Winning in doubles key to possible team title for South Park

The past three times the WPIAL Class 2A team tennis tournament was held, there were three teams that made it to the semifinals each year.

Indiana is not a surprise. The Little Indians are the defending champions after winning their first two titles in 2019.

Quaker Valley? Well, the Quakers have a storied program and, prior to Sewickley Academy going on its 15-year title streak from 2004-2018 before the Panthers moved up to Class 3A, they were the last school to have won a team title.

And South Park. The only one of the three never to have won a WPIAL title.

Yet the Eagles could have a few surprises in store for the rest of the classification

Tennis notebook

this season.

“I think we have a shot to go pretty far in the playoffs this year, just seeing what we did at section singles this year,” South Park coach Dawn Kempton said. “We’re a pretty deep team and I just expect them to go far.”

Though South Park has made it into the WPIAL semifinals the past three times it qualified, that is as far as it has gotten. In 2017 and 2018 the Eagles were defeated, 5-0, by Sewickley Academy and, in 2019, they dropped a 5-0 decision to Quaker Valley.

This year, though, South Park brings back almost its entire team from that 2019 loss to the Quakers when, as a No. 3 seed, it lost to No. 2 in the semis. That was also the highest seed the Eagles had earned in their three appearances.

“We can make that next step, but we have to come through with key matches, winning at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, especially as we get deeper into the playoffs,” Kempton said. “Quaker Valley and Valley, I’m interested to see what their lineups look like going in, but winning in doubles is the biggest thing.”

Among the players the team will rely on to make a run this year are senior Joe Toth, who was the No. 1 seed in the Section 1 tournament and made it to the finals before losing to No. 2 Drew Dimidjian of Thomas Jefferson. In addition, Ethan Bowden also qualified for the WPIAL singles finals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Mount Pleasant’s Nick Yurcheko.

Toth was the No. 7 seed in the WPIAL singles finals, while Bowden was ninth. Dylan Weiss, the No. 3 singles player, did not play in the tournament because each school is limited to two entries.

Those doubles teams, though, that have to come through are Alex Duing and Tim Lakatos at No. 1, with a pair of hockey players, senior forward Tyler Vargo and goaltender Logan Thomas, at No. 2.

“I have faith in my singles guys that I can get two out of three of those points,” Kempton said. “But that does put a lot of pressure on the doubles to pick up that other point for us.”

Shady Side Academy

It has been a tumultuous ride for Shady Side Academy since 2014 when the school won its previous WPIAL Class 3A team title.

There was that loss to Upper St. Clair in the finals in 2015 that kept the team from repeating. Then came four consecutive team tournament losses to rival Fox Chapel, the first two in the 2016 and 2017 semifinals as the Foxes won their first two championships, with the next two in the finals as they cemented their legacy and completed the four-peat.

In 2020, the program made a change as longtime coach Tom Mercer left the school and it went back into its history and brought in alumnus Sam Miller — the son of girls coach Jeff Miller — to run the team. Sam won a WPIAL Class 3A team title in 2010, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, he never really got to put his mark on the team until this year.

“I think it’s really exciting to be up there with all the great players and coaches, like my dad, I guess you could say, that have come through,” Miller said. “I was really happywhen [athletic director] Gene Deal gave me the call and said they were interested in having me be the head coach and I still am. I enjoy being around the kids every day and coaching with my dad has been fun.”

It also helps that the Bulldogs are loaded this year.

So far, Shady Side Academy has not lost a match, already has a 3-2 win against another contender in Mt. Lebanon and put two players, seniors Colin Gramley and Adeel Piracha, into the WPIAL singles finals as the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds, respectively.

“It’s encouraging and I’m excited to see what’s out there,” Sam Miller said. “I know the WPIAL has a lot of great players and teams, but I definitely like how we started.”