The clock struck midnight for the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s top two boys’ singles tennis players in the semifinal round of the District 3 Tournament on Monday afternoon at Elco in Myerstown.
Cocalico senior Michael Duong, the L-L League’s reigning Triple-A champ and the fourth seed in the district draw, dropped a 6-1, 4-1 (retired) decision to eventual champ John Dixon from Cedar Cliff.
Dixon, the No. 2 seed, steamrolled Dallastown’s Gavin Smith, the third seed, 6-0, 6-0 in the finals.
Meanwhile, Lancaster Catholic sophomore Alex Veronis, the L-L League’s two-time reigning Double-A champ and the third seed in the district draw, dropped a hard-fought 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 decision to eventual champ Nick Shadowen from Trinity.
Shadowen, the No. 1 seed, topped Conrad Weiser’s Tommy Meyer, the No. 2 seed, 6-4, 6-2 in the finals.
Meyer defeated Veronis in last year’s semifinal round.
But the good news for Duong and Veronis is that they each stormed back to capture third-place in their respective brackets – and earned a trip to the PIAA Tournament in doing so.
After taking a spill during his semifinal match against Dixon and retiring late in the second set, Duong came back strong in the third-place match, dropping
Chambersburg’s Daniel Mackey 6-4, 6-3.
Veronis topped Biglerville’s Matt Thomas 7-5, 6-2 in the Double-A third-place match.
The state tournament is set for May 25-26 at the Hershey Racquet Club.
In Triple-A, Duong will take on the District 1 champ in the first round, while in Double-A, Veronis is set to face the District 2 champ in the first round.
DISTRICT DOUBLES UNDERWAY: Five Triple-A and a pair of Double-A teams from Lancaster County were in action this morning in the first round of the District 3 doubles tournament at Cedar Crest. The winners advanced to this afternoon’s second round, also at Cedar Crest.
The semifinals and finals are set for Saturday at Elco.
Lancaster’s entrants in Triple-A included: Derrick Gregg and Kip Zechman, the No. 2 seeds, from Conestoga Valley; Marc Mentzer and Andy Weiner from Manheim Township; Ben Rutt and Ruslan Nurullaev from McCaskey; Shawn Newlin and Colton Brown from Elizabethtown; and Matt Stouch and Matt Raugh from Manheim Central.
And in Double-A, Lancaster Catholic has a pair of doubles’ teams: Chad DaPilla and Wes McCaskey and Rob Lyons and Pat Graver.
The top three teams from Triple-A and Double-A advance to States, also set for May 25-26 at the Hershey Racquet Club.
