Boys' Tennis News

by: Boys Tennis Contributor

The North Allegheny Boys’ Tennis Team faced a daunting task on Saturday when they took on the three-time defending State Champions, Conestoga Pioneers, in the PIAA Final. The talk around Hershey all weekend and on social media was whether Conestoga had a “4-Peat Loading”. The Tigers made sure the sought after “4-Peat” failed to launch as the “Best in the West” took down the “Beast of the East” to DOMINATE THE STATE. The “underdog” NA team was loud and proud as they routed the defending champs, 3-1 to win their third PIAA Title and first since 2009.  In doing so, the Tigers amassed a perfect 21-0 record for only the third undefeated season in program history.

Early on in the match, Conestoga seemed to have all the momentum as their fans and team were quite raucous. However, midway through the first sets, the tide began to turn, and the Tigers stole their thunder. Leading the way for the Tigers, as he so often does, was the exceptionally talented junior captain, Advaita Sircar as he demolished Ethan Sun at first singles, 6-1, 6-0. Sircar, playing against some of the top players in the state, amazingly only dropped three total games in the four State playoff matches in which he played. His tremendous performance over the weekend earned him Man of the Tournament honors in a unanimous vote. Captain Evan Kaufman doubled the lead almost immediately as he trounced Sean Fan at second singles, 6-1, 6-1. Playing in his final high school dual match, the senior standout proved why he is the undisputed heart and soul of the Tigers.

Conestoga cut the lead in half as they took first doubles, 6-0, 6-3. Senior captain Adhav Ramadas and fellow senior Matthew Kampi battled back in the second set but dropped a difficult decision to Jake Tsang and Leo Brown. Ramadas completes his stellar Tiger career as the only NA netter to play in four straight WPIAL and PIAA Team Championships. Junior Ashwin Sudhakar got off to a bit of a slow start for him but was rallying and clearly on his way to victory against Tristan Lubiniecki at second singles, 3-6, 6-0, 0-1 when the team match was decided.

For the third straight contest in Hershey, the clinching point came at second doubles. Juniors Ronit Ginde and Shivum Telang provided the winning point as they dominated Jake Duffy and Will Connelly, 6-2, 6-2. Ginde, playing with two different partners in the four PIAA playoff matches was the stalwart at second doubles. Meanwhile, Telang had himself quite the weekend. On Friday, he won a prestigious ISEF award in Phoenix, Arizona, hopped on a late-night flight to Pittsburgh, and drove overnight to Hershey to join his teammates for the final two matches of the season. In both instances, Telang and teammate Ginde netted the contest winning point for North Allegheny earning the tandem Men of the Match honors.

The Tigers ended an unprecedented run for District I teams as they became the first team to win the PIAA Championship from another district since 2014. The 2026 team joins the 2005 and 2009 teams coached by John Woffington, Head Coach Matt Woffington’s father, as the only Team Champions in NA’s illustrious tennis history.

The Tigers have collected quite a bit of hardware already in this historic season. NA players have won WPIAL  silver in singles (Kaufman), WPIAL gold in singles (Sircar), WPIAL gold in doubles (Sudhakar and Kampi), WPIAL gold as a team, and now PIAA gold as a team. However, there is still some unfinished business as four players will travel back to Hershey to compete in individual competition next week.  Sircar and Kaufman will compete in the PIAA Singles Championships while Sudhakar and Kampi will play in the PIAA Doubles Championships.

Match Summary

05/16/26

North Allegheny 3  Conestoga 1

Singles
#1  Advaita Sircar (NA) def. Ethan Sun (CON) 6-1, 6-0
#2  Ashwin Sudhakar (NA) vs Tristan Lubiniecki (CON) 3-6, 6-0, 0-1 DNF
#3  Evan Kaufman (NA) def. Sean Fan (CON) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
#1  Jake Tsang/Leo Brown (CON) def. Adhav Ramadas/Matthew Kampi (NA) 6-0, 6-3
#2  Ronit Ginde/Shivum Telang (NA) def. Jake Duffy/Will Connelly (CON) 6-2, 6-2