Quaker Valley boys tennis caps special season in state tournament
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Friday, May 31, 2019 | 9:03 PM
The WPIAL runner-up Quaker Valley boys tennis team includes, in front, from left, Will Sirianni, coach Christi Hays, Potter Oliver, Mike Sirianni; in back, Zach Albert, Thomas Pangburn, John Watters, Andres Hubsch.
Quaker Valley’s Zach Albert (left) and John Watters won the 2019 WPIAL Class AA doubles title.
Competing at the WPIAL Class AA doubles championships were Quaker Valley tennis players, from left, silver medalists Will Sirianni and Potter Oliver, and gold medalists Zach Albert and John Watters.
Quaker Valley’s Zach Albert (left) and John Watters won the 2019 WPIAL Class AA doubles title. They are pictured with coach Christi Hays, John Watters
The 2019 Quaker Valley boys tennis team won the MAC tournament title. From left are JV coach Annette Knott, William Kirk, Michael Lipton, Will Sirianni, Henry Veeck, Potter Oliver, Mike Sirianni, Ryan Edwards and varsity coach Christi Hays.
The Quaker Valley boys tennis team had a stellar season, although it did not end the way it hoped.
The Quakers saw their tandems of juniors Zach Albert and John Watters and senior Potter Oliver and freshman Will Sirianni lose in the preliminaries of the PIAA Class AA doubles tournament May 24 in Hershey.
Earlier, the Quakers lost in the quarterfinals of the PIAA team tournament to the eventual champion, Pequea Valley, of District 3.
“The boys and I both feel that we have unfinished business, that we let a few incredible opportunities slip through our fingers,” Quaker Valley coach Christi Hays said. “We left a lot on the table.
“We will celebrate this season but will quickly refocus and rededicate ourselves now that we have seen what it takes to win at the state level.”
Quaker Valley went 8-0 in Section 2-AA and placed second at the WPIAL championship, losing to Indiana by one point in the final.
Albert and Watters and Oliver and Sirianni placed first and second at the section and WPIAL doubles championships.
Senior Andres Hubsch earned the section singles title and placed fourth at the WPIAL tournament, just missing states.
“We had lofty goals going into the season,” Hays said. “We were hopeful that, based on the depth of our team, we could not only be competitive in our section and WPIALs, but also at the state level.
“As the season progressed, we got more excited as our success grew.”
Albert said the team had a blast.
“This offseason, we are all going to push ourselves harder than we did last offseason to try to finally win a WPIAL championship,” he said. “Our two seniors are going to be missed, but we have plenty of hungry players that have been waiting for their spotlight.”
Hubsch said the team fought hard.
“Despite the fact we lost in some key moments, we played very well,” said Hubsch, also a standout swimmer. “This year in tennis has certainly been the most exciting of my years in high school.
“I’m glad I had great teammates to share those moments with. I’m very excited to see how the team will evolve.”
Tags: Quaker Valley
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