Storkel, Stull lead Greensburg Salem girls tennis’ ‘brick wall’

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 20, 2018 | 6:12 PM

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When the WPIAL Class AA singles tennis tournament got under way on Thursday, there were to two new faces on the courts.

Greensburg Salem’s Kasey Storkel and Abby Jo Stull were two of 16 players to qualify for the tournament, a pleasant surprise for a school of roughly 850 students.

Storkel and Stull have been playing together for three years, feeding off their competition in practice and uplifting personalities. On the court, the two describe their approach similarly: becoming a brick wall.

“We have a similar playing style,” Storkel said. “We try to be a brick wall. We try and not let anything past. Since we’re similar in games, we try to feed off each other.”

Storkel is as close to a lifer as one can be as a high schooler. Her Aunt, Kim Kissell, works at the Greensburg Racquet Club. Storkel started to take lessons from Kissell at a young age. Now a junior at Greensburg Salem, she won the Section 1 singles title to qualify for her first WPIAL singles tournament.

After an 11-9 win over Blackhawk’s Julianna Begley in the first round Thursday, she lost to Sewickley Academy’s Simran Bedi, 10-0, in the quarterfinals.

“I’m just excited to get there, understandably I’m a little nervous, as well,” Storkel said. “(This year, I’m) just going to go and experience it, and hopefully I can get back next year.”

While Storkel has been playing tennis her whole life, Stull just started playing her freshman year. Now a senior, she placed fourth in the Section 1 tournament, something her coach, Megan McIntyre, called “a pretty remarkable accomplishment” for someone who’s been playing only four years.

“I picked it up fairly quickly considering I had nothing before,” said Stull, who lost a 10-0 decision to top-seeded Laura Greb from Knoch in the first round Thursday. “But I’ve improved a lot every single year. This year, that was crazy for me to say that I made it to WPIAL singles.”

For Storkel and Stull, tennis had led to more than between-the-lines success. Both laugh at the mention that tennis led them to open up and be more outgoing. As the top players on the team, they’ve naturally grown into leaders for the undefeated Golden Lions.

“They’ve both definitely come out of their shell,” McIntyre said. “They’ve both taken on a leadership role, and that’s something that when I first met them I wouldn’t have expected. They’re both nice girls, but they were both very reserved at first.”

With the singles tournament wrapping up, Greensburg Salem will prepare to play undefeated Greensburg Central Catholic in a Section 1-AA match Oct. 1. The team has already qualified for the WPIAL team tournament, thanks in part to their two young stars.

Nathanael Gabler is a freelance writer.

Tags: Greensburg Salem