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WPIAL tennis: Peters Township sweeps Shady Side for title
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Peters Township girls tennis coach Brandt Bowman told his team before the WPIAL Class AAA title match Thursday against Shady Side Academy that it needed to get off to a fast start.
The players heeded his advice.
Top singles player Sara Komer, No. 3 Abby Cummings and the No. 1 doubles pairing of Jen Holcombe and Vida Komer won their matches in less than 50 minutes, taking the suspense out of the championship match as Peters Township won its second consecutive title, 5-0, at The Club Monroeville.
"I told our girls to come ready to play and be confident and get off to a quick start," Bowman said.
Sara Komer easily dispatched of Shady Side freshman Emma Perelman, 6-0, 6-0, while her sister, Vida, and Holcombe took down Shady Side's top doubles tandem of Anisa Khalouf and Maddy Mordoh, 6-1, 6-0. That meant Peters Township needed one more win to take the WPIAL title, and Cummings was leading her match, 6-1, 5-1, against Liza Plakseychuk.
After Plakseychuk saved three match points, Cummings hit a backhand return past the Shady Side junior for the championship point.
"I thought coming in we would be good [Thursday], but it always feels good to close it out," Cummings said.
Peters Township completed the sweep when Chloe Grzyb defeated Lindsey Miller at No. 2 singles, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, and the No. 2 doubles team of Megan Hixon and Morgan Parisi edged Danielle Perelman and Amanda Murphy, 7-5, 7-6 (6-2).
It was the second consecutive year that Peters Township swept Shady Side for the title. Shady Side lost four of its top five players from a year ago, but still reached the final for the eighth year in a row.
"Peters is really good," Shady Side coach Jeff Miller said. "It would have to be our day to beat them. They just have too many big hitters."
Both teams advance to the PIAA Class AAA tournament, which starts Tuesday. Peters Township also beat Shady Side for the PIAA title last season.
First Published October 19, 2012 12:00 am
