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By SUZANNE SHULTZ; Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Friday, May 23, 1997 Page:
Dallas High School’s Brian Blase made his second trip to the PIAA Boys
Tennis Championship, but once again he left early.
After winning his consolation match over Bishop Hannan’s Tom Crofton in the
District 2 singles tournament last week, Blase was looking to do better than
last year’s first-round loss.
But his hopes blew away with the heavy winds that plagued him all day.
Blase lost in the first round of Thursday’s state singles tournament at
Penn State’s University Park campus to District 11’s Raza Shah from Blue
Mountain 6-0, 6-3.
“I got destroyed,” Blase said of his match. “It was tough for me to get my
rhythm. Nothing seemed to go right. I never really played my tennis game.”
After getting shut out in the first set, Blase came back in the second to
win three games. He said problems with his serve and with the elements were
what really hurt him.
“The wind was really a factor,” Blase explained. “It gave me trouble on my
serve. I would toss the ball up and the wind would just take it.”
But where Blase had problems, Shah didn’t.
“He was tough,” Blase said. “He’s the best server I’ve ever faced. He had
me very frustrated.”
Shah went on to win his second round to advance to today’s quarterfinals.
One major upset at the tournament came in the second round, when Kyle
Bailey from Wilson High School defeated heavily favored Sunil Shingala from
Scranton Prep.
Shingala, last year’s third-place finisher, lost to Bailey, 6-2, 6-4.
Shingala had a tough first round with Shady Side Academy’s Bradon Tung, but
managed to win the match 7-6, 7-6.
The Scranton Prep junior won the District 2 singles tournament over his
teammate, Chris Cianci. Both advanced to the state tournament.
PIAA TENNIS