by Bill Turner
Hidden Valley ground out a tough 5-3 win over E.C. Glass in last Saturday’s rain-delayed girls tennis final to claim their second straight Group AA championship in the Spring Jubilee at Radford University.
The Titans and Hilltoppers were tied 3-3 after the morning’s six singles matches before rain and lightning delayed the start of the three doubles matches for over two hours. Hidden Valley used its experience and fortitude to wear down Glass in temperatures that hovered around 90 degrees.
After Abby Dixon and Emma Barker had secured the first doubles victory for Hidden Valley with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win over Gretchen Roberts and Emma Mortemousque of Glass, the Titans were up 4-3. Hidden Valley’s Haley Podeschi and Kim Kranau had split their first two doubles sets, leaving all eyes on Titan seniors Kristin Harter and Emily Seibert, playing on the bleacher-side court.
Harter and Seibert won the opening set in come-from-behind fashion 6-4. With momentum in their favor with every shot, the talented duo ran away with a 6-1 victory in the second set to nail down the coveted fifth point. As soon as the match point was secured, the team rushed the court to celebrate Hidden Valley’s second straight state title and second straight 18-0 record.
Harter had captured the state singles championship on Thursday and returned later Saturday afternoon with Seibert to win the state doubles championship. The triple crown gave Harter six state tennis titles in her illustrious career at Hidden Valley. Afterward, she indicated she was retiring from sanctioned competitive tennis. Harter will clearly go down as one of the most outstanding athletes in the ten-year history of Hidden Valley High School.
“This was amazing,” Hidden Valley head coach Tommy George said after the team’s win. “It was our goal from the start of the season. It was a team effort, on and off the court.”
“These were some long matches,” Harter noted on competing in three separate championships. “It was rough getting it all in with graduation Friday.”
“There was pressure, but I wanted to have fun and show what we had,” Seibert added with a big grin, clearly enjoying the moment. “We had a lot of confidence.”
