The Central Girls’ Tennis Team, led by Coach William Graham, was honored this month by the City of Philadelphia for winning the PIAA District 12 AAA Team Title for the fourth consecutive season. 

The team received a Resolution from City Council introduced by Councilwoman Cindy Bass (Philadelphia’s 8th Councilmanic District), as recognition for celebrating their impressive sweep of team, singles, and doubles championships–a feat never before accomplished in the program’s history.

Viviene P., (286) was relatively new to playing tennis before coming to Central. She played on and off from a young age but never took it seriously until a year before attending Central. Alivia G., (286) was inspired to play because her dad played NCAA Division I tennis at Morgan State University. 

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Alivia (right) is the first singles seed, and Viviene (left) plays first doubles; they credit Coach Graham’s leadership and dedication for their success as individuals and as a team.

Alivia and Viviene’s advice to their teammates and future Lady Lancers is to “have a good mentality on and off the court because Central is a demanding academic school, and it’s important to balance schoolwork and establish a good work ethic.”

In the fall, the Lady Lancers were selected by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce to introduce Serena Williams, trailblazing female tennis icon, as their Keynote speaker at their 40th Anniversary Annual Dinner. 

Viviene (pictured in the photo above embracing Serena Williams) was appreciative for “the opportunity to attend with some of my teammates–Serena’s words of wisdom remind me to keep putting in the time, work and effort not only in tennis but in other parts of my life.”

Along with recognition of Alivia’s achievements as the 2024 Singles District Champion, Lucy DeVore (287) and Ella Pogarsky (284), won the Doubles 2024 District Championship. 

Coach Graham said, “It has been a joy to work with this team because of how supportive they are of one another. The key to the success of the Lady Lancers is their strong relationship with their teammates which ultimately results in a strong connected team that supports each other to the best of their ability.”

The AACHS congratulates the Lady Lancers for their incredible achievements.

Celebrate Central. Cherish Central. Choose Central.