Sewickley Academy seniors Will Nocito and Dylan Parda have been friends since kindergarten. It was only natural for them to team up and win the WPIAL doubles championship.
McCANDLESS TWP. — Most tennis coaches have to experiment a little to try to put together doubles pairings that work well with each other.
Sewickley Academy coach Whitney Snyder had it a little easier.
Longtime friends Will Nocito and Dylan Parda teamed up to win the WPIAL Class 2A doubles championship Friday, as they defeated Sewickley teammates Cole Luther and Saarang Mulukutla 6-2 and 6-0.
“They got partnered up because they’ve been such good friends for a long time,” Snyder said. “It’s a special chemistry.”
“We’ve been best friends since kindergarten, so that’s 12 years right there,” Nocito added.
While Nocito is a multi-sport athlete who will play golf at Hamilton College in New York, Parda chose to focus solely on tennis in high school.
“Will’s a great athlete. I think this is his fourth WPIAL championship this year alone,” said Parda, who will try out for the tennis team at Dayton. “I’ve been playing tennis for a while. I coached last summer. So I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the game.”
The depth of the partnership was evident Friday. Nocito’s lengthy frame helped him cover the court in great strides, while Parda smartly returned volleys and expertly placed his shots. Snyder said their chemistry and skill helped them play off each other well.
“That’s what you have to be to be a good doubles team,” Snyder said. “You can’t stand around and wait for your opponent.”
While Parda and Nocito have some history together, most doubles tandems in the WPIAL championships more closely resemble the experience of Luther and Mulukutla.
“I think Cole and I have played three days of tennis together,” Mulukutla said. “We did pretty good for three days (of experience).”
The one-two finish extended Sewickley’s reign at the top of WPIAL tennis. Not only has Sewickley won 15 consecutive WPIAL team titles, but Parda and Nocito’s victory Friday marked the ninth straight year the WPIAL doubles title has gone to a Sewickley tandem.
“It’s a great feeling,” Nocito said. “We’ve both been waiting for this for a while.”
The dominance creates expectations, but not pressure.
“It’s a lot of fun. You just want to keep it up, right?” Mulukutla said.
“You’d think there might be some stress to replicate it every year,” Luther added, “But we really don’t feel any stress.”
Perhaps that’s what allows the Sewickley players to move between roles so effortlessly. The doubles tandems will return to their normal roles next week when the Panthers open the state team tournament against Elk County Catholic.
Nocito will be the No. 3 singles player behind WPIAL champion Arjan Bedi and WPIAL bronze medalist Nishant Purewal, while Parda and Mulukutla will reform as the No. 1 doubles pairing and Luther will reteam with Will Stevenson as the No. 2 doubles tandem.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are Friday and Saturday at the Hershey Racquet Club. The PIAA singles and doubles championships are May 25 and 26 in Hershey.