Third time’s the charm as Great Valley beats Radnor for state tennis title
HERSHEY >> On its third try, Great Valley finally succeeded. To do it, the Patriots had to end an unlikely run by Radnor.
Great Valley won the PIAA boys Class 3A team tennis title Saturday evening at Hershey Racquet Club with a 3-1 victory over Radnor, finally mining gold on its third try. The Patriots lost to Unionville a year ago in the 3A title match and to Lower Merion in 2017.
Sameer Gangoli’s 6-3, 7-5 verdict over Max Safanov at No. 1 singles sealed the deal for the Patriots, who finally got to hoist the five-pound Hershey chocolate bar that goes along with the state title trophy and all those gold medals, after two years of having their hopes melt at the home of PIAA tennis.
The Patriots swept the singles courts, while dropping the match at second doubles.
“Our whole team really stuck together,” Great Valley coach Paul Waltz said. “Our singles, our doubles, everybody contributed. Our singles were particularly strong and that showed in the final, winning all three matches.”
Gangoli faced a strong challenge from Safanov, who rallied from 2-4 in the second set to take a 5-4 lead. With the prospect of a third set looming, and a state title in play, Gangoli flipped a switch and closed out his opponent in ferocious fashion.
“At that point, I was like, ‘Alright, 4-5, you know you can win this match’,” Gagnoli said. “‘You know how much you want it. Find your second wind and keep fighting.’ I saw our third singles win and knew now was the time.”
Gangoli’s play with the chips pushed to the center of the table is why the Great Valley junior remains one of the toughest outs in the entire Commonwealth. Just to put his boys into the final, he had to vanquish Fox Chapel’s Rob Shymansky in a third-set tiebreak 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), with the team semifinal match tied at 2.
“That was one of the best matches I’ve played, from a quality level,” Gagnoli said of the exhausting affair — nevermind having to turn it back up in couple of hours for the biggest match of the season. “I think we both played some of the best tennis that we can. I enjoyed it, I think the fans enjoyed it and it came down to the wire. Physically, I know what to do (to gear back up). Mentally, that’s tougher. I was so fired up. Just wanting to win got me through it.”
Safanov said, “It’s tough against Sameer, great returner, great player. He has some unbelievable shots, out of nowhere. A few missed shots from me, a few mistakes, cost me the match.”
Gangoli’s triumph clinched gold, but Amish Saini set it up with a stunning rally at 1-5 in the second set to win third singles in straight sets, giving Great Valley a 2-1 lead.
“Amish was down 1-5 and came back to win and that was amazing,” Waltz said. “That was a huge moment. To me, that’s what sealed it.”
For Radnor, a charmed run through states fell a step short of gold. The fourth and final seed out of District 1, the Raiders beat host Hershey and Cathedral Prep on Friday before upending favored Unionville, the defending champion, 3-2, in Saturday morning’s semifinal round.
“I am extremely proud,” Radnor coach Patrick Kurtz said. “A couple of the boys were upset about losing today and I told them, ‘Look, you’ve got to look back at the whole season, because the whole season was fantastic.’ We won the Central League, undefeated. We moved on, beat Unionville, which nobody expected, and to play these guys tough is just an awesome day.”
Kurtz thought being the fourth seed at Hershey played to his club’s advantage.
“I think some of it had to do with maybe being an underdog,” he said, “that we could do this. I think the guys realized they had a shot. I was really proud of how they played, all of them.”
Radnor took a 1-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win a second doubles by Ethan Lee and Luigi Giacucci that was quickly offset by Ryan Hamel’s 6-2, 6-3 victory over Garrett Spillerman at second singles minutes later for Great Valley’s first court.
Saini’s triumph over Alex Weiss gave the Patriots a 2-1 court edge over the Raiders before Gangoli finished it off.
