Middle advances to South Jersey title match for first time in nearly three decades

Posted: October 10th 2024

Middle Township's girls tennis team has reached the South Jersey Group II title match. Pictured are (from left): Maria Sakoulas, Ella Leahy, Brenna Bussinger, Fiona Gale, Lyndsey McDevitt, Ava Hope, Ava Rusko.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

The red-hot Middle Township High School girls tennis will play for a South Jersey championship on Tuesday.

The Lady Panthers, the No. 3 seed in the South Jersey Group II Tournament, rolled to a 5-0 victory over No. 10 Barnegat in Thursday’s sectional semifinal match.

Middle, coached by Jeanne Donohue, will play at top-seeded Haddonfield for the South Jersey title on Tuesday.

The sectional championship match appearance is Middle’s first since 1996, when the program finished as state Group II champions.

Middle (13-6), which won all five matches against Barnegat in straight sets, won its seventh straight match and for the eighth time in nine matches.

Brenna Bussinger led the way for Middle against Barnegat. The senior won her first singles match without dropping a game. The victory was the 50th of her career.

BRENNA BUSSINGER

Maria Sakoulas (second) and Ella Leahy (third) also won singles matches in straight sets.

At doubles, Middle’s first team of Fiona Gale and Ava Hope and its second doubles team of Lyndsey McDevitt and Ava Rusko were also straight-set winners.

Middle will face a tall task on Tuesday at Haddonfield (17-4), which traditionally features one of the best small-school girls tennis programs in the state.