Bethel Park duo win section title
In an all-Bethel Park final, the tandem of Cami Fisher and Lilly Sierka defeated the duo of Katie Peterson and Emma Smith, 6-1, 6-4, to capture the Section 4-AAA doubles title.
All four Lady Hawks advanced to the WPIAL doubles tournament to be held Oct. 4-5 at North Allegheny.
Joining the foursome in the district tournament will be Mt. Lebanon’s two doubles teams. Sophia Cunningham and Slyvie Eriksen dispatched Jacki Tang and Ellie Tatel, 6-4, 6-3, in the consolation match.
A senior, Sierka and Fisher, a freshman, breezed into the semifinals with pro-set, shutout wins, 10-0, against West Allegheny’s pairing of Kelsie Sabin and Lindsay Worthington as well as Upper St. Clair’s team of Riley Caslin and Izzy Zhang. Sierka and Fisher then beat Tang and Tatel, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the finals.
Peterson and Smith won their opening rounds against Peters Township’s Cassidy Griffith and Abbie Segal, 10-0, and USC’s Evie Ellenberger and Maya Hamada, 10-5. The seniors then outlasted Cunningham and Eriksen, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the semifinals.
Cunningham and Eriksen, who combined for last year’s WPIAL doubles title, won their opening match against South Fayette’s Mia DeRoss and Navy Paluri, 10-1, before blanking Trinity’s Victoria Emerich and Kelsey Flynn, 10-0, in the quarterfinals.
Tang and Tatel reached the semifinals with wins, 10-1 and 10-4, against Trinity’s Sydney McWreath and Victoria Jacobs and PT’s Keiran Moorhead and Neve Zuzek in the opening rounds.
Other local pairings in the tournament included: Canon-McMillan’s Sienna Fell and Autumn Vogel as well as Jade Clark and Francesa Mollenaur.
In AA action, Milla Konakchieva and Maddie Cioccio from Chartiers Valley combined for the Section 2 title. The seniors defeated their teammates, too, in the championship match, dispatching Elle and Mari Wilshire, 6-3, 6-2.
Konakchieva and Ciccio won their first round bouts, 10-0, against Washington’s Gloris Rush and Kara Anderson as well as 10-4 against McGuffey’s Gianna Bloom and Hailee Kay. In the semifinals, they dispatched South Park’s Kaitlyn Mattas and Ava Grisetti, 6-2, 6-2.
After a first-round bye, the Wilshires reached the championship match with a 10-3 pro set win against Avella’s Emilee Stealey and Katie Smitsky and a semifinal triumph, 6-1, 6-2, against SP’s Elli-Anne Laing and Nicole Camargo.
In the consolation bout, Laing and Camargo defeated Mattas and Grisetti, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) for third place. Both South Park teams along with the CV tandems advanced to the WPIAL Class AA doubles tournament to be held Oct. 4-5. The first rounds will be played at Bethel Park but the finals will be held at North Allegheny.