The Shaler Titans Boy’s Tennis team finished with a successful season, going to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
The Titans were led by a good group of veterans but also had multiple underclassmen who made a big difference in helping the team head back to the WPIAL playoffs.
With experience and some surprises in the younger players they were able to compete at a high level finishing 11-5, with notable wins over Hampton, North Hills, Butler, Woodland Hills, and Central Catholic.
“The team thrived because of its depth and leadership. Fourth-year seniors Roman Vizzoca and Nick Rudolph were outstanding co-captains who played major roles in our success. Roman was instrumental to our winning season as a tenacious doubles player and was a recruiter of Cy Engel, Matt Stelitano, and Drake Sommer, all of whom contributed to the team’s success,” Coach Duermeyer said. “Nick led from start to finish, winning three section matches at doubles while embracing a player-coach role and supporting the team in every way possible. Together, Roman and Nick brought leadership, competitiveness, and selflessness. Another fourth-year senior, Justin Frantz, also contributed important wins at singles and doubles and carried himself like a captain.”
With leadership from the captains and other seniors, they truly helped the younger players develop and get better every day making this squad a tough team to play against and changed the season in the right way.
Sophomore John Grindland was a major surprise for this group as he joined late but was a key contributor right from the day one on the team. With the addition of Grindland, Coach Duermeyer’s confidence with this team to go back to the playoffs grew more and more.
“I knew we would have a chance because of our returning players, but I realized it was a strong possibility at our first practice, when our returning group was joined by three athletic and talented seniors. The boys did a tremendous job recruiting additional talent, and our depth was obvious from Day 1. I became even more confident when John Grindland joined the team. John learned about the game by playing alongside his father and other experienced community members. He joined unexpectedly, but he immediately made an impact and added even more strength to our lineup,” Coach Duermeyer said.
The team was a fun competitive squad all season and clinched a playoff berth for the 4th consecutive year in a row after a big time victory over the Central Catholic Vikings.
The titans would finish with a winning record in the last few games before heading to the WPIAL playoffs where they would match up against the 2 seed in Upper St. Clair in the first round.
Upper St. Clair would easily take care of business over the Titans, defeating them 5-0, ending the Titans 2026 season.
There are a lot of positives to take away from this season as they return many key players next season who are poised for an even bigger role on the team.
“I told the players how much fun I had this season and how proud I was of the way they represented our school district. We also return some outstanding talent, including our top three singles players: Tyler Swartzendruber, John Grindland, and Jack Rios. We are excited about the freshmen we added this year as well, especially Evan Leombruno, who earned starts toward the end of the season,” Coach Duermeyer said.
This rising and talented squad will have a big chip on their shoulder heading into next year as they look to be even better then this 11 win season they had this year.
There are many different words to describe this team but one word that is a true testament to how consistent and good this team and program has been, in Coach Duermeyer’s words is “Solid”.
“I would describe the team as solid. Shaler Tennis has built a solid program. We may not be considered an elite tennis team — very few programs are — but we are consistently competitive. We expect to compete for another playoff spot next season, and we are ready to put in the work to earn it,” Coach Duermeyer shared.
