Sophomores Laurel Shymansky & Lacey Cohen claimed the WPIAL AAA Tennis Doubles title on October 3rd. The duo defeated Maddy Adams & Anna Li of North Allegheny 7-5, 6-4 to claim gold. Laurel & Lacey claimed 8 straight victories, without dropping a set, in their journey through the Section and WPIAL Doubles tournaments.
Coach Alex Slezak had this to say, “If you care and if you dare pressure will always be there. Being clutch is not making the big shots, instead it is the willingness to dive into the pressure and take the chance to make the big shots at the right moment.
Laurel & Lacey were consistently willing to dive into the pressure and play clutch tennis, especially in the finals.” Laurel and Lacey both said in an interview after the match that “a big key to their success in the finals was knowing when to play aggressively and when to chisel away at their opponents in an effort to control the momentum of the match”
The tandem will continue on in another quest for gold, this time at the PIAA Doubles Tournament November 1st at the famous Hershey Racquet Club in central Pennsylvania. In the meantime they will continue working to improve their games along with leading the Foxes into WPIAL Team Playoff competition next week. The Foxes finished the regular season with a record of 14-3 on the courts.