Girls Tennis
As the fourth seed in the WPIAL Class 2A tournament, the Sewickley Academy girls tennis team had high expectations for a successful run.
Sewickley lost 3-2 to No. 5 Oakland Catholic in the quarterfinals after defeating No. 13 Central Valley 4-1 in the opening round.
Senior Maria Sirianni at No. 2, sophomore Isabele Zuluaga at No. 3, and senior Rayna Thakkar at No. 1 singles led the Panthers this season.
After the WPIAL first-round victory, coach Whitney Snyder stated, “The team has been doing well.” The team is comparatively young. Anjali Shaw, Gwyn Belt, and Abby Bojalad, our three starters from the previous season, were gone. Last year, none of the three girls who took their spot were on the varsity.
The pairings of junior Annabelle Christ and sophomore Rani Shah at first doubles, as well as two seniors, Brooke Busatto and Skylar Nocito, enhanced the singles players.
The squad was completed by junior Vanshika Jeevan and two sophomores, Madelyn Capozzi and Sofia DiCicco.
In their first-round triumph overgirls tennis Central Valley at home at Nichols Courts, the Panthers dominated play.
Sports News,9 girls tennis tournament brackets are announced,Section
Sirianni and Thakkar both won 6-1, 6-0. Christ and Shaw won with a score of 6-0, 6-2. Nocito and Busatto swept to a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Three times in team competition and once in doubles, Thakkar, a four-year varsity athlete, has made it to the PIAA tournament.
“I believe our squad has performed admirably. Team spirit and camaraderie have been strong. I can leave feeling content and proud of the program.
Similar to Thakkar, Sirianni began playing tennis at the age of seven. After three years of varsity competition, Sirianni has made it to the PIAA playoffs twice in the team division.
“In 2024, it’s been fantastic,” she remarked. “We had a good turnout this year, despite losing three of our starters from the previous year. We’ve performed remarkably well.
As the second seed in the Section 5-2A singles competition, Thakkar defeated Our Lady of the Sacred Heart senior Therese Bernas 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-2 in the final round.
The number one seed was Bernas. As the eighth seed, Zuluago also earned a spot in the tournament.
Capozzi and Jeevan were seeded eighth in the WPIAL doubles competition, while Zuluaga and DiCicco were given the sixth seed.
ranked fourth in the WPIAL singles playoffs and made it to the quarterfinals after defeating junior Bella Colatriano of Lincoln Park 10-1 in the
Sirianni and Thakkar both intend to go to college in the hopes of advancing their tennis careers. Sirianni will choose between business and marketing as her major, while Thakkar wants to study biology.
While Busatto and Nocito are dual-sport players at QV, the two girls devote themselves entirely to tennis throughout the year. Nocito plays basketball in the winter, whereas Busatto plays lacrosse in the spring.
With a 5-1 record, SA’s girls tennis team placed second in Section 5-2A this autumn. Overall, the Panthers finished 9–4.
