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Buck, Dincher advance to District 4 Class AA singles semis, headline area success at event

By HENRY HUBER 7 min read

On a bright, sunny Saturday at Williamsport Area High School, the best singles players in District 4 Class AA gathered to compete in the first three rounds of the district singles tournament. Plenty of area athletes were in attendance and saw varying degrees of success throughout the morning and early afternoon, with two familiar faces keeping their runs alive heading into Monday.

For the third straight year, Hughesville's Sarah Buck and Jersey Shore's Peyton Dincher advanced to the District 4 Class AA semifinals, with Dincher making it four straight appearances. As the tournament's top two seeds, No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, each saw little issue on the day, with Buck dropping one game through four sets and Dincher dropping two.

Despite the lack of losses, the pair dealt with their own respective challenges in their quarterfinal bouts.

After pulling off a clean sweep against her second-round opponent, Dincher appeared to be well on her way to going the entire day without a loss. But her quarterfinal opponent, Montgomery's Cali Barnes, was able to take multiple games off her in the second set, cutting her set lead to 4-1 and 5-2 before Dincher finished the job.

Nonetheless, it was a smooth overall showing from the senior, who took 20 straight games before surrendering a semblance of ground. Her serves and slices were difficult for both her opponents to handle, and she also gave credit to her drop shot for her success.

"I thought my day went really smooth," said Dincher. "I was just looking forward to Monday, getting there and just taking it one match at a time."

In Buck's case, her quarterfinal opponent in Danville's Gyovanna Sundaresan was able to hang with the defending champ through numerous long rallies. And after sweeping the first set, Sundaresan was able to start the second set strong, taking a 1-0 lead, before Buck took charge from there on the way to a gentleman's sweep.

Through those long rallies, she remained composed, rarely faltering within them and consistently putting Sundaresan in tough spots with her placement on both sides of the court. In dropping just one game, she improved on last year's stint, where she surrendered four through her first two matches.

"I think I played pretty well," said Buck on her day. "There were good rallies in each match, so that was good practice."

Outside of the pair, plenty of other area athletes saw varying degrees of success.

In her first year on the court, Montgomery junior Cali Barnes made it to the quarterfinals, defeating No. 7 seeded Caroline Crawford in the process. And after falling in the second round at last year's event, South Williamsport senior Livy Harvey did as well.

Against Crawford in the second round, Barnes endured the longest match of the tournament so far, a match spanning 29 games, remaining composed through its many twists and turns. Crawford battled back from a 3-2 deficit in the second to take it and managed to turn a 3-0 deficit in the third into a 4-4 tie, but Barnes was able to control the narrative from there, taking the last two games to clinch it.

"It's my first year playing tennis, so I just wanted to go out and have fun," said Barnes on her day. "It was a really hard match against Caroline, but it was fun. I didn't know what was gonna happen at the end. I was just trying to keep the ball in."

Like the aforementioned semifinalists, Harvey kicked off her tournament run with a clean sweep in the first round and carried that success into a similar showing of dominance in the second. Against Jersey Shore's Josie Gerst, she took the first five games of both sets and ultimately took the match, 6-1, 6-1.

Though she ultimately fell short against No. 4 seeded Mya Coyne (Bloomsburg) in the quarterfinals, she responded well to a rough start, shaking off a 3-1 deficit in the second and winning five of her last eight games to force a tiebreaker. Coyne would ultimately prevail there, securing the last two points to win the tiebreaker set, 7-4, but Harvey put forth an emphatic effort to put herself in that position.

"I am really happy with how I played. I think I played some of my best matches today," said Harvey. "I'm disappointed with how I ended the day, but I am really happy just with how I played in some of my other matches. I couldn't do it without my two coaches, Kent (Young) and T (Summerson)."

Both Loyalsock's players, Crawford and Gia Biacchi, took home first-round victories, with Crawford laying it all out on the line in her three-set bout against Barnes. And Jersey Shore's Josie Gerst, Hughesville's Annaka Bruder, Muncy's Leah Vest and North-Penn Liberty's Annabella Johns also secured a win on the day.

"I tried my best," said Crawford when discussing her effort. "It doesn't always work out how you want, but there's always time to improve."

For those with remaining tournament life, the focus is clear.

Dincher and Buck are heavily decorated when it comes to the District 4 Class AA singles tournament. Dincher has made each of the last three finals, winning it all in 2022, and Buck has advanced to each of the last two, defeating Dincher in the most recent title. With that in mind, each looks to pull off the repeat to close out their careers at the event.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Dincher when asked about her expectations heading into Monday. "I definitely want to win it all and repeat what I did my sophomore year."

"I feel pretty good about it," said Buck. "It's probably going to be a fairly difficult match, but I'm going to try my best."

Though there's plenty of potential for the pair to match up for the third straight time in the title game, each has to overcome tough opponents to make it there.

Buck is set to face off against No. 4 seeded Mya Coyne of Bloomsburg and Dincher will face No. 3 seeded Josie Bendle of Danville, with those matches set to begin at 1 p.m. on Monday at the Central PA Tennis Center.

The last time the two faced off was just over a week ago, with the match going to three sets and Buck coming out on top. If it comes down to it, each storied player feels prepared for the potential rematch.

"I'm sure it'll be a very good, close match," said Buck on the prospect.

"Just get the win and play as long as it takes," said Dincher. "I took her to three sets this year. I'll either just make less mistakes or make her move."

DISTRICT 4 CLASS AA SINGLES TOURNAMENT

FIRST ROUND

Gia Biacchi, Loyalsock, def. Morgan Traver, Mifflinburg, 6-2, 6-1; Gyovanna Sundaresan, Danville, def. Nadin Alderfer, Towanda, 6-1, 6-1; Kyleigh Snyder, Milton, won by default; Livy Harvey, South Williamsport, def. Carly Hall, Montgomery, 6-0, 6-0; Josie Gerst, Jersey Shore, def. Taylor Shannon, Muncy, 6-1, 6-1; Natalia Taylor, Central Columbia, def. Jill Stone, Montoursville, 6-0, 6-2; Annaka Bruder, Hughesville, def. Olivia Gage, Wellsboro, 6-2, 6-1; Annabella Johns, North-Penn Liberty, def. Christine Zheng, Lewisburg, 6-2, 6-0; Rihanna Baker, Central Columbia, def. Elsa Kehrer, Montoursville, 6-2, 6-2; Caroline Crawford, Loyalsock, def. Lainey Alderfer, Towanda, 6-1, 6-3; Cali Barnes, Montgomery, def. Kyle Haines, Selinsgrove, 6-0, 6-0; Leah Vest, Muncy, def. Emma McLaughlin, 6-4, 6-0.

SECOND ROUND

Sarah Buck, Hughesville, def. Gia Biacchi, Loyalsock, 6-0, 6-0; Gyovanna Sundaresan, Danville, def. Kyleigh Snyder, Milton, 6-0, 6-0; Livy Harvey, South Williamsport, def. Josie Gerst, Jersey Shore, 6-1, 6-3; Mya Coyne, Bloomsburg, def. Natalia Taylor, Central Columbia, 6-1, 6-3; Josie Bendle, Danville, def. Annaka Bruder, Hughesville, 6-1, 6-2; Rihanna Baker, Central Columbia, def. Annabella Johns, North-Penn Liberty, 6-2, 6-1; Cali Barnes, Montgomery, def. Caroline Crawford, Loyalsock, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Peyton Dincher, Jersey Shore, def. Leah Vest, Muncy, 6-0, 6-0.

QUARTERFINALS

Sarah Buck, Hughesville, def. Gyovanna Sundaresan, Danville, 6-0, 6-1; Mya Coyne, Bloomsburg, def. Livy Harvey, South Williamsport, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); Josie Bendle, Danville, def. Rihanna Baker, Central Columbia, 6-0, 6-1; Peyton Dincher, Jersey Shore, def. Cali Barnes, Montgomery, 6-0, 6-2.

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