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Qualifying for States is a major accomplishment in the career of a high school athlete. Winning a State Championship is something that very few will ever experience. Discovering victory at the State’s highest level multiple years in a row is the stuff of legends. On Saturday afternoon at the Hershey Racquet Club, Palmyra’s Aidan and Tyler Mahaffey solidified their status as LEGENDS when the twins capped off their high school career by winning their third straight PIAA State Tennis Doubles Championship. With their State Championship, combined with the results from the State Track & Field Championship, they were part of arguably the most successful day in the history of Lebanon County athletics.
The four-time District 3 Champs began their run at States on Friday when they played a pair of sophomores, Noah Hardesty and Gridley Wright, from McDowell, who entered States having wrapped up the District 10 Championship. The Mahaffeys dispatched them quickly in two sets, 6-0, 6-1.
In the Quarterfinals, the Mahaffey’s drew Sal Ponamgi and Alan Zheng, a pair of underclassmen from Central Bucks East who, in the first round, had upset a team of seniors from Saint Joe’s Preps. There was not a Cinderella story to be had in this case, as the Mahaffey’s made sure the clock struck midnight in the form of a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Semifinal play picked up on Saturday morning, with the Mahaffeys slated to take on junior Zidaan Hassan and sophomore Logan Memije, the District 7 Champions representing Gateway. The match was hotly contested, as Gateway made the Mahaffeys work for a 7-5 victory in the first set. The Mahaffeys then locked the match away by winning the second set dominantly, 6-1.
In the Championship Finals, the Mahaffeys were met by two players from Conestoga, with whom they had history. Rohan Rao, a junior, saw his Doubles run end in 2022 with a first-round loss to the Mahaffeys. His partner this year was Voyan Markovic, a senior who appeared in the 2023 Championship Finals before they withdrew due to injury in a move that gave the Mahaffeys the title. Ironically, when the Mahaffeys lost in the 2021 Quarterfinals, it was another duo from Conestoga that defeated them. That experience as freshmen was the first and only time that the Mahaffeys would lose at the State level.
Playing inspired Tennis, the Mahaffeys used their skill, combined with experience and confidence, to outduel Rao/Markovic. The match ended with a score of 6-2, 6-1, giving the Mahaffeys the historic win before now moving on to continue their academic and athletic careers at Lafayette College.
Cedar Crest
The Mahaffeys were not the only LebCo athletes to compete in this year’s PIAA Championship Tournament, as they qualified athletes in both the Singles and Doubles tournaments. Cedar Crest junior Viseth Meng was one of sixteen players in Singles after taking silver in the District 3 Tournament. In the first round, he was matched up against District 2 Champion Praneel Mallaiah of Abington Heights. Meng challenged Mallaiah over three sets but ultimately fell 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
On the Doubles side, juniors Joe Shkreli and Isaac Wolfe were among the sixteen teams that qualified for the tournament. The District 3 bronze medalists faced a tough challenge in Gateway’s Hassan/Memije in the first round. Despite their best efforts, the Skhreli/Wolfe duo fell short, ending their remarkable journey to States with a 6-1, 6-1 loss.
Full Brackets
3A Doubles
3A Singles
District 3 Championship Results
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