For the year 2025, Norwin’s Girls’ Tennis had the largest team in Norwin High School history. There were 26 girls on the squad this year. The whole team had something nice to say about each other and really viewed each other as family.
”I think that having a larger team is a great thing, just being able to have so many close friends,” said freshman varsity starter Isabella Farrah.
“This year we had 26 girls on the team, which is an astronomical amount,” said 4-year team member, Saige Hockman. “It took a while to bond with each other, because a lot of the girls were freshmen, so they did not exactly know the swing of things. It was hard for a little while, but then, my fellow captains and I decided to develop a “Big Sister/Little Sister” idea. We gave each underclassman a “big sister” upperclassman to help with team bonding and learning how to work as a team. It really helped the team become more friendly with each other and bring the upperclassmen and underclassmen together.”
Working together, they had an overall record of 7-5, and the Knights finished in 4th in the Section and tied with Hempfield (Class 3A Section 1) with a Section record of 5-3.
“The season went overall really good, but what I need to improve my mental game,” said sophomore, Bayleigh Vilage. “Because if you go in saying you’re gonna lose, you’re probably going to lose, but if you say you’re going in to win and you keep on fighting for it. Then you can come back.”
“I think that the season went really well as a team, and we all contributed to make this year great. I am also happy with my performance throughout the year,” Said Isabella.
Bayleigh Vilage and Cassandra Halaszynski qualified for WPIALS. Vilage qualified for the WPIAL Individual tournament and both girls qualified for WPIAL Doubles.
“That feeling is nearly indescribable. It’s a mixture of many feelings. Only myself and a handful of Norwin player parents got to witness the semi-final game that put them into the finals,” said Coach Jeffrey Toops. “ Their play was extraordinary. Both players functioned at an extremely high level at their strengths- Bayleigh’s serving was phenomenal. What Cassandra did at the net was incredible. When they won that match there were a lot of tears, hugs & handshakes. In 7 years of coaching at Norwin, it is my best memory so far. The team was very supportive throughout the tournament and was proud of their teammates accomplishments.“
The girls worked hard to qualify for WPIALs, and they’ve been so proud to even make it to WPIALS.
“Getting through doubles, I think Bayleigh was a really big help,” said Cassandra Halaszynski. “Like just being able to rely on another person, especially being like a teammate instead of a coach, we just had a really good bond, and that made us advance really far.”
Sophomore Bayleigh Vilage lost in the opening round to the eventual WPIAL champion Junior Meriwether McCargo from Shadyside Academy by a score of 10-1. In the WPIAL Doubles action, Vilage and Halaszyski lost to the #5 seed from Bethel Park in the opening round of WPIAL play.
“Luckily for Norwin and me, I have a number of players who I feel will make big contributions to the 2026 season,”said Toops. “Of course, Bayleigh, Vannessa Halaszynski is ready and able to step up. Sofia Thomas, Bella Farrah, Kayley Kelly, Annabell Lyle, Nora Fedor, Deeksha Iyer- I expect all of these returning varsity players to have an impact on our season next year.“
