After a strong undefeated season, junior Esha Velaga finished out strong and took home the 2021 PIAA 3A Girls’ Singles Tennis State Championship title.

Velaga won North Penn’s first tennis state title since 2018, when her sister won it. She and her sister are the only tennis girls from North Penn with a state championship.

“I have had the pleasure this year of working with NP junior Esha Velaga. Esha earned the number one singles position on the Girls Tennis team this season. [Being] Undefeated in all her league matches earned her entry into the League Singles Tournament this fall. As the number one seed in the tournament, she successfully took the League Singles Title. Esha’s personal goal of reaching the PA State tournament had begun,” Coach Renee Didomizio explained.

The outstanding player started her journey at a young age. Velaga has been playing tennis for 11 years. She started playing at age five and has competed in matches ever since she was seven years old.

“I started to get more competitive with tennis at around age 7 or 8 because I started playing in 10-and-under tournaments, and then it picked up from there,” Velaga stated.

For the state tournament, Velaga had to play two matches on Friday and two matches on Saturday. She played amazing in all of her matches and enjoyed the whole experience at states.

“It was really fun to be a part of a whole environment where everyone’s team is supporting each other,” Velaga said.

Apart from the school team, Velaga also plays for the High Performance Tennis Academy. In the states championship, Velaga competed against one of her close friends from her club team, Grace Li.

“A lot of the girls I played against were my friends so it was even more fun. It was definitely a little more relaxed playing against my friend since we both knew each other,” Velaga exclaimed.

Velaga was so thankful for the experience she had at states, and she was even more excited to bring more light to the tennis team.

“I felt really good winning states, North Penn isn’t really known for their tennis so it felt good,” Velaga said.