Tigers Qualify Two Teams for WPIAL Doubles
By: Dom Gliozzi
Each of the WPIAL’s 3A Section 2 girls’ tennis teams presented their best doubles tandems for the 2026 Doubles Tournament Wednesday at NASH. When the six-hour marathon ended, the two Tiger teams found themselves in the semi-finals, thus qualifying for WPIAL Championships. With the home-court advantage at NASH, both Tiger squads handled the early matchups with relative ease.
As defending champions, Mia Kaufman and Sammy Leeman were granted the number one seed to begin play while Remi Hayward and Medha Thirumala picked up the third seed for the tourney. The first team of junior Kaufman and sophomore Leeman defeated Shaler’s #2 team in the first round, 10-4. They then took on Seneca Valley’s 1 st team and won 10-1. The Tigers’ second team of senior Hayward and junior Thirumala was equally dominant, beating Butler’s #2 unit 10-1 in the first round and Butler’s #1 unit 10-2 in the second round.
The semifinals then produced mixed results for the Tigers squads. Kaufman and Leeman faced off against Pine-Richland’s #2 team, Lucy Hynds and Story Wozniak. Regaining her dominant serve, Kaufman controlled her service games while Leeman excelled at return play with aggressive volleys, as the duo took a straight-sets 6-1, 6-2 win. Hayward and Thirumala matched up against Pine-Richland’s #1 team and the 2nd seed, Sonaya Arora and Eve Pellathy. The NA duo took the first set 6-3 with high-energy play but could not retain the momentum and lost the next two sets 6-1, 6-0.
Kaufman and Leeman move on to play in the championship match against Pine-Richland’s #1 team of Arora/Pellathy. Hayward and Thirumala will play the 3rd-place contest against Pine- Richland’s #2 team, Hynds/Wozniak.
The exciting championship competition between the Tigers and Rams will take place on the NASH courts Thursday at 10:30 AM. The winner takes home the section crown. The third-place contest will help determine seeding for the WPIAL Doubles Tournament. All four of the semi-finalists are guaranteed a berth in the WPIAL 3A Doubles Tournament, which begins on
Wednesday, October 7 at Bethel Park.
