Conestoga, Unionville, Lower Merion duos advance to District 1 doubles tournament semifinals

Springfield >> Conestoga shone brightest on the first day of the two-day PIAA District 1 3A doubles tournament at the Springfield Healthplex Friday — two Pioneer pairs advanced to the semifinals and wrapped up a berth in the upcoming PIAA 3A state doubles tournament.

The No. 4 seeded Conestoga duo of senior Aaron Sun and junior Voyin Markovic swept through their two matches in straight sets after an opening bye to advance to the district semifinal today.

Meanwhile, the Pioneer pair of juniors Basil Lubiniecki and Francis Qin, in their third match of the day, defeated the No. 1 seed, Downingtown East senior twins Abhiraj and Abhineet Srivastava, in straight sets (6-1, 6-4) to advance to today’s semifinals. The Srivastava twins recently captured the Ches-Mont National Division doubles championship for the third year in a row.

“We just had to be really aggressive and control the net more than they did,” said Lubiniecki. “Getting into long baseline rallies was definitely our downfall in the games we lost; but every time we tried to keep points short and simple at the net, we gained points.”

Qin said, “Our teamwork was key. Our styles are different – Basil is good at the net; I’m kind of a baseline player, I’m just here to set Basil up at the net, and he did a good job at the net.”

During the regular season, Lubiniecki paired with Sun at the first doubles spot for a Conestoga squad that finished second at the District 1 3A team tournament.

“I’m really proud of both teams today,” said Conestoga boys’ tennis head coach Britt Aimone. “Basil and Francis complement each other very well, because Basil is really good with his hands at the net, and Francis sets up the ball well at the baseline. Voyin and Aaron together are super-strong; their serves are very strong, their volley games are very strong.”

Last spring, Sun was part of a Conestoga doubles team that advanced to the PIAA 3A state doubles tournament. In the quarterfinals Friday, Sun and Markovic defeated the No. 5 seed, Downingtown East’s Shrihan Madam and Vishruth Madam, 6-3, 6-4. As the No. 4 seed, Sun and Markovic are the highest seed in the bracket to advance to the semifinals.

“I think we really played aggressively and finished the ball well (today),” said Sun. “I think that, while we’re both pretty solid at the baseline, Voyin’s more solid there than me, which is good because I like to volley more.”

Markovic, who played third singles for the Pioneers during the regular season, said, “I like playing singles but playing with Aaron is fun; it’s not a difficult switch (from singles).”

The two Conestoga doubles teams will face each other in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to the championship final to be played later today.

The No. 7 seed in the bracket, Unionville juniors Ryan Megill and Jack Barrickman, advanced to the semifinals after defeating No. 2 seed Central Bucks East seniors Yevgan Kuryanov and Alex Knyazkov, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in the quarterfinals. It was the third match of the day for the Longhorn pair, and two of them went three sets.

“I’m exhausted,” said Megill, who has paired with Barrickman throughout the season at first singles for the Longhorns. “But it’s pretty cool, we’re both seniors and this is the furthest we’ve gone as a (doubles) team.

“I think the key (in quarterfinals) was not wasting points; we played three long matches today, we were obviously tired, so once we would get to a point, we would try to put away as soon as we could to save our legs a little bit.”

Barrickman said, “I think we were being a little too aggressive in the second set (of quarterfinals). In the third set, we played safer shots. We had never faced (Kuryanov and Knyazkov) before.”

Megill said, “I think we complement each other. I feel like Jack is more (about) power, and I’m more kind of like consistency, and together I can let him hit all the hard shots and I can kind of push around until he ends the point.”

In the semifinals, Barrickman and Megill will face the youthful Lower Merion pair of freshman Nathan Dolgushev and sophomore Charlie Bittinger. In the quarterfinals, Dolgushev and Bittinger defeated the Penncrest duo of senior Brady Huggett and junior Flynn Hollinger, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Huggett and Hollinger were a persistent pair who in the second round Friday defeated the No. 3 seed duo of Unionville sophomores Matt Miller and Andrew Ou, 6-4, 6-4.

“Teamwork is key in doubles, and if you can pump up your teammate, amazing things can happen,” said Dolgushev, who plays third singles for an Aces squad that hasn’t lost a match in three years. “We complement each other; I like to smash shots (smiles) and get points quickly, and (Bittinger) likes to set me up so I can do that, he’s very consistent and that helps me a lot. Charlie and I have been playing together since we were 8 or 9 years old; it’s been a real inspiration for us to play doubles together and to be successful.”

The Lower Merion pair won their first two matches Friday in straight sets before the three-set quarterfinal.

Bittinger said, “I think the key (to quarterfinals) was that we made adjustments after they changed their strategy in the second set. We’re excited about going to States (in doubles).”

In addition to the semifinals today at Springfield Healthplex, there will be three playback matches for the fifth-place spot today — five doubles teams in this tournament advance to the PIAA 3A state doubles tournament. The four doubles teams that are competing for the fifth and final spot on the state tourney include the top two seeded duos in the tournament bracket.