Birchwood Racquet Club.
“There is no Halloween now, but Halloween in Hershey is the best,” Evans smiled. “I feel confident heading down there. I know that (Wyoming Seminary’s) Ilana (Rosenthal) was the three-time state champion, and she was from our district. I want to show everyone what I got. There is no pressure heading down there. I want to go down there, have fun, but also, make a good impression that everyone remembers my name.”
Abington Heights’ Sona Hanumali will join Evans in Hershey, as she defeated teammate Amishi Amit in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, for top singles honors in the District 2 Class 3A singles tournament.
“It’s hard to stay in a match mentally, especially when you are down,” Hanumali said. “Winning that first set really helped me out because I kind of had a little bit of a safety net.”
Evans remembers the words of advice she received from Rosenthal’s family after losing in last year’s District 2 Class 2A final.
Two straight years, the Lady Meteor lost in the final to the Wyoming Seminary standout, one of the greatest to play tennis in District 2. Rosenthal went on to capture three straight PIAA Class 2A gold medals and is now playing at the University of Connecticut.
“After that match, I was little disappointed in myself with the score, but her parents reassured me that there were bigger things ahead for me, such as district and state titles,” Evans said. “Today, I didn’t feel any kind of pressure. My goal was to win every single point, which obviously, I know isn’t possible. But in my head, that was the mindset I wanted to enter with.”
Evans was masterful in the two-day tournament, dropping a combined two games throughout the event. She opened the day with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Scranton Prep’s Emma Cuck, who entered the match with a 19-0 record this season and 77-1 for her career, setting up a matchup of two of the top junior players in the state.
In the regular season, it was Evans who took the victory in three sets against Lengyel, while their second meeting — in the District 2 Class 2A Team Championship semifinals at Kirby Park — was halted when Scranton Prep reached the three points to capture the victory before the No. 1 singles matchup was completed.
“Lily is such a great person and opponent, and frankly, I feel like our district should send two girls to states,” Evans said. “I know that Lily would do really well down at states, too. She’s a great player. I really enjoy playing against her.”
Evans got the momentum from the championship’s opening game, breaking Lengyel on her serve and winning all four points with a blend of power forehands and timely backhands down the line.
In the first set, Evans broke the Scranton Prep junior three times, while holding her serve all three games.
“That was big for me,” Evans said of the early break. “Even when I play in these big tournaments, I always feel like the first game is good to just get the nerves out, and after that, the match has started. I had a great game plan. After every point, I just wanted to take my time and breathe, and when I had the opportunity, I wanted to hit the ball with ferociousness.”
Leading, 5-0, it was a picturesque backhand down the baseline off a Lengyel power forehand that sealed the junior’s first championship.
For Lengyel, the season continues. She’ll be one of the title contenders in the District 2 Class 2A Doubles Tournament that begins Thursday at Kirby Park, and will lead Scranton Prep into the PIAA Class 2A Team Championships that begin next week.
Hanumali wins 3A title
Hanumali knew how important the first set was. Even down, 4-1, the Lady Comets senior kept telling herself to battle.
“The first set is the most important. It’s that safety net,” she said. “I kept telling myself that if I won that first set, I was going to win one way or another. If I could come back from that deficit, I felt like I could come back from anything.”
With Amit serving for the set, Hanumali used some timely forehands, crafty angles toward the corner, and started to charge the net more, setting up easy volleys for quick points. She won the next three games, twice on Amit’s serve, to take the first set, 7-5.
It was the same formula in the third.
Tied at 2, Hanumali broke her teammate’s serve again, as she ripped off eight of nine points to take a 5-2 lead.
Serving for the match, Hanumali used a pretty topspin forehand that painted the back line to set up a deuce point. There, she used a kick-serve for the ace, and served into Amit’s body on match point to force the unforced error and seal the three-set victory.
“Something just clicked for me in that third set,” Hanumali said. “I just had to focus on the game and not about the outside factors. It was just about the shot, the footwork and getting to the ball.”
For Abington Heights, it’s the school’s eighth straight singles championship since 2018 where Bella Peters won four straight golds, and Susan Arp followed with titles in 2022 through 2024.
As for Hanumali, it’s her second district gold medal, as she partnered with Mary Booth last season to win the district doubles title.
“I am hoping I can get my picture up at Birchwood,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of success in singles with the Abington girls. It just makes me proud that we could do that.”
Originally Published: October 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM EDT