Gorman, Wang battle for final PIAA spot
For the second straight season, Mia Gorman emerged from the consolation bracket to earn a berth in the PIAA tennis singles tournament set for Nov. 1-2 in Hershey.
In the battle for third place in Class AAA of the WPIAL, the Bethel Park sophomore sealed her position by beating Kat Wang of Peters Township in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, on the hard courts at Shady Side Academy.
Wang and Gorman advanced to the semifinals with a succession of wins.
Gorman dispatched Amanda Koren of Moon, 10-0, and Marra Bruce from Peters Township, 10-5, in the opening rounds of play before succumbing to Charlotte James from Fox Chapel in three sets, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3, in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Wang defeated Carolina Walters of Latrobe, 10-2, and Hannah Yan from Franklin Regional, 10-7, in pro sets during the first two rounds of play. In a semifinal battle between section champions, Wang fell to Bethany Yauch of Baldwin in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
Yauch was the Section 3 champion over Gorman while Wang captured the Section 4 title with a straight-set victory over Mt. Lebanon’s Lauren Masteller.
Masteller, who won her first-round match against North Allegheny’s Nora Catanzarite, was eliminated by Yauch in the quarterfinals, 10-2.
Maggie Stief from Upper St. Clair dropped out of the tournament, falling in the first round, 10-3, to Latrobe’s Jenna Bell.
Before losing in the quarterfinals, Bruce defeated Shady Side Academy’s Elle Santora, 10-5. Bruce was the third-place finisher in Section 4.
In Class AA, Nicole Kempton defeated Christina Walton, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, in the WPIAL AAA consolation match played at Shady Side Academy. With the victory, the South Park freshman also qualified for the PIAA championships set for November in Hershey.