5th seed from Belle Vernon, freshman from Shady Side Academy claim WPIAL tennis titles

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, September 21, 2023 | 8:00 PM

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Belle Vernon doesn’t have a girls tennis team, but it does have a WPIAL champion.

Sophomore Gabriella Dusi, a fifth seed, took the WPIAL Class 2A girls tennis championship by storm by crushing the field the past two days.

She capped her dominance by defeating the second seed, Beaver senior Chloe DeSanzo, 6-1, 6-0, in the finals Thursday at North Allegheny.

She took out No. 1 seed Cecilia Gurgel of Winchester Thurston, 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals and No. 4 seed Sasha Hoffman of Greensburg Central Catholic, 10-2, in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Bethel Park.

“It’s unreal,” Dusi said. “It’s really great to represent Belle Vernon. I’m so excited.

“I knew I could make a run. It’s crazy that this is happening. I was pleased with the results, and they were great battles.”

Dusi reached the tournament as a freshman but lost in the first round. She was dealing with the side effects of covid and now is dealing with exercise-induced asthma.

“Going in as a five seed, I guess I surprised some people,” Dusi said. “I gained confidence in every match. I just kept getting confidence every match I played.

“I want to take away how I handled the pressure, my consistency in matches, and hopefully I can carry this to states.”

Dusi, DeSanzo and Gurgel advance to the PIAA championships Nov. 3-4 at Hershey. Gurgel defeated Hampton’s Grace Stitt, 6-4, 6-3, in the third-place match.

“It’s a great way to end my high school career,” DeSanzo said. “It feels great to get to states. Hopefully better things are to come.”

DeSanzo said the difference in the finals was Dusi hit some great shots.

In Class 3A, a freshman won the girls singles title for the second consecutive year.

Shady Side Academy’s Meriwether McCargo stunned Penn-Trafford sophomore Amelia Williams, the returning champion, 7-6 (1), 6-1.

The freshman stuck to her plan of allowing Williams to make the mistakes. She was able to frustrate the defending champ.

“I’m happy I got a chance to play her because she’s a great player,” said McCargo, a Sewickley resident. “I was happy with my start. I knew after a couple matches that I could win. Then I started losing focus, and she battled back.”

McCargo jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first match, but Williams, who wasn’t sharp, battled back to tie the match 6-6 before McCargo ended up winning in a tie-breaker.

In the second match, McCargo continued to frustrate Williams with her baseline play.

“I’m comfortable with that,” McCargo said. “She’s an overly aggressive player, so I had to keep the ball in play and hit it heavy.

“I was nervous and intimidated by her early. I just tried to keep the ball in play. I was able to handle my nerves. I’m really excited to play in states.”

Williams took the loss hard. She found a tree on the North Allegheny campus and sat under it, composing herself.

“I hate losing,” Williams said. “It wasn’t my day, and she’s a good player. It wasn’t my best, obviously.”

Penn-Trafford coach Megan Satira said Williams had an off day.

“Her serve was off, and things didn’t go her way,” Satira said. “McCargo played well and kept her off balance.”

The third-place match went to Pine-Richland freshman Caroline Prisk, who defeated North Allegheny senior Lacticia Tici-Wessel, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

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: Beaver, Belle Vernon, Penn-Trafford, Shady Side Academy