Wyomissing’s team tennis streak stays alive with PIAA quarterfinal win vs. Fairview

HERSHEY >> Wyomissing moved to within two steps of its fourth consecutive PIAA Class AA team tennis championship thanks to Friday’s 3-2, quarterfinal win against Fairview at Hershey Racquet Club.

But don’t be fooled by the official final score. This match was never in jeopardy of snapping the Spartans’ now-78-match winning streak.

Defending PIAA singles champ Andre Fick, No. 2 singles player Dan Trifoi and the second doubles tandem of Ben Croft and Isaak Weaver-Herrera all won tidy matches to clinch advancement to Saturday’s semifinal against District 3 rival Elco. The final two courts still in play – third singles and first doubles – were allowed to finish their matches, and Fairview took both.

Fick handled Fairview’s Jon Oskin with ease, 6-1, 6-2, at top singles for Wyomissing’s first point of the afternoon. Trifoi followed with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Mike Siegel in second singles, then Croft and Weaver-Herrera brought it home with a 6-1, 6-4 verdict against Fairview’s Mike Duckett and Simon Yahn.

Trifoi survived a very scary incident aboard the Wyomissing team van on the way to Friday’s match at HRC. Chewing on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Trifoi got a chunk of it stuck in his throat and couldn’t breathe.

“I couldn’t breathe at all,” Trifoi said. “It slipped right down. Coach (Mike Gyomber) noticed right away and quick opened the door. I got out, punched myself in the chest and threw the rest up. Everyone’s face was white. It was pretty scary.”

Once it was determined that Trifoi was OK, the trip to Hershey resumed. Once inside HRC, Trifoi showed no ill effects from his episode, defeating Siegel in roughly 45 minutes.

“I played pretty well on an empty stomach,” he cracked.

As the pressure ratchets up on the Spartans to keep this streak going — which will require a fourth straight state title to do so — the players seem to handle it differently. Fick, a senior, shows no outward signs on the court of thinking about it; he just goes about his business in a way you would expect from a reigning state singles champ.

Trifoi admitted that is not the case for him. He said it’s more a feeling of relief to win than of utter joy.

“I do worry about it,” the Wyomissing junior admitted. “I was really nervous when I started. Because everyone expects us to win so it’s not that big of a deal. But if we lose, it’d be like everyone would be on our case.

“I’ve never had the feeling of what it’s like to lose as a team. If we’d lose, the whole team would be devastated. I’d go home in tears.”

Elco takes its shot in the semifinals at noon. Moravian and Sewickley Academies face off in the other Class AA semifinal at 1:30, with the winners meeting for title. Expected first serve for that match will be 5:30.