Elk County Catholic senior Kaitlyn Geci repeated as the D-9 Champion in AA with a 6-1, 6-4 win over St. Marys' Kelsey Hansen.
The path to the championship was a little longer in AAA. Rain suspended play in the opening round on Wednesday, forcing the conclusion of the semifinals to be delayed.
When it was all said and done, DuBois' Molly Hobba prevailed as the D-9 Champion in AAA after she defeated Punxsutawney's Emily Graffius in the finals, 6-2, 6-1.
"The win means a lot after working so hard in Sykesville to get the court time in and for it to all pay off now," Hobba said. "I want to thank my uncle and everyone on the DuBois tennis team for making this a good season."
"I am so proud of Molly right now," DuBois head coach Jackie Norris said. "She fought very hard and played a tough match today. I was interested to see how she (Molly) did against Emily. This was the first time they met in a match and she did wonderful."
Hobba quickly took the lead after breaking Graffius' service twice to go up 3-0 in the first set. Graffius answered back though, taking the next two games after the first one went to deuce, and the second going to deuce no. 2 before Graffius, who was the runner up from last year, won the set.
However, 3-2 was the closest Graffius would get to the lead. Hobba won her serve and she followed with another win to go up 5-2 in the set.
Hobba took a 30-0 lead in the final game, but Graffius forced the game to deuce. Unfortunately for Graffius, her luck ran out and Hobba took the game to win the set, 6-2.
It didn't take long for Hobba to build a comfortable lead in the second set. She took four straight games before Graffius one a set to make it 4-1.
Hobba won her serve to extend her lead, and she quickly got to match point on Graffius' serve. Graffius battled back from love 40 to force the game to deuce. After Hobba gained the advantage, Graffius returned Hobba's forehand shot into the net to end the set and match.
"Molly doesn't make a lot of mistakes and people say it is like playing against a wall," Norris said. "She hits everything back. Both girls played a tough match. I think it benefited Molly to finish the semi's quickly and that it helped her warm up and prepare for this match."
In the AA Finals, Geci had little trouble in the opening set before being challenged by Hansen in the second.
After both girls won their opening serve, Geci began to pull away. She broke Hansen's serve to go up 3-1, and the fifth game went to deuce, before Geci gained the advantage. Geci hammered a forehand winner to go up 4-1, and she eventually won the first set, 6-1.
The second set was tightly contested. Geci won the first two games before Hansen countered with two wins of her own to tie things up.
Hansen and Geci traded games again, as Geci took the next two to build a 4-2 lead, but then Hansen tied the set up again at four.
Geci regained the lead though when she broke Hansen's serve. Hansen forced deuce on Geci's serve, however Geci gained the advantage and Hansen fired a shot in the net to give Geci the set, and match.
"Kelsey is a good player and it was hard playing her for the third time this season," Geci said. "It was tougher to repeat this year compared to last year's win. "I really worked hard this year and improved on my forehand."
"This is a very satisfying and gratifying win," Elk County Catholic coach Gordon Daghir said. "My hat is off to Kaitlyn for her consistency. She is such a joy to watch and she seems to know where the ball is going before it leaves the opponents' racket. She anticipates so very well.
"I have always admired Kelsey's tennis ability and her mental game is superb," Daghir said. "She has a polished stroke and has a lot of well placed shots."
Hobba and Geci will now advance to play the PIAA State Tournament.
Note: Hobba defeated Punxsutawney's Keisha Farnsworth in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-0. The first set was tied at 3-3 with Farnsworth trailing in the game, 15-30, when play continued on Wednesday. Graffius came back to defeat Bradford's Hilary Digel to advance to the finals. Graffius trailed 4-1 with the game tied at 15 when play continued on Wednesday, but Graffius bounced back to with the match, 6-4, 7-5. Geci defeated St. Marys' Renee Total last season, 6-1, 6-0, to win her first singles championship.
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