New doubles combination advances to WPIALs for Quaker Valley

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, April 27, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Two sets of Quaker Valley tennis tandems competed in the Section 3-2A boys doubles tournament April 15-16 at Sewickley Academy’s Nichols Courts.

Sophomore Will Meagher and senior Matthew Henry qualified for the WPIAL doubles tournament set for April 22-23 by finishing as the section runner-up.

“From preseason, the plan was hatched for our No. 1 player Will Meagher and No. 2 Tanner Schultz to team up to compete in our section doubles, and hopefully beyond. We were all excited about the prospect,” QV coach Christi Hays said. “The boys weren’t even really disappointed in the fact that even though they both qualified to participate in the WPIAL singles, they didn’t get past the quarters. So the plan was still in place for them the participate in the section doubles.

“But over the weekend (prior to section doubles), a number of our varsity tennis players whose main sport is soccer participated in a soccer showcase in Indiana. Coaches hold their breath because what is always a possibility happened: Tanner returned home in a boot with a severely sprained ankle. His participation in the section doubles was cut short.”

That’s when Henry, the Quakers’ team captain, pinch hit.

“The choice was an obvious one for me as a coach,” Hays said. “The same week as the WPIAL singles we participated in the MAC team competition and our No. 1 doubles team for that event was Matthew Henry and freshman Dom Ditano. They had never played together, but you never would have known it. They got better and better with each match and really played solidly, losing only in the finals to Mars, a 3A team.

“I decided to use both boys — Matthew at first doubles with Will, and Dom with sophomore Charlie Pyle — for the section doubles.”

The top four finishers from each sectional tournament qualified for the WPIAL championships. The results from the championship and consolation matches in each section helped determine the order of seeding for district doubles.

It couldn’t have been much closer in the Section 3 championship match as Meagher and Henry lost to North Catholic’s Alex Weber, a junior, and Alex Lopez Foubert, a senior, by the final score of 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-7 (5).

“Our section doubles draw was loaded with two teams each from second-place Hampton and section champion North Catholic,” Hays said. ” Meagher/Henry and Ditano/Pyle were seeded No. 1 and No. 6.”

After receiving a first-round bye, Meagher and Henry defeated No. 9 Noah Skaugen and Matthew Lawrence, both seniors at Springdale, 10-2, followed by a 6-2, 6-4 victory against No. 5 seed Jake Sinclair and Paddy McCabe, a pair of NC freshmen.

“All the coaches, teammates and spectators who witnessed the final match said it was such high quality that it was a shame either team had to lose, as the saying goes,” Hays said. “But it really was true. Both teams displayed a very high doubles IQ with aggressive net play and shifting strategy in positioning.

“Doubles requires a different mindset and skill set from singles, and both teams implemented both. There were many lead changes, and the difference came down to a few points.”

Meagher and Henry received the fifth seed for the WPIAL playoffs and were scheduled to face junior Jonah Camardese and sophomore Trey Varga of Montour, the No. 12 seed, in their opening match April 22 at North Allegheny.

Pyle and Ditano advanced to the quarterfinals of the section tournament. The QV pair rolled to a 10-0 decision against Springdale sophomores Casey Dale and Ben Spencer, who were seeded 11th, before losing 10-2 to Hampton juniors A.J. List and Zane List, the No. 3 seed.

Quaker Valley ended up third in Section 3 and was 6-3 overall with losses to Sewickley Academy, North Catholic and Hampton.

“Our section was arguably the toughest of the four (2A) sections,” Hays said. “We have wins over 3A Moon, 3A Montour and, in the section, West Alle­gheny, Knoch, Springdale and Highlands.

“I think we will get a reasonable seed in the WPIAL tournament based on the strength of our section. And then it will be fun to see what this scrappy squad can do. I have been extremely proud of how cooperative they’ve been with the changing lineups and positions as we try to peak at the right time.”

QV’s veteran coach said the Quakers were a young squad at the beginning of the season but have grown with each match.

“And we were untested,” Hays said, “but we have now been tested by many things. The weather, for one, has been challenging, dealing with wind and cold, etc. We have been tested while trying to come up with our best lineup while competing.

“And we were tested with an ankle injury to (Schultz) before the important North Catholic match. If we had been able to pull off a win, it would have been a three-way tie for the section championship between us, North Catholic and Hampton. Not only were we a little overmatched depth wise against North Catholic, we were a little down after losing such an important piece to our success.”

Nonetheless, Hays remains the ever-positive influence on the QV tennis program.

“It is a really nice, tight group this year,” she said. “I look forward to the pleasure of coaching them down the stretch.”

Sewickley Academy, meanwhile, was represented by freshman Will Bojalad and sophomore Ben Terrell along with seniors Jason Chen and Rob Fogle at the Section 2-3A doubles tennis tournament at North Allegheny.

Both Sewickley tandems finished as quarterfinalists.

Bojalad and Terrell, the No. 2 seed, defeated the 15th seed, North Hills senior Conor Greer and sophomore Luke Meyer, by a 10-2 score before losing to North Allegheny sophomores Ronit Ginde and Shivum Telang, 10-4. Ginde and Telang were seeded seventh.

No. 8 Chen and Fogle captured a 10-4 win against No. 9 Marco Lopez and Kylan Meiers, both juniors at Seneca Valley, in the first round.

The Panthers pair lost a 10-1 quarterfinal decision to NA junior Adhav Ramadas and senior Nick Schuering, who went on to claim the section title as the tournament’s top seed.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy