Riverside singles player Karissa Ghigiarelli and doubles team of Madeline DeFaber-Schumacher and Bella Aniska each won twice Friday to advance to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Tennis Championships in Class 2A.
Abington Heights singles player Bella Peters won once to reach the quarterfinals in Class 3A before being eliminated.
The doubles team of Rina Hanumali and Susan Arp, also from Abington Heights, was eliminated in the first round.
Ghigiarelli, the 2019 state champion who is back at the Hershey Indoor Racquet Club after missing last year’s tournament with a back injury, opened with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over District 6 champion Alyssa Kush from Westmont, 6-1, 6-2.
After beating South Park’s Nicole Kempton, 6-0, 6-3, Ghigiarelli is set to play Ally Bauer from Knoch, in Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. state semifinal.
Ilana Rosenthal from Wyoming Seminary, who Ghigiarelli beat in the District 2 finals, topped Bauer, 6-1, 6-0, in last week’s state team quarterfinals.
DeFaber-Schumacher and Aniska defeated Central Cambria’s Corinne Markovich-Andie McCollough, 6-2, 6-0, then Delco Christian’s Brette Foutch-Sarah Stahl, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).
The Riverside team, which earned a bronze medal last year, will meet Conrad Weiser’s Emma Perkins-Michelle Timothy at 10:30 in Saturday’s semifinals.
Peters opened her fourth state tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kat Wang from Peters Township to make the quarterfinals. She lost there to Esha Velaga from North Pocono of Lansdale, 6-2, 6-3.
Elana Sobol and Rachel Nath from Shady Side Academy knocked out Hanumali-Arp, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round.
