Unforgettable ace
FOX CHAPEL — It wasn't the first ace for Brooke Bauer and certainly won't be her last.
But it may turn out to be the most memorable one she ever hits.
With Knoch's girls tennis team in a 2-2 stalemate with Sewickley Academy, Thursday's WPIAL Class 2A girls tennis championship came down to Bauer's No. 2 singles match against Ashley Close.
Bauer slammed an ace to end a third-set tiebreaker, earning for the Knights their first ever district team championship with a 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) decision.
“When I saw that my serve was in, it was an amazing feeling,” said Bauer, a senior. “The whole team rushed out onto the court. It was such a long match and everybody was so emotional.”
The match, played on the campus of Shady Side Academy, took more than three hours to play.Bauer's teammates, Laura Greb and Emily Greb, had already won at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively.But Sewickley captured the two doubles matches.Knoch coach Nancy Conlon described Bauer's effort as “incredible.”Bauer needed a comeback to pull it off.She dropped the first set before pulling even with a win in the second.“That first set, things just weren't going her way, she wasn't in rhythm,” Conlon said. “But once she won the second, I knew she was in a good place.”Bauer admitted that her nerves got the better of her early on.“I was playing tight from the first point,” she said. “After losing, I just reset and told myself to hit the ball like I normally do.”She had never faced Close in a high school match, but the two both train at Pennsylvania Tennis Academy in Wexford.“I've played her a few times there and it's always been back and forth,” added Bauer. “I knew it was going to be a tough match.“It was so long, I was definitely running on adrenaline there at the end.”Knoch had a frustrating history with Sewickley prior to Thursday's meeting.The Panthers defeated the Knights in the state championship match last year and had bested Knoch in the WPIAL final the last three years.“But each time we played them, we got better and gained a little more confidence,” said Conlon. “We knew it wasn't going to be easy today, but we knew we could do it.“We played some Class 3A teams this season, beat Fox Chapel and North Allegheny, and that helped prepare us for the level Sewickley is at. There was a lot of pressure on the girls today. To see them rise above that, it was amazing.”Also seeing action in Thursday's match were Knoch's doubles teams of Ally Bauer/Ava Santora and Jade Nether/Lindsey Greb.In previous years, multiple WPIAL teams qualified for the state tournament. But due to COVID-19, only the district champion advances this year.Knoch's first-round match comes Wednesday at Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford against District 6 champion Westmont Hilltop.This season the Knights have earned the WPIAL singles championship (Laura Greb), the doubles championship (Brooke and Ally Bauer) and now the team title.“In the WPIAL, there's nothing we haven't done,” said Conlon. “That's pretty incredible.”
