Upper St. Clair’s top player will not play with team
Tri-State Sports & News Service
There is still an outside chance that Marlo Schiffman will win a WPIAL Class 3A tennis singles title before she graduates. Only it won’t be this year. On Monday, the Upper St. Clair rising junior confirmed via text message that she will not play for the Panthers team this season. Schiffman declined an interview request to comment further.
“I kind of assumed she wasn’t going to play because she usually talks to me ahead of time and that’s why I figured she wasn’t going to play,” Upper St. Clair coach Renee Villani said. “I have a lot of depth, so hopefully we’ll do well.”
Last year, Schiffman attempted to play in the Section 4 singles tournament in order to qualify for the WPIAL finals but was turned aside by the district, which ruled her ineligible because she did not compete in at least six of the Panthers matches during the regular season. As a freshman, Schiffman pulled off three upsets in the tournament and came from the No. 10 seed to finish second in the WPIAL to Norwin’s Maria Santilli before being eliminated in the first round of the state finals by two-time state runner-up Eliza Askarova of George Washington.
Schiffman is currently ranked as the No. 4 junior in the state and No. 3 in her class in the WPIAL behind Fox Chapel’s Charlotte James and Baldwin’s Bethany Yauch. James is a twotime WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A doubles champion for the Foxes where she paired with James Madison University rising freshman Amanda Nord, while Yauch finished third in WPIAL Class 3A singles as a freshman after losing to Schiffman, 6-0, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Yauch did not compete in either the WPIAL singles or doubles tournaments last season after she underwent an appendectomy and was not medically cleared.
Without Schiffman moving in and out of the lineup, though, it will be easier for Upper St. Clair to fix its players’ positions before the regular season opens Aug. 20.
“We’re a team rebuilding and I still have a lot of new freshmen that are coming up that are still playing in tournaments,” Villani said. “I don’t have someone like Marlo coming in or anyone national like that, but it will probably be another year or so where we’ll have a lot of depth.”
One of the key pieces for Upper St. Clair will be Anna Rush, who took over as the team’s No. 1 player last year at matches when Schiffman was absent. Rush is currently ranked No. 29 in the state among rising sophomores, but struggled a bit in 2017 when she was thrust into the top spot.
“She kind of lost the drive she had and she knew that,” Villani said. “I haven’t seen her here on the courts, but I know she’s training somewhere else.”
Knoch
Laura Greb was something of an unknown commodity when she stepped into the role as No. 1 singles player at Knoch as a freshman.
Now, heading into her sophomore year with the Knights, she is anything but a mystery.
Greb, who left for North Carolina on Tuesday for one final tune-up tournament, will enter the high school season as the defending WPIAL Class 2A singles champion after her 6-4, 6-1 upset of top-seeded defending champion Katherine Marks of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
“There’s going to be some pressure because I feel like I have to do well again,” Greb said. “I’ve definitely improved my net game and volleys overall. I’ve been working on that a lot lately and it’s gotten a lot better.”
Greb was also the state runner-up a year ago, but wore down a bit in a grueling 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) loss to Brenna Magliochetti of Bethlehem Catholic. Making sure she’s in it for the long haul has been one of the focuses of her offseason workouts.
“I needed to add some stamina and be able to last longer, especially when you’re playing someone that’s tough and hits almost every ball back” Greb said. “At practice they incorporate running and strength drills like that and I sometimes do stuff on my own at home.”