North Allegheny boys tennis ready to defend WPIAL title

By: John Grupp
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The North Allegheny boys tennis team snapped a 15-year WPIAL title drought last spring.

The Tigers’ wait for another championship should be much shorter.

Led by reigning WPIAL Class 3A singles champion Advaita Sircar, North Allegheny welcomes back five of its top seven players from last year’s 18-1 PIAA semifinalist.

“Whenever you return the defending WPIAL champion, you’ve got a pretty good shot at the rest of them,” said coach Matt Woffington, who won it all in his first season leading his alma mater. “Obviously, we have the strength at the top, which is great. But we also have depth. It’s hard to tell our four or five double players apart. They are all so good and steady and consistent.”

Sircar last season became the first NA boy since 2006 — and only the third since 1976 — to win the WPIAL singles championship. He was the first freshman to win in Class 3A since Peters Township’s Connor Bruce in ‘17.

Sircar’s bid to repeat won’t be easy. Gateway senior Adam Memije, last year’s WPIAL runner-up, returns, and Sewickley Academy senior Severin Harmon, the defending WPIAL Class 2A champ, is part of the Class 3A field after the Panthers moved up into NA’s section.

Woffington, a 1993 NA graduate whose father, John, coached tennis at the school from 1971-2009, said Sircar is more imposing this season.

“The biggest thing is he’s just gotten bigger and stronger,” Woffington said. “As a freshman, he was taller. But he was a little bit skinnier. He’s kind of filled out. He’s hitting the ball a ton. He’s able to move people around the court real well with that added power and strength that he has.”

Junior Evan Kaufman, coming back from offseason shoulder surgery, will handle No. 2 singles once he’s 100%.

Three doubles players from last season, senior Sri Thirumala, junior Adhav Ramadas and sophomore Shivum Telang, are auditioning for the No. 3 singles spot.

The doubles teams were still being settled during early March tryouts, but Thirumala, Ramadas and Telang — whoever isn’t playing singles — and senior Nick Scheuring, a first-year varsity player, will be counted on. Freshman Ronit Ginde also showed promise at tryouts that attracted 49 boys.

“I think we are looking really good,” Thirumala said. “We saw a lot of talent with the newcomers. … We have a lot of good doubles players that last year didn’t get as many chances to play. But you can see their growth. It will be really exciting.”

The Tigers, slated to open their 16-match regular season against visiting Hampton on March 10, will have to work harder in Section 2-3A. Sewickley Academy, the two-time defending WPIAL Class 2A champion and the winningest tennis program in district history, was elevated into Class 3A during the offseason realignment. North Allegheny visits the Panthers on April 4.

Gateway, meanwhile, returns its top three singles players from last year’s WPIAL Class 3A runner-up.

Thirumala remains confident as the Tigers look to repeat as WPIAL champions for only the second time in program history (2000-01).

“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, but I feel like we definitely have the match experience from last year,” he said. “We know what it takes. I think we have a good chance.”

Tags: North Allegheny