Defending champs reach finals of WPIAL girls tennis tournament

By: Triblive
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 | 11:36 PM

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For the third straight year, Shady Side Academy’s Meriwether McCargo and Penn-Trafford’s Mia Williams will meet for the WPIAL Class 3A girls tennis singles championship.

Both players sliced through the bracket to meet again in the finals at 1 p.m. Thursday at North Allegheny. McCargo dropped two games in three matches Wednesday. Williams lost just one.

McCargo has won the previous two championship meetings, in three sets last year and in straight sets in 2023. Williams, a senior, won the WPIAL title as a freshman when McCargo was in eighth grade.

Upper St. Clair freshman Brianna Kuczinski, the fifth seed, will meet Bethel park senior Cami Fisher, the third seed, in the third-place match. It will be a rematch of the Section 4 final won by Fisher in two close sets.

Fox Chapel junior Clara Drahnak, the 13th seed, pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament, defeating No. 4 seed Elinor Kim of North Hills in the first round, 10-8. Fox Chapel freshman Zoey Liu also won a first-round match before bowing out.

Class 2A – Belle Vernon senior Gabrielle Dusi is in position to win her third straight WPIAL singles championship, dropping a total of two games in two matches to reach the finals. She’ll meet Quaker Valley sophomore Avery Allan, the second seed, who defeated Oakland Catholic’s Mollie Sclichter, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals.

Dusi, who defeated Winchester Thurston freshman Veronica Zinski in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-2, marched through the bracket despite having to medically withdraw from the section championship match against Sclichter after one set.

Zinski, the 13th seed, pulled off two upsets to reach the semifinals, beating No. 4 Anna Mrkonja of Beaver and No. 5 Evelyn Marche of North Catholic.