Gateway, South Park tandems capture 2025 WPIAL doubles titles
By:
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 | 5:14 PM
Gateway’s reign atop the WPIAL Class 3A doubles field continued Wednesday as a Gators tandem won the district title for a third straight season.
Senior Zidaan Hassan had a gold medal placed around his neck for a third time and celebrated with junior partner Logan Memije for a second consecutive season.
The top-seeded Gateway duo was dominant and efficient, using powerful groundstrokes and skilled net play to put away points quickly en route to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Mt. Lebanon’s Luca Ritivoi and Mark Summers, the WPIAL’s second-seeded pair.
“The first set got a little tricky, but at the end of the set, we just had to buckle down making returns and just keeping the ball going,” said Hassan, who also finished third in the WPIAL singles tournament. “The second set we just kept the pressure on them and didn’t let up.”
Mt. Lebanon went ahead 2-1 and 3-2 in the first set before Gateway rallied to win four of the next five games.
The Gators continued that momentum in the second set, opening a 3-0 lead and going up 4-1 before finishing off the win at 6-1.
“We grew up together,” Memije said. “We’ve known each other since we were little kids. There’s a chemistry.
“… Tennis is a very mental sport. You need to have someone to support and lean on. That makes it much easier.”
Hassan won the 2023 doubles title with Adam Memije, Logan’s older brother who captured the WPIAL singles title earlier this spring.
Gateway, which won the 2023 WPIAL team title and was runner-up last year, will now look for more team success before turning its attention to the PIAA postseason and the hunt for a state title. Hassan and Logan Memije finished third at the PIAA doubles tournament last spring and have sights set on more gold medals around their neck.
“They’re just starting to hit on all cylinders and really make things happen,” Gateway coach Matt Stockunas said. “They know where each other is going to be. They don’t need to scream when they need to switch. They’ve just been so dominant.”
In the Class 3A consolation match, Fox Chapel’s Mason Friday and Frank Siegel defeated Upper St. Clair’s Ari Plutko and Shawn Khrana, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Only the top two teams in Class 3A advance to the PIAA tournament.
South Park captures Class 2A crown
South Park tennis coach Dawn Kempton had two words of advice for Jonah Jasek and Steven Duing after they lost a first-set tiebreaker Wednesday in the WPIAL Class 2A doubles finals: “Be aggressive.”
Jasek and Duing took the words to heart and responded, winning the next two sets for a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Valley’s Landon Harclerode and Tyler Quinn.
“I think we were playing too hesitant and not going for as much as we should have,” Jasek said.
The final set went back and forth as Valley started by breaking serve, but the Eagles quickly broke back. After both pairs held serve, Valley broke again to lead 3-2. But the Eagles responded again, winning the next three games to go ahead 5-3. Valley broke serve a final time to make it 5-4, but South Park broke right back to win the match.
“Our coach said we weren’t being aggressive,” Duing said. “We came out in that second set really aggressive, and that’s what got us the lead in the next two sets.”
Duing and Jasek became the second South Park team to win a doubles title, joining Joe Toth and Ethan Bowden in 2021.
“It was being more aggressive, taking the net when they could,” Kempton said. “When Valley gave them the chance to come to the net, they took advantage of that more and put balls away when they had the chance.”
The Valley duo and the South Park juniors will advance to the PIAA tournament where Duing and Jasek lost in the first round together as freshmen in 2023.
Quaker Valley’s Will Meagher and Matthew Henry defeated Indiana’s Gabe Nettleton and Michael Dubetsky, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the Class 2A consolation match to also earn a berth in the PIAA doubles tournament.
Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.
Tags: Gateway, Mt. lebanon, South Park, Valley
More High School Sports
• Not just a ‘Single-A’ athlete: California long jumper Lee Qualk clears 23 feet for Baldwin Invite gold• Plum baseball riding high ahead of WPIAL playoffs
• Norwin notebook: Track teams make themselves at home atop podium
• North Allegheny boys volleyball revving up after early season speed bumps
• Division I goalie making major impact for North Allegheny boys lacrosse