Courtesy of St. Joseph’s Athletics
Former Palisades High tennis players Ireland and Sophia Amato do everything together and last weekend the twins reached the doubles final in their flight at the annual Saint Joseph’s Invitational in Merion Station, PA. The Hawks juniors fell 9-8 in a tiebreaker after dropping only one game in their first two matches.
In addition to reaching the finals of the main draw in doubles with her sister, Ireland also won her singles flight, downing Loyola’s Julia Thompson 6-0, 6-1 in Sunday’s final. Meanwhile, Sophia lost in the consolation semifinals of her flight, 6-4, 6-2, to Hana Kimmey of Mary Washington.
Both twins made the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll as well as the SJU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in 2020 and 2021 and Sophia was even named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2021. Ireland is majoring in sports marketing; Sophia in business administration.
While living in the Highlands, the Amatos helped Palisades High win three City Section girls tennis titles. Ireland was the City Individual singles runner-up as a senior, rising to as high as No. 37 in her age group in the USTA Southern California rankings. Sophia took third place in singles at City Individuals and won the Sportsmanship Award.
After winning City as freshmen at Pali High the twins moved back east as sophomores and piloted their hometown Easton High Rovers to the District title and third place in the Pennsylvania state tournament. They returned to Pali High as juniors and led the Dolphins to two more City crowns, playing No. 1 and 2 singles.
Starting their third season in NCAA Division I at Saint Joseph’s University, the twins hope to continue doing what they have done consistently since the day they first picked up racquets: win tennis matches.
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