Mt. Lebanon pair repeats, Winchester Thurston duo makes comeback at WPIAL girls tennis doubles finals

By: Ted Sarneso
Thursday, October 2, 2025 | 6:12 PM

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It didn’t begin well, but it ended all the same.

The Mt. Lebanon girls tennis doubles duo of seniors Jackie Tang and Michelle Yang appeared a little off Thursday to start the WPIAL Class 3A final, which was a rematch of last year’s contest as the Blue Devils once again went up against Brooke Henderson and Alexandra Merkel of Shady Side Academy.

The top-seeded Tang and Yang righted themselves and fought hard in the blistering sun at North Allegheny to come away with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory to go back-to back.

“It’s very special,” said Michelle Yang. “Not many people get to do this with their best friend. Neither of us had expectations last year, but knew we could play at a high level. There’s no reason to have expectations because anybody can be beaten. We came into this year with that same mindset. We didn’t want to have the pressure of being defending champs get on us too much.”

There were some nerves at the start as Yang and Tang, who have been playing together for six years, admitted to missing their spots by just inches and even mishitting the ball on their rackets early as they lost the first game of the first set.

The tandem rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the first set and looked to find their groove, but No. 2 seeded Henderson and Merkel found ways to split the next two games and the set went to a tiebreaker.

“We weren’t holding serve as often as we wanted to,” said Jackie Tang. “We got down, but once the points started coming our way, we fought back to even and then became the aggressors.”

Tang and Yang were able to win the tiebreaker, 7-2, and take a hard-fought first set.

“We went back to the basics,” said Yang. “Nothing above your torso works if your feet aren’t there. So, we started to bend our knees and stay lower.”

Merkel and Henderson once again came out and took the first game in the second set. They found the same success they did in the first set when they forced the Blue Devils duo to move laterally across the court.

“They got a lot of points off us, forcing us to run side to side,” said Tang. “But we decided to focus on the variety of our shots, varying up height, speed and spin once we got up, so they didn’t get comfortable.”

The Bulldogs also did a good job of keeping the ball away from the player at the front of the net, which was completely counter to how Tang and Yang like to play.

“We like to take control of the net as soon as we get into a match, and they did a good job of keeping the ball away,” said Yang. “Sometimes you have to take the risk and run across, which we did a lot towards the end.”

Where Henderson and Merkel found success moving Tang and Yang laterally, the Blue Devils found success moving the Bulldogs vertically.

Tang and Yang employed a mix of high-arching returns and drop shots.

“With girls tennis, it’s almost a theme that we don’t like to go to the net and then back to the baseline, I know it’s something I struggle with,” said Tang. “They weren’t very tall, and I think we had the advantage there.”

Added Yang: “When I play singles, I’m comfortable sending those high-arching rallies from the baseline and I just went back into my comfort zone. Then we said, if they want to hit runners off of these very good high balls, good for them, because there was nothing we could do. We just focused on ourselves, more than what they were doing.”

The Blue Devils came away with a 6-2 win in the second set. It looked like a sweep on paper, but Tang and Yang knew their opponents were going to bring their best in the rematch.

“I was expecting them to be super good,” said Tang. “I train at the same place as Brooke and Alex, over at the Upper St. Clair tennis courts, and I heard from all the coaches that they were there practicing and training several days a week.”

“We were expecting them to bring a higher level than they did last year,” Yang said. “They’re a year younger than us, and I expected a bit more nerves on their end, but I fully expected a close match.”

In the Class 3A consolation match, Bethel Park’s fifth-seeded tandem of Mackenzie Smock and Hadley Murello defeated No. 11 seed Catalina Ramirez and Leila Hamade of Upper St. Clair, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-1.

Bearing down

The Class 2A title match also began with the No. 1 seed down early.

In this case, the top-seeded Winchester-Thurston duo of freshman Veronica Zinski and senior Marann Buckanovich were swept in the first set, 6-0, by North Catholic’s second-seeded pair of sophomores, Evelyn Marche and Macaria Stall.

“We were nervous going in, and we weren’t playing our game,” said Buckanovich. “We were playing it too safe, letting them play their game. Some of the games were closer than what the final set score said. We were each finding our game at points, but couldn’t really put it together.”

In that first set, the Bears weren’t attacking much and North Catholic seemed to be in total control, lasering shots back across the net.

After a consultation with their coach between sets, Zinski and Buckanovich came out with a renewed vigor and were returning serves with just as much heat as Marche and Stall did in the first set.

The Bears roared back, taking the next two sets, 7-5, 6-1, to claim the school’s first WPIAL doubles title.

Buckanovich and Zinski have only been playing as a pair for the last two weeks, which makes their run to the title even more impressive.

“It took a lot of communication out on the court for us to get used to how each other plays,” Zinski said. “We understand each other very well.”

“I love doubles. It’s my favorite because you have that dynamic where if you’re not playing well, you can rely on your partner and go back and forth,” said Buckanovich. “We can also bounce ideas off each other, coach each other and always have that person beside us cheering each other on.”

The tandem did that as they battled through a long second set where Zinski was able to get her nerves under control and Buckanovich put force behind her shots.

“Going into that second set, we knew we needed to rally so we started playing our game,” Buckanovich said. “I went to the net, and she started playing the baseline shots, and we played as a team.”

In the third set, the Bears got out to a 1-0 lead, then ran the lead to 4-1 before closing it out 6-1, bringing home gold. At the end of the match, both Buckanovich and Zinski were still processing they had won, but knew their season isn’t over yet.

“I feel very honored to be going to states,” said Zinski.

“I’m super excited,” said Buckanovich. “I’ve never been to states, and I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for us. Veronica is a great, strong player, and for her to come in as a freshman and do what she has is amazing.

“It’s incredible to qualify and to go in as the winner of this region. We’re going to play our best and go as far as we can.”

In the Class 2A consolation match, No. 3 Madalyn Arrow and Giada Cappabianco of Neshannock won 6-2, 6-1 over No. 5 Jane Lenhard and Kate Miller of Quaker Valley.

The top three seeds in both Class 3A and 2A advance to the PIAA tournament Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Hershey Racquet Club.

Tags: Mt. lebanon, North Catholic, Shady Side Academy, Winchester Thurston