Having no ace, Mt. Lebanon girls relying on depth

Tri-State Sports & News Service

It’s easy to see why the Mt. Lebanon girls tennis team often gets overlooked.

The past few seasons, the Blue Devils have not had that big hitter and guaranteed win at No. 1 singles since Callie Frey won back-to-back WPIAL 3A titles in 2012-13 that ended a lengthy drought dating to 1996 when Shannon Rice upset defending champion Sara Riske of Peters Township.

Without that hammer at the top of the lineup, Mt. Lebanon gets passed over a bit. And the team is totally fine with that.

“I think it’s in a good way because, whenever you ask anyone about Mt. Lebanon, the first thing they say is that they’re deep because, 1 through 7, there’s not a huge difference, which is very similar to what it was last year,” Mt. Lebanon coach Paul Skrok said. “We might not have a No. 1 that can compete with [Peters Township’s Anna] Komer or [North Allegheny’s Anna] Li or a [Norwin’s Maria] Santilli, but at the end of the day, there’s not many times you’re going to win that match when you have that one strong player at the top.”

At the season’s midpoint, Mt. Lebanon came into the week 7-1 with a 3-2 loss to three-time WPIAL and PIAA 3A champion North Allegheny as its only blemish. For the past two years, the Blue Devils finished third in the WPIAL, went to the PIAA team tournament and made it to the semifinals.

“We’re looking strong and I think we’re even a little stronger than last year,” Skrok said. “I just think it’s always going to come down to that No. 3 singles and the two doubles, just like it did last year.”

It helps that the team has leadership at the top with senior Skylar Morgan, who has been to the state finals in Hershey in doubles the past two years. The team has also made the trek east for the state tournament, so almost everyone has played on a bigger stage.

“All these girls are so close and there’s not much that separates Skylar Morgan or Morgan Happe, so even though she has more experience, we’re really close in the top spot and it’s a similar situation,” Skrok said. “They’re both seniors, they’re the captains of the team and Morgan’s been to WPIALs and states before and Morgan’s been our No. 3 and it’s going to be good to get her some experience at section singles.”

Peters Township

When Peters Township defeated Upper St. Clair last week, it set the table for the regular season-finale Sept. 21 between the Indians and Mt. Lebanon.

“We have four seniors in our starting lineup and we lost to Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL tournament [consolation match] the last two years,” Peters Township coach Brandt Bowman said. “We want to make it to states and get back there again.”

Peters Township is led by Anna Komer, who is the No. 8 ranked senior in the state and is looking at several schools including Quinnipiac. Last year she qualified for the WPIAL 3A singles tournament, but is just completely rounding back into form after pursuing other sports and interests two years ago.

“She just kind of decided to set the racquet down and tried volleyball and lacrosse. Her junior year she came back and hadn’t really been training at all and she was just getting back into form,” Bowman said. “Since then, she’s been training like she used to and she’s back to where she was.”

With her leading the team, senior Alex Garcia locks up the No. 2 singles spot and sophomore Mia Hofbauer has moved up to No. 3.

Hempfield

Hempfield has been a regular participant in the WPIAL 3A girls team tennis tournament, but the Spartans have not had much to show for it in terms of staying power.

Over the past 12 years, Hempfield has qualified for the playoffs, but only once, with a 3-2 victory against Fox Chapel in 2014, did the team advance past the first round. In those other 11 appearances, the team only won five individual matches.

Earlier this week the Spartans defeated Latrobe to move into sole possession of first place in Section 1 and assured themselves of another trip to the postseason. But this time, with a veteran lineup led by seniors Maura Sackett, Annie Iezzi and Anna Pevarnic in the three singles spots, there might be a chance of a move out of the first round.

“We’ve got some tests coming up, but with the girls I had coming back and the way they’re playing, I really feel strongly we can finish this,” Hempfield coach Jerry Way said.

“I feel fortunate that I have six starters back from last year that played and started and … over the years, winning our section has been a great accomplishment.”