Triolo wins singles title with a little help from his friends

Tennis can be a very solitary sport. After all, it’s just one player on the court with nothing but a three-foot net and 39 feet of concrete standing between a player and their opponent.

For Spring-Ford junior Tyler Triolo, most of the Pioneer Athletic Conference singles championship was exactly that, solitary.

Triolo embarked on his journey through the tournament bracket to repeat as the champion and single handedly wreaked havoc on the field, winning his first three matches to arrive at the finals by a combined score of 36-3.

As Triolo lined up in the singles final opposite of Phoenixville freshman Karlyn Small to battle for the championship, he was anything but alone.

Hearing of their teammate’s advancing to the finals, the entire senior core of the Spring-Ford Rams tennis team along with many of their fellow students made the trek from Royersford to support their teammate in his quest for the title.

“Wow, it meant so much for all of them to be here,” said Triolo. “It was very cool to have them cheering me on. It really got me pumped up. We are a team and we support each other and I would do the same for them. It was such a huge advantage.”

The emotional lift provided by his teammates was visible in Triolo’s play, propelling him to a 6-3 opening set win despite some scoring and call issues, which is quickly becoming the duo's modus operandi.

“We had some issues last time we played.” said Triolo. “I just needed to stay focused on what I had to do.  I was not about to let him get me out of my game. He is a good player, but we have played before so I felt pretty confident going into the match.”

Small, who had defeated Triolo’s 2010 final opponent, Chris Chung from Boyertown, to advance to the finals, benefited from several rain delays during the day as he was less 100 percent at the outset of the afternoon.

“Thank God for the rain,” said Small. “I didn’t feel well earlier in the day. During the break, Coach [Leo] Scoda got me some soda and the trainer helped me stretch my back, which was bothering me. I felt much better once the final started.”

In the second set, Triolo wasted no time jumping out to a 2-1 lead and never looked back, posting a 6-2 straight sets win to claim his second consecutive PAC-10 singles title and improving on the district seeding that he qualified for by advancing to the finals.

“I am very proud of Tyler,” said Rams head coach John Brennan. “Our goal here today was qualifying for districts, which he accomplished by winning the semifinal. Everything else after that was gravy. It says a lot about our kids for all of them to come and root for him. He was the only underclassman last season and all of our seniors love him.”

With the 6-0,6-0 win over Methacton’s Nish Ravichandra, Triolo qualified for the PIAA District One Tournament. Winning the championship will improve his seeding.

“Qualifying for districts is great,” added Triolo after his match with Ravichandra. “I want to win the whole thing. Second would be nice, but it’s not gold. I want to win the gold medal.”

The recent rain's effect on the schedule has Spring-Ford playing multiple team matches in the next two weeks as the Rams battle for a team title, but as for Tyler Triolo and his quest for a PAC-10 singles gold medal and district berth, it’s mission accomplished.

Triolo's road to a championship

First round- bye

Second round- Triolo defeats Sean Graver (PV) 6-0, 6-0

Third round- Triolo defeats Brian Campo (BOY) 6-2, 6-1

Fourth round- Triolo defeats Nish Navichandra (MET) 6-0, 6-0

Championship final- Triolo defeats Small (PHX) 6-3, 6-2