It’s been more than a month since Adam Memije punched his ticket to the PIAA Class 3A boys tennis singles tournament at the Hershey Racquet Club.
It is, in a way, a redemption story for the Gateway junior after he fell short of making it to states last year.
"That was one of his big goals this year, to play better in the WPIAL singles tournament and qualify for states,” Gateway coach Matt Stockunas said.
Memije finished as the runner-up to North Allegheny freshman Advaita Sircar, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, indoors May 10 at the Glen Creek Tennis Club in South Park.
It is Memije’s only loss this season.
The two finalists were the only ones to advance to states from WPIAL Class 3A.
"His ultimate goal was to win the WPIAL title, but he fell a little short against Sircar who is really good for a freshman,” Stockunas said. "Adam was able to beat Sircar at No. 1 singles in the team tournament. He wanted that bad.
"Even though Adam is second out of the WPIAL for singles, he is one of better players in the tournament.”
Memije and Sircar are situated on opposite sides of the bracket.
The first round and quarterfinals will be Friday morning and afternoon, with the semifinals and championship/consolation matches Saturday.
But as with Adam Memije in the singles tournament, the Gateway doubles duo of juniors Zidaan Hassan and Logan Memije, the WPIAL champions, expected a tough first-round matchup to begin their PIAA run.
Because Adam Memije qualified for PIAA singles, he was not eligible to pair up again with Hassan. Last year, Adam Memije and Hassan made it to the state semifinals before falling to the brother duo of Aidan and Tyler Mahaffey from Hershey in District 3.
The Mahaffey’s won in three sets. But Memije and Hassan rebounded to take the consolation final in straight sets.
Logan Memije and Hassan defended their WPIAL Class 3A doubles No. 1 seed April 23-24 and topped No. 2 seed, Upper St. Clair’s Ronan Gibbons and Ari Plutko, in three sets in the championship match at North Allegheny.
"Last year, I felt Adam and Zidaan kind of got a bad draw in the lower bracket,” Stockunas said.
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"They were put up against the twins from Hershey in the semifinals instead of meeting them in the finals the way we thought it should’ve been. They were one of the best doubles teams out there.
"Going back out this year, Zidaan and Logan will be one of the top teams entered, and they have a good chance at reaching the finals.”
Gateway is one of only two WPIAL boys tennis programs to have a representative entered in the PIAA singles, doubles and team tournaments. Sewickley Academy in Class 2A is the other.
"Even though Adam, Zidaan and Logan qualified for singles and doubles states, their goal, first and foremost, is the team,” Stockunas said.
"We’re blessed to have great tennis players in singles and doubles here at Gateway.”
Gateway advances to Hershey
The Gateway boys tennis team had to make a nearly two-hour drive north to Erie to make sure they also would have a three-hour drive to Hershey a couple of days later.
The Gators booked their stay in Hershey with a PIAA first-round win over District 10 champion McDowell, 5-0, last Tuesday.
All three singles players — Adam Memije, Hassan and Logan Memije — plus the No. 1 doubles team of seniors Matthew Bandos and Zane Almoukamal and the No. 2 doubles duo of senior Blake Marsh and sophomore Troy Boden each won in straight sets.
Gateway surrendered only four games over the five matches.
"I was really impressed with the way they came out and played,” Stockunas said.
"We had that over two-hour drive up to Erie. We stopped, warmed up for about an hour, and got to the courts. We didn’t have much down time. We got right out on the courts and went to work. It started with Logan finishing up first with a really nice win. Zidaan and Adam followed. First doubles, they played really well. Second doubles just rolled. It was awesome to see.”
Gateway was set to face District 1 champion Lower Merion in the quarterfinals Friday morning at the Hershey Racquet Club.
Lower Merion won the PIAA title in 2023 and featured a loaded lineup.
The semifinals and finals were to follow on Saturday.
Stockunas said the Gators players were on a mission to get back to states after making it to the PIAA semifinals last year.
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Gateway punched its ticket to the state tournament with a runner-up finish to North Allegheny in the WPIAL finals May 7 at Washington & Jefferson College.
"Everyone’s mission, first and foremost, was to win the WPIAL team title,” Stockunas said.
"Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get that. But they were excited to make the WPIAL finals knowing that they would be going back to states. Adam, Logan and Zidaan had been training all year around, and they came in ready to help lead this team. We had been working with the doubles teams last summer and into the fall and winter. Those teams are much improved and their records show that.”
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.
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