Soithong Wins District One Singles Bid

Senior Chirath Soithong and Sophomore Andrew Silva represented Dock Mennonite Academy in the Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) Singles Tournament at Upper Dublin Tennis Center last week.

Chirath received the 2^nd seed and a first round bye for his strong league play this season. Andrew was the 8 seed and faced Phil-Mont Christian’s Andre Suggs in an 8 game pro-set match. Silva chose the right time to play his best match of the year with strong groundstrokes and powerful serves, but came up short 8-4.

Soithong faced Delco Christian’s Jacky Wang in the Quarterfinal. After a 6-0 first set, Chirath had some ongoing wrist pain that he needed to fight through, but finished the match relatively quickly with some smart, strategic play and 6-4 win.

The Thailand native then took on Jenkintown’s Senior, James Callas in one of two semi-final matches. Chirath had his number from the first to last point. Callas was forced into many errors and mis-hits by super-consistent play from the Dock Senior. The match finished with a 6-1, 6-2 victory and a bid to the finals versus Delco Christian’s Junior stud, Matthew Levis.

The two finalists took the weekend off to heal before the final that took place on Monday at Delco Community College tennis courts. It was the warmest day of the season and the competition was equally as hot. Chirath came out his normal, consistent self with a mix of speeds and looks that threw Levis off for the majority of the set. The 6-2 set win was closer than the score showed. Soithong came out strong in the second set, looking for the league single crown, starting with a 3-0 lead. His energy quickly left him and heat exhaustion began to set in. Levis made less and less mistakes and forced Chirath to work hard. The momentum turned quickly and the Dock Senior could not string enough games together. Levis would go on to win the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Chirath will represent Dock and the BAL on Friday in the District One Tournament at the Springfield YMCA as the 5^th seed and face the 4^th seed Dom Gallo from Holy Ghost Prep.

Good luck Chirath!