McCargo pulls off upset en route to title
Shady Side player second freshman to win Class 3A singles in two years
It’s unusual for a freshman to win the WPIAL Class 3A singles title.
In fact, it’s only happened twice in the last 20 years.
Strangely enough, however, it’s now occurred in each of the last two seasons.
Shady Side Academy freshman Meriwether McCargo pulled off the feat this year as she upset topseeded defending champion Mia Williams of Penn-Trafford, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1, to win the Class 3A singles title Thursday at North Allegheny.
“I definitely feel really happy and I feel really fortunate that I got to play her because she’s a really good player,” McCargo said. “I was really nervous and intimidated by her. I was just trying to keep the ball in play.”
When she finally focused on the match instead of her opponent, the third-seeded McCargo made history.
With the win, she became only the third Shady Side Academy player to win the singles title in the highest classification, joining Lauren Greco (2007) and twotime winner Ananya Dua, who took home her titles in 2014 and 2015.
Her win also made Williams and herself the first freshmen ever to win backto-back titles in the highest classification. The last time it happened overall was in 2016 and 2017 when Katherine Marks of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart won as a freshman and lost to Laura Greb the following year for the first of her four straight titles.
Prior to Williams winning in 2022, the last freshman
to win the WPIAL title in Class 3A was Michaela Kissell of Latrobe in 2003.
Although McCargo may be a freshman, she’s no tennis neophyte. She’s the No. 6-ranked freshman in the state and has competed in high-level tournaments for years. That experience playing against top-level competition was helpful at crunch time.
“It definitely helped me with the big points like the tiebreakers so I could handle the nerves more,” McCargo said. “It helped me keep my head in the game and not get frustrated.”
There were several moments where McCargo could have let the match get away from her.
McCargo opened the first set and took a commanding 4-1 lead before Williams rallied and tied to match 6-6 to send it to a first- set tiebreaker. But the freshman pulled it together and rolled to a 7-1 win in the tiebreakers to take the first set.
“I was really happy when I started winning, but then,
I started losing focus a little bit,” McCargo said. “Then, I realized I had to keep my focus.”
After losing the tiebreaker in a 1-hour, 20-minute first set, Williams could never get her game back on track. She made several unforced errors in the second set and could not make another comeback as McCargo closed it out.
“I didn’t really think about the score too much, and it ended up being what it ended up being,” Williams said. “I think it was a combination of factors. I definitely think it was an off day for me. It wasn’t my best performance, and she’s not a bad player at all. She played well.”
McCargo wasn’t the only first-time champion to leave with a gold medal around her neck. Belle Vernon sophomore Gabriella Dusi upset her third straight foe as she knocked off Beaver senior Chloe DeSanzo, 6-1, 6-0, to become the first Leopards tennis player, boys or girls, ever to win a WPIAL Class 2A crown.
“I just tried to focus on the match I was in, not think too far ahead and get as far into the draw as I can,” Dusi said. “I personally don’t think the seed matters. I think anyone can win on any given day and I was just happy with the results.”
Dusi came into the tournament as the No. 5 seed but knocked off No. 4 Sasha Hoffman of Greensburg Central Catholic and top- seeded Cecilia Gurgel from Winchester Thurston before taking out the No. 2-seeded DeSanzo.
“I just mostly tried to stay consistent and control the points,” Dusi said. “I thought that it worked out in the end.”