HERSHEY - Greetings from Hershey Racquet Club.
The District 3 AAA and AA girls' tennis singles semifinals are about to get started.
The championship matches - and third-place matches - will begin about 30 minutes after the semifinals are complete.
AAA SEMIFINALS
Katie Wagner, Susquehannock vs. Nicole Coons, Mechanicsburg
Sruthi Kamprath, Wilson vs. Katina Jones, Penn Manor
AA SEMIFINALS
Audrey Ann Blakely, Wyomissing vs. Lil Veronis, Lancaster Catholic
Maddie Shaak, Elco vs. Anna Spoden, York Catholic
Keep checking back here for updates ...
* No. 1 seed Audrey Ann Blakely from Wyomissing downed Lancaster Catholic's Lil Veronis 6-1, 6-0. Veronis suffered an ankle injury during the first set, but continued. Just checked with her, and she said she's OK and that she will play in the third-place match.
* FYI: Top three finishers in AAA and AA today advance to the PIAA singles tournament.
* In a highly entertaining AAA semifinal, No. 1 seed Katie Wagner from Susquehannock survived Mechanicsburg's Nicole Coons 7-6 (7-4) in a first-set tiebreaker. These two are slugging it out.
* Elco's Maddie Shaak, the reigning L-L League AA champ, blanked Anna Spoden 6-0 in the first set and is closing in on a straight-set victory.
* And it's a final ... Shaak stops Spoden 6-0, 6-2. Shaak advances to her first District 3 singles final. Don't forget: Lancaster Country Day grad Julia Casselbury dominated this final the previous three years.
* Another L-L League casuality: L-L League AAA champ Katina Jones was ousted by Wilson's Sruthi Kamprath 6-2, 6-0. Jones goes to the must-win third-place match.
* Wagner vs. Coons is the last match still on the court; they're slugging it out in the second set; Wagner is up 7-6 (7-4), 4-3.
* Wagner vs. Coons is 5-all in the second. Terrific match.
* You guessed it: Wagner vs. Coons goes to second-set tiebreaker. Impressive. Feel bad for whoever loses this.
* Thankfully we're inside; it's pouring outside. Rain pelting off the roof in here. Wow.
* It's over. It's finally over: In a classic serve-and-volley match with plenty of powerful shots, Wagner survives Coons 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7) in an instant classic. Beauty.
Coming up next ...
AAA finale: Wagner vs. Kamprath.
AAA third: Jones vs. Coons.
AA finale: Shaak vs. Blakely.
AA third: Veronis vs. Spoden.
Stay tuned for those updates ...
* Blakely is making quick work of Shaak, bolting to a 5-0 first-set lead. By the way: This is Blakely's fourth District 3 AA finals appearance in a row; she lost to Casselbury in the last three district championships. Needless to say, she's extremely focused on winning her first gold.
* Just the AA matches on the court at the moment; AAA matches heading down to the hardcourts pretty soon.
* First set over: Blakely wins 6-0. Just a hunch, but assuming Shaak hasn't lost a singles set 6-0 in a long, long time. Blakely, a sweet-hitting lefty, is tough as nails.
* AAA matches starting at 2:20 p.m. Gonna be here a while.
* AA state-qualifier: Spoden over Veronis 6-2 in the first set. And in the title match, Blakely still in charge, up 2-1 in the second.
* Blakely up 4-1 in the second.
* Wyomissing senior Audrey Ann Blakely is your 2012 District 3 AA singles champ. She tops Elco's Maddie Shaak 6-0, 6-1.
* FYI: Blakely committed to Pitt last week. The Panthers are jumping to the ACC, which is one of the top women's tennis conferences in the country.
* Lancaster Catholic's Lil Veronis has been eliminated. She fell to York Catholic's Anna Spoden 6-3, 6-2 in the AA third-place match. So Spoden goes to States; Veronis, who will play Spoden tomorrow in a District 3 AA team semifinal event right back here, can now play in district doubles with her partner, Julia Davis. That twosome reached the L-L League finals last week.
* Wagner is cruising in the AAA finale; she leads Kamprath 6-0, 3-1 and is closing in on the title.
* In the PIAA AA tournament, Shaak will take on District 9 champ Maria Gismondi in the first round. The first two rounds are slated for November 2 at Hershey Racquet Club.
* Kamprath with a nice comeback; she leads Wagner 5-4 in the second. Wagner won the first set 6-0.
* Katie Wagner from Susquehannock is your 2012 District 3 AAA singles champ. She topped Wilson's Sruthi Kamprath 6-0, 7-5.
* Penn Manor's Katina Jones in line for a PIAA bid; she leads Coons 6-4, 4-1 in the last match of the day. Stick and stay.
* Jones is heading to States; she ousts Coons 6-4, 6-1 in the AAA third-place match and will play in the PIAA tournament.
* Tough first-round draw for Jones, who will get the District 1 champ in the first round of States on November 2.
Thanks for checking in from District 3 tennis ... more wrap-up coverage coming a little later.