Tigers tame Panthers, advance to WPIAL Championship
by: Boys Tennis Contributor
For the second time in eleven days, North Allegheny took on the Panthers of Upper St. Clair. While the first meeting was a friendly exhibition match, this time much more was at stake—a trip to the WPIAL Championship Match. Therefore, the Tigers did what they have done so often this season and shut out their opponent.
North Allegheny got on the board first thanks to a wonderful performance by their team captains at 1st doubles. Senior Nick Scheuring and junior Adhav Ramadas took control early and breezed to a 6-1, 6-3 win. The decisive victory gave the team a lead it wouldn’t relinquish and was enough to earn the pair “Men of the Match” honors. Following in the same vein, the 2nd doubles team of sophomores Shivum Telang and Ronit Ginde silenced their opponents by an identical score of 6-1, 6-3 to double NA’s lead to 2-0.
As the skies grew dark with imminent rain, all eyes turned to the singles matches to see if NA could finish off the win before the weather had a say and potentially granted USC a temporary reprieve. Senior standout Sri Thirumala would have none of it. After a close back and forth first set, the Tiger netter saw his chance to end the match and quiet the raucous Panther supporters. Thirumala clinched the victory at 3rd singles with a 6-4, 6-0 win to advance the #1 seeds to the championship for the third straight season.
Shortly thereafter, sophomore sensation Advaita Sircar finished off his worthy adversary at 1st singles, 6-3, 6-3 to leave no doubt as to who was the better team on this day. Sircar is still unbeaten in dual match play for NA this season. Finally, junior Evan Kaufman struggled early on, but once again came roaring back. Unfortunately, lightning in the area precluded him from completing the comeback as the match was called just as he found his stride, 4-6, 6-2 (DNF)
Up next, the Tigers will take on the Gateway Gators in the WPIAL Championship Match for the third time in a row. The teams split the previous two meetings with Gateway winning in 2023 and the Tigers prevailing last season. The match will be held at the Janet L. Swanson Tennis Center at Washington & Jefferson College on Wednesday at 2:00 PM.
Boys Tennis Summary vs. Upper St. Clair, 5-5-25
| MATCH SUMMARY | NORTH ALLEGHENY 4 - UPPER ST. CLAIR 0 | |
|---|---|---|
| SINGLES | ||
| #1 | Advaita Sircar (NA) def. Ari Plutko (USC) | 6-3, 6-3 |
| #2 | Evan Kaufman (NA) def. Shawn Khurana (USC) | 4-6, 6-2 (DNF) |
| #3 | Sri Thirumala (NA) def. Sid Weissert (USC) | 6-4, 6-0 |
| DOUBLES | ||
| #1 | Adhav Ramadas/Nick Scheuring (NA) def. Saajin Laffin/Ben Seewald (USC) | 6-1, 6-3 |
| #2 | Ronit Ginde/Shivum Telang (NA) def. Anderson Ploeger/Michael Barrie (USC) | 6-1, 6-3 |
