Pictured above: Holy Cross swept doubles with, from left: Ray Zhang, Alex Harrison, Owen Jumper and Connor Straka. (Spencer Decker Photo)
Holy Cross did not even qualify for the last two District 2 boys tennis tournaments.
Now, the Crusaders are headed to the Class 2A semifinals after they downed North Pocono, 4-1, in a quarterfinal match at the University of Scranton as the district team tournament opened Thursday.
Second-seeded Holy Cross swept doubles, getting the first two points there before clinching the victory in the first singles match that was decided.
Alex Harrison-Ray Zhang won first doubles, 6-1, 6-1, over Reilly McCullough-Ethan Garibaldi. Connor Straka-Owen Jumper won second doubles, 6-0, 6-1, over A.J. Nemitz-Mitch DeStefano.
David Huester’s 6-4, 6-1 victory over Fred Kloss at No. 2 singles decided the match and sent Holy Cross into Tuesday’s 11:30 a.m. semifinal at Kirby Park against the winner of Monday’s Tunkhannock-at-Wyoming Area match.
Like Holy Cross, third-seeded Wyoming Area lost just once while finishing second in its league.
Christopher Martinez added a win at No. 3 singles over Nick Martin, 6-3, 6-3.
North Pocono earned its point at No. 1 singles where Pat Cawley defeated Dhiraj Baniya, 6-2, 6-1.
Dallas 4, Holy Redeemer 1
Top-seeded Dallas, the Wyoming Valley Conference champion, remained unbeaten by sweeping singles while opening its title defense with a 4-1 victory over Holy Redeemer.
Lucas Carver rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Frank Klimovitz at No. 1 singles. Luca DeRome defeated Matteo Runde, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 2 and Jon Florencio beat Lukas Runde, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 3.
Dallas also won No. 2 doubles when Stephen Miller-Artem Smagin defeated Jadon White-Alex Martin, 6-2, 6-2.
Holy Redeemer got its point at No. 1 doubles when John Tondora-Jacob Ohrin defeated Mihir Mukul-Theo Barr, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6.
