Mt. Lebanon, Knoch Duos Capture WPIAL Girls’ Tennis Doubles Crowns

Friday, October 7, 2022

South Park Township, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) crowned another set of champions on Friday at the WPIAL Girls’ Tennis Doubles Championships, which were moved to Glen Creek Tennis Club in South Park Township due to the forecast. In the 3A classification, Mt. Lebanon junior Sophia Cunningham and sophomore Sylvie Eriksen claimed gold, while Knoch senior Ally Bauer and junior Lindsey Greb were victorious in 2A.

Cunningham and Eriksen brought home Mt. Lebanon’s 13th overall doubles title, but its first since Erin Gustine and Ting Yu won in 1992. The Blue Devils also won in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1991. The runners-up, North Allegheny seniors Emily Wincko and Abbey Swirsding finished fourth last season.

Bauer and Greb extended Knoch’s streak to four consecutive 2A doubles titles, with Greb defending her 2021 crown with older sister Emily. Bauer previously won with Brooke Bauer in 2020 and Libby Conlon in 2019, and she becomes the sixth different three-time champion at doubles, joining four-time winners in Moon’s Kelly Deep (1983-86) and Fox Chapel’s Amanda Nord (2014-17), as well as Mt. Lebanon’s Kathy Kolankiewicz (1974-76), Fox Chapel’s Laurel Shymansky (2013-15), and Bishop Canevin’s Meghan Stubblebine (2003-05).

The top three finishers in both classifications qualify for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Girls’ Tennis Doubles Championships, which will be held Nov. 4-5.

3A RECAP
Mt. Lebanon’s Sophia Cunningham and Sylvie Eriksen became the school’s first doubles champions in 30 years, defeating North Allegheny’s Emily Wincko and Abbey Swirsding, 6-0, 6-0. Cunningham and Eriksen were the fifth seed and started the tournament at Bethel Park High School with wins over Pine-Richland’s Lily Hynds and Rachel Smith (10-1) and Baldwin’s Gabi Moder and Emma Overlingas (10-4). In their semifinal match, they topped Bethel Park’s Lily Sierka and Katie Peterson, 6-3, 7-6(7).

On the other half of the bracket, Wincko and Swirsding were 10-5 winners over Peters Township’s Adisyn and Keiran Moorhead, 10-2 victors against Shady Side Academy’s Maya Leyzarovich and Lizzie Uhlman, and topped Fox Chapel’s Chanel Brun and Sienna Siegel in straight sets (7-6(6), 6-1).

In the third-place consolation match, Sierka and Peterson defeated Brun and Siegel, 6-1, 6-1, to earn the final PIAA spot.

All three qualifying teams will be making their first appearance at the PIAA Girls’ Tennis Doubles Championships.

2A RECAP
Knoch continued its dominant run in 2A doubles, as the duo of Ally Bauer and Lindsey Greb knocked off Sewickley Academy’s Rayna Thakkar and Gwyn Belt, 6-3, 6-2, to win the school’s fourth consecutive title. Bauer and Greb were the top seed, receiving a bye in the first round before netting wins over South Park’s Haley Spitznagel and Grace Kempton (10-1) and Chartiers Valley’s Kaitlyn Kuczinski and Delaney Fox (6-2, 6-2) at North Allegheny High School to reach the final.

Thakkar and Belt’s run to the championship match included a 10-3 win over Mt. Pleasant’s Sophia Smithnosky and Emily Marne, another 10-3 triumph against Montour’s Peja Cruise and Chloe Sadowski, and a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Knoch’s Ava Santora and Jade Nether.

In the third-place consolation final, Kuczinski and Fox topped Santora and Nether, 6-4, 6-2, to claim the final PIAA spot.

Bauer and Greb are the only student-athletes from the 2A qualifiers to previously play in the PIAA Girls’ Tennis Doubles Championships. Greb won the PIAA title last season with older sister Emily, while Greb finished second at PIAAs in 2020 with older sister Brooke.

3A RESULTS [Bracket]

First Round – Oct. 6 (@ Bethel Park HS)
#1 Rachel Nath (11)/Nichole Poltinnikov (12 – Shady Side Academy) def. #16 Ambur Orowitz (11)/Lexi Colianni (12 – Kiski Area), 10-0.
#9 Lily Sierka (11)/Katie Peterson (11 – Bethel Park) def. #8 Cece Crowley (11)/Reese Hanna (11 – Mars), 10-1.
#5 Sophia Cunningham (11)/Sylvie Eriksen (10 – Mt. Lebanon) def. #12 Lily Hynds (11)/Rachel Smith (11 – Pine-Richland), 10-1.
#13 Gabi Moder (11)/Emma Overlingas (12 – Baldwin) def. #4 Ellen Liu (11)/Hannah Zheng (12 – Franklin Regional), 10-5.
#3 Evie Ellenberger (11)/Claire Loomis (12 – Upper St. Clair) def. #14 Ellie Kim (9)/Anna Tikhomirova (11 – North Hills), 10-3.
#6 Chanel Brun (9)/Sienna Siegel (10 – Fox Chapel) def. #11 Avery Massaro (12)/Taylor Shanefelter (9 – Greater Latrobe), 10-4.
#10 Maya Leyzarovich (12)/Lizzie Uhlman (11 – Shady Side Academy) def. #7 Lucy Zheng (10)/Michelle Yan (9 – Franklin Regional), 10-2.
#2 Emily Wincko (12)/Abbey Swirsding (12 – North Allegheny) def. #15 Adisyn Moorhead (12)/Keiran Moorhead (10 – Peters Township), 10-5.

Quarterfinals – Oct. 6 (@ Bethel Park HS)
#9 Sierka/Peterson def. #1 Nath/Poltinnikov, 10-6.
#5 Cunningham/Eriksen def. #13 Moder/Overlingas, 10-4.
#6 Brun/Siegel def. #3 Ellenberger/Loomis, 10-6.
#2 Wincko/Swirsding def. #10 Leyzarovich/Uhlman, 10-1.

Semifinals – Oct. 6 (@ Bethel Park HS)
#5 Cunningham/Eriksen def. #9 Sierka/Peterson, 6-3, 7-6(7).
#2 Wincko/Swirsding def. #6 Brun/Siegel, 7-6(6), 6-1.

Championship Match – Oct. 7 (@ Glen Creek Tennis Club)
#5 Cunningham/Eriksen def. #2 Wincko/Swirsding, 6-0, 6-3.

Third-Place Consolation – Oct. 7 (@ Glen Creek Tennis Club)
#9 Sierka/Peterson def. #6 Brun/Siegel, 6-1, 6-1.

Advancing to PIAAs: Sophia Cunningham (11)/Sylvie Eriksen (10), Mt. Lebanon; Emily Wincko (12)/Abbey Swirsding (12), North Allegheny; Lily Sierka (11)/Katie Peterson (11), Bethel Park

2A RESULTS [Bracket]

First Round – Oct. 6 (@ North Allegheny HS)
#1 Ally Bauer (12)/Lindsey Greb (11 – Knoch) received a BYE.
#9 Haley Spitznagel (12)/Grace Kempton (9 – South Park) def. #8 Elisabeth Ervin (12)/Marissa Barca (12 – Valley), 10-7.
#5 Sasha Hoffman (10)/Gigi Pediconi (12 – Greensburg Central Catholic) def. #12 Polia Vladeva (12)/Julia Samarin (11 – Keystone Oaks), 10-1.
#4 Kaitlyn Kuczinski (10)/Delaney Fox (9 – Chartiers Valley) def. #13 Rachel Hardek (11)/Lana Gagne (12 – Central Valley), 10-4.
#3 Rayna Thakkar (10)/Gwyn Belt (11 – Sewickley Academy) def. #14 Sophia Smithnosky (12)/Emily Marne (12 – Mt. Pleasant), 10-3.
#6 Peja Cruise (11)/Chloe Sadowski (12 – Montour) def. #11 Grace Stitt (10)/Heidi Kroenberg (12 – Hampton), 10-3.
#7 Ava Santora (11)/Jade Nether (11 – Knoch) def. #10 Joyce Olawaiye (10)/Loren Barnes (12 – Quaker Valley), 10-3.
#2 Chloe DeSanzo (11)/Anna Mrkonja (9 – Beaver) def. #15 Ava Rongaus (12)/Larissa Mannheimer (11 – South Park), 10-0.

Quarterfinals – Oct. 6 (@ North Allegheny HS)
#1 Bauer/Greb def. #9 Spitznagel/Kempton, 10-1.
#4 Kuczinski/Fox def. #5 Hoffman/Pediconi, 10-3.
#3 Thakkar/Belt def. #6 Cruise/Sadowski, 10-3.
#7 Santora/Nether def. #2 DeSanzo/Mrkonja, 11-10(6).

Semifinals – Oct. 6 (@ North Allegheny HS)
#1 Bauer/Greb def. #4 Kuczinski/Fox, 6-2, 6-2.
#3 Thakkar/Belt def. #7 Santora/Nether, 6-0, 6-3.

Championship Match – Oct. 7 (@ Glen Creek Tennis Club)
#1 Bauer/Greb def. #3 Thakkar/Belt, 6-3, 6-2.

Third-Place Consolation – Oct. 7 (@ Glen Creek Tennis Club)
#4 Kuczinski/Fox def. #7 Santora/Nether, 6-4, 6-2.

Advancing to PIAAs: Ally Bauer (12)/Lindsey Greb (11), Knoch; Rayna Thakkar (10)/Gwyn Belt (11), Sewickley Academy; Kaitlyn Kuczinski (10)/Delaney Fox (9), Chartiers Valley

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