Susquehannock's Katie Wagner put on a clinic of power tennis en route to her second straight York-Adams League Class AAA singles title.

York Catholic's Anna Spoden, meanwhile, after finding herself in a strange place, trailing in a set, rallied to close out the match in straight sets and win her third York-Adams Class AA singles crown, making school history in the process.

Wagner and Spoden, champions on the outdoor courts at South Western last year, reigned once again on the indoor surface of the Wisehaven Tennis Club on Monday. Rain forced tournament officials to move the matches from South Western to Wisehaven.

Wagner defeated Central York's Emily Kuhn, 6-0, 6-4, and Spoden earned a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory

Susquehannock s Katie Wagner returns the ball on her way to defeating Central York s Emily Kuhn, 6-0, 6-4 on Monday. Wagner won her second straight York-Adams League Class AAA singles title. (John A. Pavoncello photo)
over Biglerville's Carlee Brumgard.

Wagner spent the first set smashing service winners and forehand groundstroke winners to overwhelm Kuhn.

"Six-0, crazy, I wasn't really expecting that," Wagner said. "But I think I played my best set of the season. I've gotten a lot stronger over the year. I play basketball and run track and we lift in those sports. Plus playing a lot of tennis, your arms get stronger."

Following Wagner's first-set dominance, Kuhn showed her mettle by ratcheting up the level of her play in the second set. The Central senior led 2-1 before Wagner held serve for 2-2 and then used the only service break of the set to go up 3-2. The Susquehannock junior closed the match with a service winner.

"I wasn't going to say, 'oh, it's over' (after the first set)," Kuhn said. "I'm going to keep fighting. I knew what to expect (entering the match), but I didn't execute. I was hitting to her forehand, and that's her weapon."

Wagner, who lost to Kuhn in the singles final during her freshman year, evened the score last year before winning the rubber match this year.

"They (the titles) are equally important," the Warriors' standout said. "It's just great to be No. 1 in the county."

Class

York Catholic s Anna Spoden volleys against Biglerville s Carlee Brumgard on Monday. Spoden went on to claim her third York-Adams Class AA singles crown with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory at Wisehaven Tennis Club. (John A. Pavoncello photo)
AA: Spoden is No. 1 for the third time in four years. However, she had to overcome a tenacious Brumgard to gain another championship.

"The whole match today was really nerve racking," Spoden said. "Carlee really played well. She sliced a lot, and it was particularly difficult for me to adjust."

Spoden said that Brumgard used two kinds of slices.

"She had the short, low ones, and then ones that were higher. They (the higher ones) went right to the middle of the court and died. I was often wrong footed on those, and she forced a lot of errors."

It appeared that the match would require a third set when Brumgard jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, in the second set.

"When she got up 4-1, it almost shocked me to my senses," Spoden said. "I didn't want the match to go to the third set. I had to focus on one point at a time. I had to find my way back and find my forehand."

Spoden rediscovered her outstanding groundstrokes. The shots that were sailing over the baseline earlier in the set started landing inside the line. Spoden steadied herself and consistently won the rallies to win five straight games and the match."

Spoden, who captured York-Adams titles in her freshman, junior and seniors years and finished second to her sister, Ava, in her sophomore year, is the first York Catholic player to win three league singles crowns.

"I'm really proud and happy," she said.

Dick VanOlinda covers high school sports for The York Dispatch. He can be reached at dvanolin da@yorkdispatch.com or 505-5407.