NEWTON TWP. — Abington Heights is a tennis juggernaut and has dominated the Lackawanna League for the last five years.
The players elevate their play and, with each challenge, continue to impress.
On Wednesday afternoon at the Abington Heights Middle School Tennis Courts, the Comets battled Holy Cross in a showdown of the two top teams this spring. Both entered the showdown undefeated, with their singles lineup also perfect in their matches.
Prayush Mallaiah, William Arp, and Brady Comstock powered past the Crusaders, 5-0, for the program’s 62nd straight league win. Abington Heights clinched a tie for the championship with a match remaining against North Pocono next week, ahead of the start of the District 2 Class 3A championship.
Abington Heights has won all 10 matches by shutout.
He may be only a freshman, but Mallaiah plays like a seasoned varsity veteran.
That’s because he is ranked sixth in the state for the Class of 2029 and is a three-star prospect by tennisrecruiting.net. Facing Holy Cross’ Alex Harrison, an All-Region player from last season and the undefeated No. 1 singles standout, Mallaiah used some strategic returns to earn a win in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
“I think I played decent today,” Mallaiah said. “I played my game. I started this season a little rocky and wasn’t confident in my shots, but I have been practicing hard.”
Last weekend, Mallaiah won a USTA Level 4 tournament in Pittsburgh, strengthening his state ranking.
“Those events are against really high-level players,” Mallaiah said. “Those give me an elevated sense of play. I played well. I was keeping the ball on the court and not missing, while making my opponents misfire on shots.”
Abington Heights junior William Arp, a two-time All-Region player, stormed out to a one-set advantage over Ray Zhang at No. 2 singles, 6-0. The two unbeatens fought back and forth, trading winners. Zhang held a pair of leads before Arp returned to his aggressive approach of the first set and earned a 6-4 win to improve to 10-0 this season.
“My goal in the first set was to come out strong,” said Arp, who has a career record of 39-5. “I thought that once I had the first set, it helped me get through some of the tough times in the second set. I had a rough patch where I wasn’t executing. I took a couple of deep breaths and got back to doing what I wanted to do.”
Brady Comstock is a towering force at No. 3 singles for the Comets. An All-Region player and District 2 champion in doubles last season, the son of coach Art Comstock, displayed a powerful serve in his battle with Alfred Betts, who was undefeated this season, 6-3, 6-2.
Comstock showed that he has adapted to the different approach needed for singles.
“I felt like when I was aggressive, I played well,” said Comstock, who moved his record to 9-0. “He is a more consistent player and gets a lot of balls back. When I wasn’t aggressive, I struggled. Singles is a different game. It is tougher on my body, and there is more strategy to it. But I do use some of my skills from doubles by getting to the net.”
Liam Farrell and his new partner, Bryce Comstock, defeated Dwalkyr Baniya and Guiseppe Pilone, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 1 doubles.
Singles: Mallaiah (AH) over Harrison, 6-0, 6-1. Arp (AH) over Zhang, 6-0, 6-4. Bra. Comstock (AH) over Betts, 6-3, 6-2; Doubles: Farrell-Bry. Comstock (AH) over Baniya-Pilone, 6-0, 6-0. Goldberg-Meyer (AH) over Gilory-Musto, 6-0, 6-1; Records: AH 10-0, HC 9-1.
Valley View 3, Dunmore 2: At Valley View, Kevin Dougher fell behind 5-0, then rallied for a 7-5 win that helped lift the Cougars to a win in the Lackawanna League.
Nick Burak had a win at No. 1 singles, and the No. 1 doubles team of Kevin O’Shea and Cooper Rawlings had a win for Valley View.
Singles: Burak (VV) over Aviles, 6-2, 6-3. Oprisko (DUN) over Giovagnoli, 7-5, 6-4. Dougher (VV) over Bautista, 6-2, 7-5; Doubles: O’Shea-Rawlings (VV) over Grande-Haynes, 6-3, 6-1. Sottile-Michalczyk (DUN) over Kissell-Badock, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10); Records: VV 8-2, DUN 7-4.