Moon freshman learns from WPIAL singles
Logan D’Angelo had realistic expectations coming into the WPIAL Class AAA singles tournament.
“Being a freshman, I wasn’t really expecting to win it all,” D’Angelo said. “I wanted to come in and have a good idea of what I was doing and play well.”
D’Angelo didn’t get the best draw in the world as Moon Area’s No. 1 singles player went into the tournament as the 16th seed and had to square off with a Valparaiso recruit in top-seeded Greater Latrobe senior Chad Kissell.
Things went according to the seeding as Kissell, a WPIAL finalist last year and this year, rolled to a fairly routine, 10-1, pro-set victory at The Club in Monroeville.
“Obviously it was tough against a kid that big with a big serve, but you kind of have to do what you’ve got to do,” D’Angelo said. “You’ve got to play as tough as you can and keep it as tight as possible and hopefully get some games. I got my one.”
D’Angelo has developed into a solid player for the Tigers. He made it to the Section 2 semifinals before losing to North Allegheny junior Jared Isaacs, then dropped a straight-sets match to Pine-Richland’s Ben Vinarski in the thirdplace consolation.
“Coming through sectionals the way he did and hanging tough to get here was big,” Moon coach Mike Lucente said.
“Playing against a kid like Kissell, he did a good job of going out and making Kissell win rather than just giving it to him and I think that’s impressive, but just coming in here is good experience for him and he stuck with the game plan and tried to put some pressure on Kissell.”
He didn’t give an inch despite the disparate score. And, though it may have been the first time the two faced each other in a high school match, the two had competed against each other in a USTA event and had some familiarity with the other’s game.
“Playing in USTA tournaments helped me to get here and I know most of the players here and I’m a little more comfortable with it,” D’Angelo said. “I think I have a pretty strong mental game and I don’t let others see my emotions and don’t let people read me. I just stay in an even flow the entire match.”
Though D’Angelo has helped Moon go to 5-1 in the section and a possible berth in the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament and is ranked No. 16 in the state among freshmen, he will not represent Moon in the Section 2 doubles tournament, which is slated to begin Monday.
Though there are many teams that would immediately insert their top two singles players as a No. 1 doubles team for sectionals and the WPIAL tournament, Lucente is not among them. He is in a staunch minority who believe that their singles players compete in singles tournaments and doubles players stay in doubles.
“Unless one of my guys gets hurt or one of my doubles teams tells me they don’t want to go, I’m sending my doubles teams to sections,” Lucente said.
“My singles players don’t play doubles, but the strength on our team is our singles players.”
Moon’s top doubles team is senior Ethan Shetty and sophomore Jaron Skow, while the No. 2 doubles team is sophomore Nikhil Maheshwari and freshman Rushmin Khazanchi.
“They’re going to see tough matches, but I think they need to see them,” Lucente said. “I think it will be a big struggle for us, but the experience they get will be invaluable.”