HELLERTOWN - Northwestern Lehigh freshman Mallory Conner faced a familiar opponent in the District 11 Class 2A singles tennis semifinal won by Bethlehem Catholic’s Cara Magliochetti, 6-3, 6-4, on Friday morning at Saucon Valley High School.

“I actually train with Mallory sometimes, so I know her and knew it was going to be a tough match,” Magliochetti said. “It was definitely challenging.”

Down 2-5 in the second set, Conner won the next two games.

“Whenever I win, especially when I’m down, and I know that if I lose, the set is over or the match is over, my momentum sort of switches, and usually that favors me, but it doesn’t always work out,” Conner said.

While Conner had a fairly easy time reaching the semifinal round after defeating Moravian Academy’s Laura Li, 6-2, 6-2, and Saucon Valley’s Olivia Kuehner, 6-0, 6-1, on Thursday, Conner’s match against Magliochetti put the Tiger freshman on defense at times.

“Better opponent. Different atmosphere. I’ve never played here before. Cara’s more of a solid player. It’s harder,” said Conner. “Today, I couldn’t keep my ground strokes consistent. Whether that was because of me or because of her, kind of depends. I think it was probably a little bit of both. She’s good at approaching and attacking. My slice was OK.”

In addition, Northwestern’s fan base was slim compared to Becahi’s since Conner is the only tennis player for the Tigers.

“The crowd’s all against me, I can kind of tell. A lot of people were surprised that I was there [on Thursday] and that I was playing good,” she said. “I’m excited that I got to come and get the experience of it, and next year’s totally gonna be fun too.”

Conner’s parents and her coach Brian Bleam were at the district tournament, however, to support the her.

“I think she was playing a little tight, hitting the ball short, so I was trying to tell her to hit the ball deeper and extend the point out a little bit longer, but she’s highly competitive and had a really good first serve,” said Bleam. “I know Cara really wanted to win her senior year, so it was a tough match-up.”

WOULD BE NICE ... If Conner had a team to cheer for her. “She doesn’t get to practice every day with a high school team,” Bleam said.

THE OTHER 2A SEMI ... Moravian Academy’s Chessie Bartolacci defeated Notre Dame Green Pond’s Veronica Lynn, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

DISTRICT CHAMP ... Bartolacci defeated Magliochetti in the Class 2A final, 6-1, 6-3.