Hampton’s Grace Stitt aces section singles tournament

By: John Grupp
Saturday, September 23, 2023 | 11:01 AM

As Hampton’s Grace Stitt wrapped up a straight-set victory in a 5-0 win over Burrell on Sept. 18, her classmate friend stood with a bouquet of flowers and a handmade sign that read “I’d be SET if you’d be my MATCH at homecoming.”

The previous week, Stitt had a date with destiny.

The top-seeded junior won the WPIAL Section 3-2A singles championship Sept. 14 at Hampton Community Park, becoming the first Talbots girl to bring home a section singles crown since Vanessa Steiner in 2005.

“It was absolutely amazing,” Stitt said. “I got so many congrats from other people, and it felt so good. I had been feeling not too great about my past couple of weeks. To win the section was a huge boost of confidence for me, and I just could not have been happier in that moment.”

Stitt qualified for the WPIAL Class 2A singles championships Sept. 21-22 at North Allegheny, becoming the first Talbot since Courtney Chen in 2001-02 to reach WPIALs in back-to-back years.

Stitt, the No. 3 seed, defeated Indiana senior Anna Buterbaugh in the first round and Sewickley Academy senior Gwyneth Belt, 10-4, to reach the semifinals, where she lost to No. 2 seeded Beaver senior Chloe DeSanzo, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

The top three finishers qualify for the PIAA Class 2A singles championships Nov. 3-4. Stitt, who played top-seeded Winchester Thurston junior Cecilia Gurgel in the Sept. 21 consolation match, was trying to become only the second Hampton girl to reach the state singles championships, joining Karen Ridley in 1994.

Stitt wasn’t playing her best tennis in the week leading up to sectionals. She lost four consecutive matches at No. 1 singles — to Quaker Valley, North Allegheny, Knoch and Pine-Richland — in a nine-day span from Aug. 30-Sept. 8.

“I had kind of a rough week,” she said. “There were a lot of bad thoughts going through my mind, like I’m not cut out for this.”

But she found her confidence at section singles. After receiving a first-round bye in the 15-girl bracket, she beat No. 8 seeded Knoch senior Kenzie Gumto, 10-1, in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seeded Aquinas Academy senior Alexandra Taylor, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals Sept. 13.

In the finals, Stitt cruised past second-seeded North Catholic junior Katie Hardy, 6-0, 6-2, to give longtime Hampton coach Grant McKinney his first girls section singles winner.

“She was amazing,” McKinney, in his 16th season, said of Stitt. “She really took care of business. She was just on fire. She played with conviction. She played with enthusiasm. … She was locked in.”

The path to the title had gotten significantly easier when two of the section’s top singles players, twin sisters Emily and Lindsey Greb of defending PIAA Class 2A champion Knoch, decided to skip the tournament to focus on their bid to win WPIAL and state titles in doubles.

But that didn’t diminish Stitt’s joy of winning the crown.

“It still felt great,” she said.

Stitt’s next goal is to help the Talbots reach the WPIAL team playoffs for the first time since 2013. Hampton (2-2 in section, 8-4 overall) needed victories over Highlands on Sept. 21 and Ellis School on Sept. 26 to clinch a spot. Last season, Hampton lost a winner-take-all match with Ellis School, 3-2, in the section finale.

Stitt has gotten a lot of help on the way to a possible playoff berth. Senior Emma Spiess and junior Abigail Anderson have held down the other singles spots. The No. 1 doubles team of senior Samantha Jones and sophomore McKenna Restori is undefeated in the section. More doubles depth is provided by Melanie Malloy, a senior, and Laniya Ward and Greta Hamlin.

“We look great,” Stitt said. “We all really want to win, and I think that we’ve done a great job this season giving our all to every match.”

Tags: Hampton