Boys Tennis MVP: Liam Pedersen & Brendan Hallisey, Chartiers Valley
Liam Pedersen and Brendan Hallisey made history this spring. The pair combined to become the first tennis champions in Chartiers Valley High School history when they defeated Josh Havrilla and August Lawrence from Latrobe, 6-2, 6-3, in the WPIAL Class 2A doubles finals played April 26 at the Bethel Park High School courts.
“They were on fire. Outstanding” said CV head coach Bobby Mack. “It was great to watch them. They worked so hard and they deserved this.”
Even though they had been a doubles team for only two weeks and drew a No. 9 seed in the two-day event, they clicked together because of Pedersen’s serve and sense and Hallisey’s brawn and versatility.
A senior, Pedersen ranked No. 2 in his class with a 5.0 GPA. He will major in applied mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh this fall. A junior, Hallisey is a two-sport athlete. He is also the goalie on the soccer club.
After finishing runner-up in the section tournament, Pedersen and Hallisey opened WPIAL tournament action with 10-6 pro set wins against North Catholic’s Alex Garvey and Justin Kontul and the top-seeded duo of Sebastian Tan and Alex Quigley from Sewickley Academy. In the semifinals, they avenged their section loss by outlasting the South Park pair of Jonah Jasek and Steven Duing, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to set up the championship encounter with Havrilla and Lawrence and to earn a berth in the PIAA doubles tournament.
As No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, Pedersen and Hallisey also helped Chartiers Valley to a record season in the WPIAL team competition. The Colts advanced further than any CV boys tennis team by finishing fourth in the WPIAL and qualified for their PIAA team championships.
Davin Collier sophomore Bethel Park Ronan Gibbons junior Upper St. Clair Ari Plutko sophomore Upper St. Clair Avi Sharma junior Peters Township Paul Gorun junior Mt. Lebanon
Davin Collier, sophomore, Bethel Park
Ronan Gibbons, junior, Upper St. Clair
Ari Plutko, sophomore, Upper St. Clair
Avi Sharma, junior, Peters Township
Paul Gorun, junior, Mt. Lebanon