The seniors on the Shady Side Academy girls' tennis team have known nothing but winning WPIAL championships, and the Indians have a shot to keep it that way this week.

After an undefeated regular season and another Section 3-AAA title, Shady Side Academy began defense of its third consecutive WPIAL team title it won last season Tuesday when the WPIAL tournament began.

"That was one of our goals before the season started, getting to states and carrying on that tradition," junior first singles player Sara Perelman said. "For the seniors it would be their fourth WPIAL title in a row. I think that'd be a pretty cool accomplishment for them, but we've definitely got our work cut out for us this year."

The Indians beat Butler, 5-0, Tuesday and were to play Bethel Park yesterday for a spot in the semifinals, which are scheduled for this afternoon at North Hills.

"It's an amazing run we've had the past four years," coach Jeff Miller said. "The only losses [the seniors on] this team have had were in the [PIAA] finals their freshman and junior years. They're 90-2 [heading into the playoffs] in almost four years of play."

The seniors on this season's team are Allie Rath, Jen Cozen and Megan Lowery. Heading into this postseason, they hadn't been witness to a loss outside of the Hershey Racquet Club, where the PIAA tournament takes place.

The two WPIAL finalists qualify for this season's PIAA event, which begins Tuesday at sites across the state. It moves to Hershey for the quarterfinals Oct. 30 and semifinals and final Oct. 31.

Perelman, who resides in Squirrel Hill, won the section singles title and was a WPIAL Class AAA singles tournament semifinalist.

"She's a tenacious competitor, hard-working, and she is willing to listen to coaching," Miller said. "She's able to adjust her game as she goes on. She's a little on the smaller side of some players, so at times she has to be crafty ... She has beautiful groundstrokes. She mostly stays on the baseline."

Perelman, who has several Ivy League schools interested in her, has consistently been ranked among the top 150 players in the country for her age group in recent years and is ranked No. 13 by the USTA in its Middle States Region, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and parts of West Virginia.

Perelman put together a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation called Swing for the Cure, which is a clinic for players ages 4 through 13. She began the event three years ago as a community service project for her bat mitzvah and to honor her cousin, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

To date, it has raised more than $30,000.

"I want to continue this, and hopefully it will just get bigger and bigger," Perelman said. "It's really fun, and I think the kids learn a lot, and I also think it's a lot of fun for them. My cousin and my aunt and uncle come out every year and really appreciate it, so it's been good."

Perelman has lost this season only to Plum's Ronit Yurovsky in team play during the regular season. Sophomore Alexa Miller, who is from the north suburbs, has posted a similarly stellar record at second singles.

Rath and Cozen are co-captains of the team. Rath lives in Fox Chapel and plays third singles; Cozen is from Pittsburgh and partners with junior Lisha Gu at first doubles. Gu resides in the North Allegheny School District.

A resident of southern Butler County, Rachel Diehl plays second doubles with Cozen's sister, Lindsay, a sophomore. Other contributors include juniors Haley Mears and Alex Koi, who have seen some playing time during the season.

Jen Cozen and Gu won the section doubles tournament, and those two as well as the pairing of Lindsay Cozen and Diehl qualified for the WPIAL doubles tournament.

"There are a number of people contributing, one through seven, 10, 12," Jeff Miller said. "To be a successful tennis program, that's what you have to have happen."

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