Mt. Pleasant girls tennis team wins section title through hard work

By: Paul Schofield
Monday, October 7, 2024 | 8:00 PM

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Mt. Pleasant girls tennis coach Aaron Hutter calls his squad “blue collar.”

That’s because the team is not like some of the top teams in the WPIAL that draw their players from tennis clubs and specialty coaches.

Hutter gets his girls from recruiting the hallways. Many of his girls are multiple-sport athletes, including softball players and swimmers.

“A lot of my players don’t even buy their rackets until they’re in eighth grade,” Hutter said. “I have a bunch of hard-working players who love the sport.”

The Vikings finished a perfect 7-0 to win the Section 1-2A title, their first since 2020. It was the school’s 12th section title.

The Vikings (9-3 overall) finished a game ahead of another blue-collar team, Derry. The other teams in the section were Greensburg Central Catholic, Southmoreland, Burrell, Valley, Greensburg Salem and Jeannette.

The young Vikings open the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs 3 p.m. Tuesday at home against Indiana. The starting lineup features two seniors, a junior and four sophomores.

Junior Bella Fullman plays No. 1 singles, sophomore Ryleigh Drzal plays second singles and senior Kiersten O’Connor plays third singles. O’Connor is committed to swim at Connecticut.

The doubles teams are sophomore Danica Trainer and sophomore Autumn Jurkovic-Kuzma and Ella Alakson and Hannah Shawley.

“I feel we’re a year ahead of schedule,” Hutter said. “Obviously, we’re happy. We want them to do their best and have fun. We have a bright future. We have a lot of girls waiting in the wings. The eighth-grade class has a lot of athletes in every sport.”

Fullman qualified for the WPIAL singles championship, and Trainer and Drzal qualified for WPIAL doubles championship.

Hutter said what he likes the most about the squad is how they play together and pick each other up. He also has great leadership from his two seniors.

“This group works hard, and they trust each other and hold each other accountable,” Hutter said. “They are all friends. They want to win for each other. They are learning a lot of life lessons.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant