Boys' Tennis News

by: Boys Tennis Contributor

There are 351 PIAA schools that fielded a boys’ tennis team in 2026, and then there are the North Allegheny Tigers. In early March, the team set out with a mission, that is, to make history and to “Dominate the State.”  Following Saturday’s PIAA Singles and Doubles Championships, the mission was accomplished. After last week’s Team Championship, several players returned to Hershey on a quest to win more gold medals. The Tigers would not be denied and won both the singles and doubles titles to take the PIAA Triple Crown.

In the doubles tournament, the team of junior Ashwin Sudhakar and senior Matthew Kampi opened play on Friday morning with a solid performance over a talented Wilson team, winning 7-5, 6-4. In the afternoon, the tandem squared off against Conestoga, the team the Tigers bested in the PIAA Team Championship. After a sluggish first set, Sudhakar and Kampi rebounded to dominate the final two sets, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

On Saturday morning, Sudhakar and Kampi faced off against a Hershey team that had a bit of a home court advantage. Undeterred, the duo won the semifinal in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3. This set up a gold medal match with a Pennsbury team supported by a raucous fan base. Sudhakar and Kampi started off strong and silenced the crowd with a 6-1 first set. The second set was a see-saw affair that saw Pennsbury get an early break. The Tigers battled back, got a break of their own, and forced a tiebreaker. Normally a breaker ends at seven points, but that was not enough to decide this match. As the teams traded incredible shot making amongst high drama, NA finally prevailed 10-8 to take the match, 6-1, 7-6 (8). In capturing their first individual gold medals, Sudhakar and Kampi became the first North Allegheny players to win the Doubles Championship since 2015.

Turning to the singles tournament, NA had two entrants in the bracket. Senior standout Evan Kaufman took down McDowell’s top player in the first round, 6-4, 6-4. Unfortunately, he fell in the quarterfinals in a hard-fought battle to Conestoga’s first singles player, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-1. The loss ends the stellar high school career of the Tigers’ captain, but great things lie ahead for the Case Western Reserve commit.

Junior captain Advaita Sircar crushed the best JP McCaskey had to offer in the first round, 6-3, 6-0. He then took on the District 1 runner-up from Council Rock South in quarterfinals. There again, Sircar would easily advance, 6-3, 6-4. In the semifinals, the Tiger netter spent the early part of the first set feeling out Landisville Hempfield’s top singles player before putting his foot on the gas to cruise, 6-3, 6-2.

Last year, Sircar lost the Championship in a well-contested match with Daniel Boone’s Chase Gerloff. This year, the uber-talented Navy commit would leave no doubt as to who is Pennsylvania’s top high school tennis player. Sircar used a combination of powerful serves, suffocating groundstrokes, and blistering passing shots to overwhelm Conestoga’s best player, 6-0, 6-0. The shutout is the first of its kind in the history of the AAA division of the PIAA Singles Championships which dates back to 1942. The Tigers star becomes the first NA player to win singles gold in exactly 50 years as he equals Tom Liebenguth’s accomplishment from 1976. Congratulations, Advaita, on your truly historic achievement!

The North Allegheny Boys Tennis Team set lofty goals this season. In the end, they checked all the boxes. The team won section, WPIAL, and PIAA titles and individual players earned section, WPIAL, and PIAA Championships in both singles and doubles. The PIAA Triple Crown is the first by any school from Western Pennsylvania and only the second in state history by any team. This season goes down not only as the best in NA’s own illustrious history, but as the most dominant performance in PIAA history as well. The Tigers met their goal to “DOMINATE THE STATE”.

Doubles Tournament Summary

First Round
Ashwin Sudhakar/Matthew Kampi (NA) def. Ethan Mengel/Christopher Uzar (Wilson) 7-5, 6-4

Quarterfinals
Sudhakar/Kampi (NA) def. Tristan Lubiniecki/Jake Tsang (Conestoga) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Semifinals
Sudhakar/Kampi (NA) def. Gabriel Yuan/Max Laurore (Hershey) 7-6 (5), 6-3

Championship
Sudhakar/Kampi (NA) def. Frankie Delucia/Vincent Strenge (Pennsbury) 6-1, 7-6 (8)

 

Singles Tournament Summary

First Round
Advaita Sircar (NA) def. Julian Snell (JP McCaskey) 6-3, 6-0
Evan Kaufman (NA) def. David Mikotowicz (McDowell) 6-4, 6-4

Quarterfinals
Advaita Sircar (NA) def. Michael Goldovsky (Council Rock South) 6-3, 6-4
Ethan Sun (Conestoga) def. Evan Kaufman (NA) 4-6, 7-6 (1) 6-1

Semifinals
Advaita Sircar (NA) def. Braylan Garcia (Hempfield) 6-3, 6-2

Championship
Advaita Sircar (NA) def. Ethan Sun (Conestoga) 6-0, 6-0