North Allegheny returns to top in WPIAL Class 3A team tennis; Sewickley Academy wins 25th title

By: Antonio Rossetti
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | 7:52 PM

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North Allegheny dethroned defending champion Gateway, 3-2, on Wednesday, winning its first WPIAL Class 3A boys tennis team title since 2009.

The doubles teams got things going early as North Allegheny’s Shi Telang and Sri Thirumala landed the first punch, defeating Gateway’s Matthew Bonds and Zane Almoukamal.

The brother tandem sophomore Adhav Ramadas and senior Adithya Ramadas Guptha gave the Tigers momentum and a 2-0 lead after winning 6-0 in both sets over Blake Marsh and Troy Boden.

North Allegheny coach Matt Woffington approached the brothers before the season started.

“The first thing he asked me was can you play without fighting because he and his brother were teammates before and both were fighting, so he asked the same question to us,” Ramadas Guptha said. “We said, ‘We won’t fight. We’ll kill the opponent instead,’ and we did that so far, and we’ll keep going in the states as well.”

Both brothers wanted to give their team momentum, knowing that if both doubles teams took care of business, it would take pressure off the singles players.

However, Gateway also lost both doubles matches last year and swept singles for a 3-2 victory.

“We knew that the singles were going to be really hard, so we had to win the doubles,” Ramadas Guptha said. “That was our main target: to win the doubles, and we won the doubles. One of our teammates got one of the singles.”

That teammate was Trey Davidson. Ramadas Guptha said he “clutched up” en route to defeating Gateway’s Zidaan Hassan.

“I was injured last year, so I was really excited to come out here and play,” Davidson said. “I really wanted to win, and I got it done, and it was really exciting.”

Davidson’s teammates were impressed with the way he overcame the injury and won the game-clinching set. Davidson had surgery on his shoulder and missed the entire 2023 season.

“Trey’s singles match was really hard because he had surgery and missed last year,” Ramadas said. “He’s completely back now with his old form, and now he’s ready to win against anybody.”

Davidson finished off his WPIAL career with a championship.

“When I played two years ago, we lost in the quarterfinals,” Davidson said. “It was pretty tough on us because we weren’t supposed to lose. It’s really great to be No. 1 for once. This is my last year on this team, so it’s really awesome.”

Davidson talked about team chemistry, as he believes it was a key factor in the Tigers’ first title win in 15 years.

“Our team chemistry started from the beginning of the year,” Davidson said. “Advaita (Sircar), He’s our No. 1. He’s a freshman, but he clicked with our team right away. I’m pretty familiar with the other guys. Our No. 3 singles guy I’m really close with. Together, the younger guys and Amit (Bhandari) and I were really able to bond together and just really click fast.”

Ramadas also cited tem chemistry as an important factor.

“Everybody on the team cooperated with each other and everyone enjoyed the game,” Ramadas said. “Everybody supported each other. If you are down, we will get you back up. I would say our team is really good at every single thing, communication and playing-wise.”

Gateway took its first victory in singles competition when Logan Memije swept Amit Bhandari.

Gateway’s Adam Memije defeated Sircar. Nonetheless, the Tigers were victorious, 3-2.

Although Gateway was unable to go back-to-back, Sewickley Academy did, defeating Quaker Valley to take home their 25th WPIAL championship in the Class 2A finals.

Quaker Valley’s William Meagler defeated Sewickley Academy’s Finn Wentz in two sets to open the matchup.

Junior Severin Harmon led the response, notching the first points for Sewickley Academy by sweeping senior Chase Merkel minutes later.

“You always want to help the team get some momentum, and I was just glad to do that,” Harmon said.

Sewickley Academy freshman dynamic duo Ben Terrell and Max Kopf defeated seniors Williams Watson and Brahm Gianiodis.

Sebastian Tan then clinched the championship, defeating Joseph Veeck in two sets.

Harmon commented on the impact Terrell and Kopf had, along with Tan’s composed performance.

“They’ve been huge for our team this year,” Harmon said. “The freshmen have handled themselves so well with it being the most pressure that they’ve played in all year, so just huge props to them. Sebastian just played really disciplined, which is exactly what we needed.”

The freshman doubles team gave the team energy as they played passionately and lit the spark for the Panthers.

“It was an incredible feeling, to be honest,” Kopf said. “It was the most energetic match I’ve ever played, and I think nothing really compares to the momentum we picked up. I think this is probably our best match that we played. We really dug our heels in.”

Terrell commented on the intensity their doubles team brings.

“Max is definitely the louder of the two of us, but I think it’s super important to get loud,” Terrell said. “It just gets yourself and your teammate going, and it gets the whole team going, in this case.”

Kopf and Terrell were both proud of their accomplishments, becoming WPIAL champions in team tennis.

“It was a really great feeling,” Terell said. “We came in on Sunday and we practiced even if we didn’t want to.”

Kopf added that coach Whitney Snyder pushed them the hardest and helped give them confidence in their game despite being freshman.

Grant Webb and Matteo Castellini tallied a point for the Quakers, making the final 3-2 by beating Jackson Quigley and Tejas Mitra in a competitive three-set match.

Both finalists qualify for states in Class 3A. In Class 2A, Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley will be joined by third-place North Catholic in the PIAA tournament. The Trojans defeated South Park, 4-1, in the third-place match Wednesday.

Tags: Gateway, North Allegheny, Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy