The top four doubles competitors in Section 4-2A boys tennis this season proved to be Sewickley Academy athletes.
In an all-Sewickley final, freshmen Max Kopf and Ben Terrell won the doubles championship by knocking off seniors Jackson Quigley and Tejas Mitra, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Kopf and Terrell were seeded second in the tournament; Quigley and Mitra were No. 1.
"We are very happy we won the section and we could not have done it without our teamwork,” Kopf said. "Ben and I have played tennis together for a long time and as freshmen it didn’t faze us playing older kids because our styles complement each other. One thing I do have to add is that Ben and I could not have done it without our coach, Whitney Snyder, and his years of experience.
"We would also like to thank our families and the greater Sewickley Academy community for supporting the team. We have championship aspirations.”
Kopf and Terrell cruised past No. 3 Aiden Terry and Ben Crefeld of Blackhawk, 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinals while Quigley and Mitra beat No. 4 Nate Lion and Donovan Matsook of Central Valley, 6-1, 6-4.
"I feel very fortunate to have Max as my doubles partner because we’ve been playing tennis together since I was about 8 years old,” Terrell said, "so we know each other’s game very well. This along with our coach, Whitney Snyder, being extremely invested in the success and growth of the team contributed to our success in the doubles tournament.
"Going into the tournament the expectation was that we would give it our all, but results aren’t always promised.”
Four Quaker Valley boys also advanced to the WPIAL doubles championships out of Section 5-2A.
QV seniors and No. 3 seed Grant Webb and Matteo Castellini placed second, losing a 7-6 (4), 6-3 decision to No. 1 John Rohrkaste and Jonah Carmadese of Montour in the section final.
"I am very proud of the work accomplished between Matteo and I to place second in the section,” Webb said. "It is not what we wanted, we wanted to go deeper, but we both are very pleased with how we played and worked as partners.
"Moving into the WPIAL tournament, I expected strong competition and pressure from the other teams. I played in this tournament last year and enjoyed the high-level, competitive doubles tennis it provided. I expected nothing short of that.”
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QV seniors Will Watson and Brahm Gianiodis, the No. 4 seed, finished third by outlasting second-seeded Chris Zhu and Nikou Nourbakhsh of Winchester Thurston, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Webb and Castellini were 6-3, 6-4 winners over Chris Zhu and Nikou Nourbakhsh of Winchester Thurston in the semifinal round.
Watson and Gianiodis lost a hard-fought 7-6, 6-4 decision to Rohrkaste and Carmadese in the semifinal round.
The WPIAL 2A doubles tournament took place April 23-24. Kopf and Terrell, the only freshmen in the 2A event, landed a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed.
Quigley and Mitra received the sixth seed and ran the table, advancing to the final round.
"I thought Tejas and I played great throughout the whole match,” Quigley said. "We battled and played to our best we could at that time. I am disappointed that we couldn’t place first but am glad that we made it this far.”
Quigley and Mitra defeated the 11th seed, Hampton seniors Ben LaRusse and Hayden List, 10-8, in the first round and No. 14 Watson and Gianiodis, 10-5, in the quarterfinals. Watson and Gianiodis also competed as WPIAL doubles partners in 2023.
Quigley and Mitra edged No. 7 Webb and Castellini, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4, in the semifinals before losing to Rohrkaste and Camardese, 7-5, 7-5, in the championship round.
Rohrkaste, a junior, and Camardese, a sophomore, were seeded at No. 4. The Montour netters won the first WPIAL title of any kind in the history of the Spartans boys tennis program.
"The match really was a close one with I believe both teams playing really well,” Mitra said. "John and Jonah are two great players and a great doubles team. Jackson and I had lots of fun playing them. Even though we lost, Jackson and I still think we played really well and learned a lot about ourselves.
"In the end, as coach Whitney Snyder always says, it is about relationships. Over the past two months, I have become close friends with all the new players on this team and I feel like this is not just a team but a brotherhood. I also love to have the opportunity to battle with my three-year long friend Jackson.”
Quigley also believed the WPIAL tournament proved to be a great learning experience.
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"Montour has a good doubles team, and I believe we grew from it and are a better team because of the match,” he said. "I believe our team as a whole is very capable of making it far in WPIALs and hopefully proceed into states and place well in that, as well. It’s all about relationships.”
Webb and Castellini, the WPIAL’s seventh seed, beat Indiana junior Gabriel Nettleton and senior Noah Weigner, 10-6, in the first round and North Catholic sophomore Wills Kontul and senior Justin Kontul, 10-3, in the quarterfinal.
The Indiana pair was seeded 10th while the North Catholic pair was No. 2.
Webb and Castellini defeated Kopf and Terrell, 7-5, 7-5, in the WPIAL third-place consolation match.
The top four WPIAL doubles teams in 2A advance to the PIAA tournament: Rohrkaste/Camardese at No.1, Quigley/Mitra at No. 2, Webb/Castellini at No. 3 and Kopf/Terrell at No. 4.
"Even though we were not able to take first, it feels great to get to the finals of this long tournament,” Mitra said, "as it took some hard matches (to advance), especially the semis match against Quaker Valley. We dropped that first set and had to save three match points.
"In the past two weeks of tournament (play), Jackson and I have learned a lot about ourselves as a team and I was happy to get the chance to play these great (doubles) teams.”
The PIAA doubles championships will take place May 24-25, at Hershey Racquet Club.
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