Chartiers Valley tandem wins WPIAL doubles title
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Brendan Hallisey (left) and Liam Pedersen (right) combined to capture the WPIAL Class AA doubles title. It was the first tennis championship in Chartiers Valley High School history.
Chartiers Valley junior Brendan Hallisey returns a shot during WPIAL Class AA doubles championship action. Hallisey combined with Liam Pedersen and beat Josh Havrilla and August Lawrence from Greater Latrobe, 6-2, 6-3
Liam Pedersen returns a shot during WPIAL Class AA doubles championship action.
Liam Pedersen returns a volley during WPIAL Class AA doubles championship action.
Liam Pedersen and Brendan Hallisey combined to become the first tennis champions in Chartiers Valley High School history when they defeated Josh Havrilla and August Lawrence from Greater Latrobe, 6-2, 6-3, in the WPIAL Class AA doubles finals played April 26 at the Bethel Park High School courts.
“They were on fire. Outstanding” said CV head coach Bobby Mack. “It was great to watch them. They worked so hard and they deserved this.”
Even though they have been a doubles team for only two weeks and drew a No. 9 seed in the two-day event, Mack had an indication the duo would be successful. Pedersen and Hallisey told him so.
“From the time they got in my car for the drive over here, they were into this. Their minds were focused. They even said, ‘we are going all the way, coach.’ They had a great attitude about this and they played really well.”
Pedersen and Hallisey opened action with 10-6 pro set wins against North Catholic’s tandem of Alex Garvey and Justin Kontul and the top-seeded duo of Sebastian Tan and Alex Quigley from Sewickley Academy.
In the semifinals, Pederson and Hallisey outlasted the South Park pair of Jonah Jasek and Steven Duing, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to set up the championship encounter with Havrilla and Lawrence.
Mack said that Pedersen and Hallisey negotiated their way through the tournament because they “compliment” each other and “know” their positions.
Pedersen provides the brains and Hallisey the brawn.
A senior, Pedersen ranks No. 2 in his class with a 5.0 GPA. He will major in applied mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh this fall.
He said he mental faculties enable him to excel on the court.
“It helps for sure because I am able to pick up on body language, the opponent’s tendencies as well as what my teammate is doing well that day, what they need to hear,” Pedersen said. “Whenever I started playing tennis, my buddies said that the game is 90 percent mental. So having that edge is a big advantage.”
Athleticism is Hallisey’s asset. In addition to being ranked No. 33 in his age classification in tennis, he is the goalie on the high school varsity soccer club.
”I am definitely better at tennis but soccer, I have to say, is really fun. I actually feel that because I’m a goalie, I’m really agile on the court in that way. I am able to move left to right quickly and I can react super fast to things.”
Thanks to Pedersen’s service and Hallisey’s ground strokes, the Colts easily dispatched the Wildcats. The CV tandem opened 3-0 leads in both sets before Havrilla and Lawrence rallied to make it 4-2.
”My serve is my biggest asset. I definitely put the most work into that,” Pedersen said. “Service is huge in doubles as is the mental game, staying strong and having enough fortitude.”
Hallisey added the pair’s volleys were on point and their strokes really took off. However, there was another element that determined victory.
“Our chemistry is insane,” he said. “We work really well together.”
Pedersen agreed. “We’ve gotten to be great friends. From playing so much tennis together, you are kind of forced to bond. You figure out how the other person plays, the shots they like to hit, their tendencies. For sure, we have super good chemistry.”
Practices together have allowed the duo to perfect their game, too.
“Everybody plays their best tennis when they are feeling fluid,” Pedersen said. “It’s always easiest to play in practice than in a match. So whatever we can do to replicate that feeling, we try to do.”
While Pedersen and Hallisey are No. 1 and No. 2 singles players and have CV poised to challenge for a WPIAL team title beginning in May, they will also be playing plenty of doubles. By virtue of their district triumph, they have qualified them for the PIAA championships to be held May 25-26 at the Hershey Racquet Club.
“We have high hopes for states,” said Hallisey.
“The goal is to win it all,” said Pedersen.
USC duo thirdIn Class AAA action, Upper St. Clair’s duo of Ronan Gibbons and Ari Plutko took the bronze medal. They won the consolation match by default against Fox Chapel’s Cooper and Mason Friday.
Gibbons and Plutko, who were section champions and seeded third in the tournament, opened action with pro set wins, against Pine-Richland’s Ian Hurt and Nathan Bang, 10-1, and Shady Side Academy’s Chase Hartman and Sid Ramineni, 10-2.
In the semifinals, Gibbons and Plutko succumbed to Allderdice’s Deniz Finkel and Ian Kuchera, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Finkel and Kuchera lost their championship bid to top-seeded Adam Memije and Zidaan Hassan from Gateway, 6-4, 6-1, in the finals played April 26 at Bethel Park.