Fox Chapel girls hunting WPIAL team tennis title

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, October 8, 2019 | 6:22 PM

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The Fox Chapel girls tennis team lost just once in 12 regular-season matches.

That one setback came to Peters Township in a 3-2 decision Sept. 24.

The Foxes would love to get another crack at the Indians in the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament, set to begin Thursday afternoon.

That matchup would come in the finals as Peters Township and Fox Chapel find themselves on the opposite ends of the bracket as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds.

But before the Foxes and Indians can think about a rematch, they each have to take care of three opponents. Any of the other 14 teams in the 16-team field would love to knock them off. That includes No. 3 Upper St. Clair and No. 4 Latrobe.

North Allegheny, the No. 5 seed, is going after its seventh straight WPIAL title.

“All of the teams are good, and it will be a really competitive tournament,” senior Charlotte James said. “We had some close matches this season. We just have to focus and take it match by match.”

Fox Chapel, which went 9-0 in Section 3 play to win its 24th section title in program history and fourth in the past five seasons, will open with Mars at 3 p.m. on the courts at Fox Chapel High School. Mars defeated West Allegheny in a preliminary round match Tuesday.

Teams that advance to the quarterfinals will play again Monday, with the semifinals Tuesday and the championship and consolation matches Oct. 16 at either North Allegheny or Shady Side Academy.

The top three teams will advance to the PIAA tournament that begins Oct. 22.

James, the WPIAL singles champion, leads the Foxes at No. 1 singles.

Carissa Shepard and Caroline Petrovich, who teamed to finish fourth in the WPIAL doubles tournament, will be at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

The rest of the lineup will see Katie Voigt and Paige Theoret at No. 1 doubles and Diya Reddy and Anna Ferris at No. 2 doubles.

The group won seven matches against teams in the playoff field. Included in that was a 3-2 win over Upper St. Clair in an early season nonsection match and a 3-2 triumph over rival Shady Side Academy in the Section 3 finale on Oct. 1.

Shady Side Academy enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed.

Fox Chapel is seeking its first WPIAL team title since 2004.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.