Hardy, Kelly halted in final

North Catholic junior Katie Hardy and freshman Brea Kelly may have been a big surprise to reach the PIAA Class 2A girls doubles final. But they could not pull off one last upset.

Hardy and Kelly had to settle for silver as they lost in the championship match by the District 1 champions, Lower Moreland juniors Hannah and Rebecca Kideckel, 6-0, 6-0. North Catholic had never had a finalist in either singles or doubles since girls tennis became a PIAA recognized sport in 1973.

Lower Moreland got into the final by defeating another pair of twins, Emily and Lindsey Greb of Knoch, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in the semifinals. Emily and Lindsey were the state champions in 2021 but the two did not compete together in doubles last season. Instead, Emily competed in singles and finished fourth while Lindsey paired with Ally Bauer in doubles where they finished third.

This year, the Greb sisters decided before the season the two wanted to finish their high school careers as state champions. In 2021, the Knights won their only state championship when they defeated Emma Perkins and Michelle Timothy of Conrad Weiser, but they never had the opportunity to play for another state title.

Instead, they had to settle for winning their second WPIAL title in three years when they defeated Greensburg Central Catholic’s team of junior Sasha Hoffman and sophomore Stella Bossert, 6-1, 6-0 in the WPIAL final.

Hoffman and Bossert were the No. 15 seed in the WPIAL tournament, but upset several higher seeds to reach the finals. But the North Catholic pair got their revenge in the state semifinals with a 7-6, 0-6, 6-2 victory to reach the final.

With the loss to North Catholic, Hoffman and Bossert earned a WPIAL finals rematch with the Greb sisters. Knoch took third, 6-0, 6-0.

Outside of doubles, only one other WPIAL competitor made it through to the semifinals, Chloe DeSanzo, the WPIAL Class 2A singles runner-up, defeated District 4 champion Sarah Buck in the Friday quarterfinals. But DeSanzo could not get past District 3 champion Emma Perkins, who knocked her out, 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals.

In Class 3A doubles, the title hopes of WPIAL champions Cami Fisher and Lily Sierka of Bethel Park were stopped by District 1 runners-up Kate Emmanuel and Jennifer He of Conestoga, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Shady Side Academy seniors Rachel Nath and Elana Sobol were ousted in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, by District 11 Parkland’s Alexandria Warsing and Sophia Petrocelli.

Belle Vernon sophomore Gabriella Dusi, wno won the WPIAL Class 2a singles title as a No. 6 seed, withdrew from her quarterfinal match.