‘Maximum depth’ helps Fox Chapel tackle boys tennis season

By: George Guido
Saturday, April 9, 2022 | 8:01 AM

Fox Chapel is off to its typically strong start in boys tennis.

The Foxes were 5-0 headed into a week-long spring break for the school district.

Fox Chapel won four consecutive WPIAL team titles from 2016-19. Then the pandemic year of 2020 came along and the season was wiped out. Last season, the Foxes made it to the quarterfinal round where they were eliminated by rival Shady Side Academy.

“We’re having a real good start to the season,” said Foxes coach Alex Slezak. “We’re proud of all the kids and we’re off on a good foot.”

About the only negative is several postponements that the players would like to eventually make up.

“We’re waiting until after our spring break. We didn’t want to reschedule them too far in advance,” Slezak said. “We don’t have to play North Allegheny or Upper St. Clair. They’re not in our section. If we can do it, we’re going to do it.”

Some of the Fox Chapel students will be heading out of town during the week of April 11, so the schedule will stay blank.

The strong start can also be attributed to depth.

Said Slezak: “Our biggest strength is that we had unbelievably competitive tryouts from varsity through JVs. There’s not that much difference between our best players and the kids in the bottom of the lineup. Their physical skills are very close to one another for maximum depth.”

The top player for the Foxes thus far is sophomore Will Siegal and junior Ananth Kashyap is No. 2. No 3 for the Foxes is a freshman, Mason Friday. Cooper Friday, Mason’s older brother, is playing doubles with Travis Malone.

“Those guys are off to a strong start as a doubles team,” Slezak said. “Jack Delaney and Ben Hallman are the other doubles team.”

The program has a quality feeder system in the Fox Chapel community, including the high school’s summer program, and several racquet clubs such as the Fox Chapel Golf Club and the Pittsburgh Field Club also offer tennis development.

When Fox Chapel returns from spring break, the Foxes on April 18 will face none other than Shady Side Academy, the team that gave Fox Chapel the playoff exit last season.

The top four teams from each section make the WPIAL playoffs in a single-elimination bracket.

Fox Chapel would like nothing more than to win the 26th section title in school history, but Slezak is cautious not to let the team get ahead of itself.

“We have to come in and put in the work every day,” he said. “We can get confidence from our success, but we have to stay humble and try to get better every day.”

As a testament to team depth, Ezra Shensa and Henry Stallings made it through to the quarterfinals of the WPIAL singles sectionals on April 6.

The assistant again this season is Laura Ward, a longtime coach whom Slezak feels is indispensible. Both coaches also handle the girls program in the fall.

Tags: Fox Chapel