Top Sewickley Academy, Quaker Valley players look forward to team tennis playoffs

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, April 20, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Severin Harmon has proven to be a top-tier performer in Class 2A throughout his tennis career at Sewickley Academy.

The Panthers are competing in Class 3A this season, and Harmon has picked up where he left off in the lower classification.

The senior received the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL Section 2 singles tournament, where he was the runner-up to North Allegheny’s sophomore whiz Advaita Sircar.

Harmon coasted past Butler senior and No. 15 seed Wyatt Morgus, 10-0, in the first round and repeated his performance in the quarterfinals by blanking Mars senior and No. 7 seed Ethan Palmer by the same 10-0 score.

Harmon defeated North Allegheny senior and No. 3 seed Sri Thirumala, 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinal round before dropping a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Sircar, the No. 1 seed.

“My personal goals are a bit different than last year since we’re competing in 3A,” Harmon said. “My goal this year is just to help get this team as far as we can against the difficult competition.

“I think we have a strong team this year. I know we’re all motivated to make it to the WPIAL playoffs and fight for another championship, even though we’re playing up a division.”

Harmon, who plans to attend Dartmouth in the fall, is a four-year starter and has been the team’s No. 1 singles player throughout his career. He also has been a top golfer.

“We lost some great seniors from last season, but we’ve got some younger guys who have stepped up in a big way,” Harmon said. “Will Bojalad is a great addition to the team, and our doubles players have improved tremendously during the offseason.”

Harmon was assigned the seventh seed for the WPIAL 3A singles tournament, where he was upset by the 10th seed, Mt. Lebanon sophomore Luca Ritivoi, 10-2.

Sewickley Academy freshman Will Bojalad won once in the section tournament, defeating Moon sophomore and No. 12 seed Adam Jaczcar, 10-1, in the first round.

Bojalad, who was seeded fifth, lost by a 10-4 score to Pine-Richland junior and No. 4 seed Ryan Moore in the quarterfinals.

“Overall, it was a great experience,” Bojalad said. “I learned a lot about what it takes to compete at a high level, and that experience has helped me improve in my recent matches. It helped me better understand what I need to work on and boosted my confidence going forward.

“My season has been going great. I’ve enjoyed spending time with my teammates and competing in such a high-energy, competitive environment. I’ve learned so much, both on and off the court. Overall, I feel like I’ve grown a lot and improved as a player this season.”

Bojalad jumped into the Panthers’ starting lineup from the season’s onset.

“I’ve really enjoyed playing at the varsity level as a freshman,” he said. “It’s taught me a lot about what it takes to win and compete at a higher level. The experience has been even better thanks to the support of our co-captains, Severin and Sebastian (Tan), and my coach, Whitney Snyder. They’ve all helped me feel confident and part of the team from the start.

“I’m grateful to be part of such a healthy, competitive environment. It’s been an awesome experience so far, and I’m looking forward to what the rest of the season will bring. We have a lot of talent, and we’ve already had some great experiences and solid results in our matches against other 3A teams. I think we have the potential to go far if we keep working hard and supporting each other.”

Quaker Valley sophomore Will Meagher, meanwhile, landed a bye in the first round of the Section 3-2A singles tournament thanks to his No. 2 seeding.

Meagher finished as the section runner-up to North Catholic’s Justin Garvey, the tournament’s top seed. Garvey won a close match by scores of 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the championship round.

“I am OK with my results but not quite happy because I feel like I lost close matches that could’ve gotten me a lot further in WPIALs,” Meagher said. “As far as my performance goes, I played pretty solid. I just need to finish out matches better.

“And I think our team has a good shot at making it far in WPIALs and possibly winning.”

Meagher defeated Hampton junior and No. 7 seed Zane List, 10-1, in the quarterfinals and North Catholic junior and No. 3 seed Alex Weber, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinal round.

QV junior Tanner Schultz, the No. 4 seed, won twice in the tournament and ended up in fourth place.

“I’m very proud of my performance because I managed to get a spot in WPIALs,” Schultz said. “This is big for me because tennis isn’t necessarily my main sport, so I think it’s really awesome that I can still go out and make WPIALs.

“My expectations for the team are very high. Many expected us to be way worse than we were last year because of all the seniors we lost, but we have a lot of good players and new freshman that have definitely turned heads.”

Schultz blanked Springdale senior and No. 13 seed Noah Skaugen, 10-0, and beat Hampton senior and No. 5 seed J.J. Edwards, 10-7, before dropping a 6-4, 6-0 decision to Garvey in the semifinal round.

Schultz faced Weber in the third-place consolation match, where he lost by a 6-2, 6-0 score to end up fourth.

The top four finishers in both tournaments qualified for the WPIAL championships.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy