Butler Area High School junior Matt Slamecka is poised to play his final scholastic tennis match of the season either tomorrow or Saturday in Hershey at the PIAA Class AAA singles tournament.

No matter what happens at the Hershey Racquet Club during the next 48 hours -- be that Slamecka losing in the first round to DeSean Fennell of Philadelphia Roman Catholic at noon tomorrow or him winning three matches to advance all the way to Saturday's 3 p.m. final -- the fact Slamecka is even there is cause for celebration for him and his family.

That's because a few months ago, Slamecka couldn't even swing a tennis racket.

The ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow was "practically torn," he said. Slamecka said he "didn't do anything" to train for about three months, and he was kept out of competitive tennis for longer than that.

He almost underwent surgery to correct the problem but it eventually healed on its own and Slamecka was able to ease his way back into tennis.

"He's had a great season, no matter the circumstances," Butler coach Dave Hartzell said. "But looking at it and considering what happened to his elbow, it's especially good."

In addition to leading the Golden Tornado as its first singles player to a 14-3 record during the dual-meet season and a berth in the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament, advancing to the semifinals, Slamecka won the competitive Section 2-AAA singles tournament and was a WPIAL singles finalist.

During his time away from tennis, he considered surgery as an option and that would have kept him out for an extended period.

"[Sitting out] was tough," Slamecka said. "But it has worked out. Everything feels 100 percent now."

Slamecka, who is ranked 11th among players 18-and-under in the USTA's Middle States region that covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and parts of West Virginia, is a year-round player and fixture on the junior tournament circuit.

"I think the best aspect of his game is his service return," Hartzell said. "He seems to be able to neutralize big servers and get a chance to break them fairly regularly. That throws them off because they're not used to players who return their serves as well as he does."

Slamecka's serve has also improved as he has gotten bigger and stronger in recent years.

It adds up to enough that he is confident he can go deep into the PIAA tournament.

"I'm looking to do pretty well," Slamecka said. "I think I have a pretty good shot at making the finals, or at least the semis, if I play well."

As a team, Butler's only defeats were to PIAA tournament-qualifying teams (eventual WPIAL and PIAA champion North Allegheny twice and Fox Chapel in the semifinals).

Junior Evan Kowalski proved to be a strong second singles player, and freshman Will Nesbitt was undefeated at third singles.

Junior Stefan Kemp and freshman Zac McCafferty played first doubles and senior Matt Fend and freshman Kemper May were at second doubles.

"It was a real good year," Slamecka said. "And I think we have a real solid chance to do even better and get to states next year with [virtually] our whole team coming back."

The WPIAL Class AAA doubles champions, Fox Chapel's Shankar Rajuput and Brad Portnoy, were placed at the top of the PIAA tournament bracket.

A sophomore and junior, respectively, the two were singles players for the Foxes' WPIAL runner-up and PIAA qualifier team.

"I've got to think my guys will rise to the occasion," Foxes coach David Prevost said. "I think they're pretty darn good. Everybody's quality up there. We'll see what happens in Hershey."

Rajuput and Portnoy defeated the North Allegheny duo of Matt Kosovec and Matt Smith in the WPIAL title match. An injury to Kosovec during last weekend's PIAA team championship match, however, forced the Tigers' team to withdraw, opening a spot for WPIAL third-place finisher Vivek Nimgaonkar and Justin Hunt of Shady Side Academy to enter the event. The pair is young -- Nimgaonkar is a freshman and Hunt a sophomore.

Sewickley Academy had entrants qualify for both the Class AA singles and doubles tournaments. Senior Jeff DelPresto was the WPIAL's third-place Class AA singles player, while Jordan Chang and Kareem Termanini took the bronze in doubles.

All three were vital parts of a Panthers team that won the WPIAL team title again and advanced to the PIAA Class AA team semifinals.