Behind WPIAL singles champion Adam Memije, Gateway tennis seeking more hardware

By: Michael Love
Sunday, April 20, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Adam Memije and Advaita Sircar could meet at some point in the PIAA Class 3A singles tennis tournament May 23-24 in Hershey.

Memije, a Gateway senior, and Sircar, a sophomore from North Allegheny, already know a lot about each other.

They faced each other in the WPIAL finals for the second year in a row April 11 at Bethel Park High School.

Last year, Sircar prevailed. This year, Memije gained a measure of revenge with a close and competitive 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

“Advaita had that over me from last year, and that was a really good match, too,” Memije said.

“This time, I thought I played even better. It was great to go up against him again and compete. I knew it was going to be close. In that situation (up 5-4 in the third set), I just wanted to hold (serve) really bad. That third set was full of breaks. I needed that one game (on serve) to win the match. I felt some pressure, but I got it done.”

Memije now owns a WPIAL triple crown as he added the singles title to the doubles championship with classmate Zidaan Hassan he won as a sophomore in 2023 and Gateway’s team title he helped bring home that same year.

“The singles title was the only one I was missing, and it feels amazing to get that in my last year,” Memije said.

“Now, I want to win it at states. I’ve been able to go far at states, but I want to push through that last barrier.”

Last year, Memije reached the PIAA semifinals and placed third overall. He and Hassan finished third at the state doubles tournament in 2023.

“I am going to keep training and competing with my team to perfect my game as much as possible before states and also build on all my experiences, good things and mistakes, up to this point,” Memije said.

“There’s always room for improvement, and I can see what I need to work on.”

Memije’s WPIAL title is a big piece to what has been a productive and successful spring for the Gateway boys team.

The Gators, with Memije, Hassan and junior Logan Memije at singles; juniors Troy Boden and Abdulwasay Syed at No. 1 doubles; and junior Abuzar Hameez and sophomore Isaac Sha at No. 2 doubles, went into Thursday morning’s match with once-beaten Norwin undeafeated at 7-0.

The Gators toppled the Knights to finish the section slate and clinch the outright title. Now, the team prepares to go after its second WPIAL team title in three years — they were runners-up last year — when the team tournament begins May 1.

“We’re pretty excited to get to the team playoffs,” Gateway coach Matt Stockunas said.

“We did a nice job finishing off the section matches with the win against Norwin. Hopefully, that will get us a top seed in the (WPIAL) tournament.”

Hassan and Logan Memije had gold medals placed around their necks as WPIAL doubles champions last year. For Hassan, it was his second such title in as may seasons.

Their goal of back-to-back WPIAL titles together — the tournament was to begin Tuesday and end Wednesday — got off to a strong start with a dominating victory over Franklin Regional’s top combination of sophomore Colin Stalnaker and junior Sanshiro Ogawa, 6-0, 6-1, in the Section 1 finals April 16 indoors at the Greensburg Raquet Club.

It also was Zidaan’s third section doubles title in as many attempts.

“It was a great feeling to keep the streak going for me, but it also was awesome that Logan and I were able to play so well again,” Hassan said.

“There was a lot of motivation. We came in with a target on our backs, and we will have that at WPIALs, too. We were confident and had momentum going into the (section) finals. Logan and I were a little more experienced with having more matches together. (The FR team) was a fresh pairing. We played Colin last year, but we didn’t play (Ogawa). We just felt like we had it this time. It was just a matter of going in there and playing our game.”

Hassan and Logan Memije lost just one game in their four section matches which included a 6-0, 6-0 romp over Franklin Regional’s fifth-seeded combination of juniors Prem Nadasen and Arnesh Parua.

“We were feeling good, and we knew what our expectations were,” Logan Memije said. “We were just playing to meet those expectations.”

Boden and Syed were the No. 7 seed for section doubles, and they advanced with a 10-0 first-round win over the 10th-seeded team from Hempfield.

The Gators duo saw its tournament run end with a 10-2 quarterfinal loss to Stalnaker and Ogawa.

“Troy and Abdulwasay played very well,” Stockunas said. “They got an unfortunate placement in the tournament where they faced the No. 2 seed in the second round. They lost 10-2, but they were in every point. They gave me a lot of confidence in them for (the team tournament) the way they played.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway