Font ResizeCarlee Brumgard seems to face only York Catholic players.
The Biglerville High player opposes the Fighting Irish's Anna Spoden in the YAIAA Class AA girls' singles tennis championship at 4 p.m. Monday at South Western High School. Brumgard's last three opponents in the tournament played for York Catholic.
Susquehannock's Katie Wagner and Central York's Emily Kuhn will compete in the Class AAA championship. Wagner won last year, 6-3, 6-1, against Kuhn.
South Western's Mackenzie Bortner will play in the Class AAA consolation match against Dallastown's Emily Westenberger, and York Catholic's Maddie Kepner and Hanover's Laney Jenkins will play in the Class AA third-place match.
The top three finishers automatically qualify for the District 3 tournament. Fourth-place finishers can advance if they receive at-large berths.
Spoden and Brumgard's match Monday will be their fourth singles match against each other. They played last year in the YAIAA championship match, which Spoden won 6-1, 6-3.
"It's always fun playing against her," Brumgard said. "I think I'll be ready. (To beat her, I'll try) changing things up. Maybe go to the net and slice it, just do different things."
Added Spoden: "I can expect her to slice a lot, to hit a lot of balls back and be athletic on the court. I'm going to have to prepare for that. We know each other pretty well. It's pretty much execution, how we're hitting on that day."
The two faced
Brumgard faced a lengthy match against York Catholic's No. 3, Sarah Koury, whom she beat 6-4, 6-3, before defeating York Catholic's No. 2, Maddie Kepner, 6-0, 6-3.
"I was extremely nervous," Brumgard said. "I don't think I've been so nervous for a match in my entire tennis career."
Spoden, meanwhile, coasted to a 6-0, 6-0 win against Biglerville's Nettie Baugher in the quarterfinals before beating Hanover's Jenkins in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-3.
The final set was the first time this season a Class AA player had taken three games from Spoden in one set. Jenkins admitted to getting "wide-eyed" after her coach told her that.
"That was really cool," Jenkins said. "Personally, I find it fun because she is way better than I am. I was just trying to play as well as I could and try to get through the game. I don't think I've played as well before today."
Spoden, who said she didn't know about her streak, said the match against Jenkins prepared her to play Brumgard on Monday.
"We had some nice rallies," Spoden said. "That's good to have going into districts. There, you're going to meet players who hit the ball really well. They're going to get those balls back. You can't hit many winners straight off the serve. It's good to have that competition early on."
dpaulling@eveningsun.com; 717-637-3736, extension 139; Twitter: @DanielPaulling
YAIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday's results from the 2012 YAIAA Girls' Singles Tennis Championships at South Western H.S. (seedings and tiebreaker scores in parentheses):
CLASS AAA
Quarterfinals
Katie Wagner (1), Sus, def. Sarah Rudisill (6), NO, 6-2, 6-0
Emily Kuhn (2), CY, def. Adriana Bullaj (5), Sus, 6-1, 6-0
Mackenzie Bortner (4), SW, def. Usha Baublitz (8), Sus, 6-2, 6-2
Emily Westenberger (3), Dt, def. Jess Wernig (7), KD, 6-1, 6-3
Semifinals
Wagner, Sus, def. Bortner, SW, 6-2, 6-1.
Kuhn, CY, def. Westenberger, Dt, 6-1, 6-2.
CLASS AA
Quarterfinals
Anna Spoden (1), YC, def. Nettie Baugher (5), Big, 6-0, 6-0
Laney Jenkins (3), Han, def. Bryn Yurick (6), BeS, 6-0, 6-1
Maddie Kepner (4), YC, def. Morgan Anthony (8), BeS, 6-0, 6-1
Carlee Brumgard (2), Big, def. Sarah Koury (7), YC, 6-4, 6-3
Semifinals
Spoden, YC, def. Jenkins, Han, 6-0, 6-3
Brumgard, Big, def. Kepner, YC, 6-0, 6-3.
