Junior Anna Tikhomirova and Freshman Ellie Kim entered the Class 3A, Section 2 doubles tournament as the 7th seed on Wednesday, 9/28 @ North Allegheny. Their first opponent was the 10th seeded junior pair from Pine Richland, Samy Ravichandran and Kiana Strahotin. The North Hills duo defeated the Pine Richland pair in a ten game proset by a score of 10-4. 

Anna and Ellie then faced the number 2 seed of the tournament, Moon's senior Greer Erhard and junior Ria Khazanchi. North Hills was down 2-3 on the first day of the tournament and play was suspended due to thunderstorms. The pair regrouped on day two to win that match in a tiebreaker 11-10 (T7-5). This upset solidified Tikhomirova and Kim's spot in the 3A doubles WPIAL tournament that will begin on Thursday, October 6. 

After a 10 minute break, the girls were on the court again in a best of 3 sets match against the 6th ranked Mars team of juniors Cece Crowley and Reese Hanna. Anna and Ellie won the first set 6-4, but Mars made some adjustments to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-3. 

Hours after the girls began their matches, they dug deep to compete in the consolation match. Exhausted yet determined, Anna and Ellie took the court yet again for another best of 3 sets match against Pine Richland's 4th ranked doubles team, juniors Lily Hynds and Rachel Smith. Kim and Tikhomirova won the first set 6-1, but experience and rest proved to be on the side of Pine Richland as North Hills lost the next two sets 0-6, 5-7. 

This was the first time Anna Tikhomirova and Ellie Kim competed in a doubles tournament and they showed their power and patience. We look forward to watching these girls perform in the doubles WPIAL tournament on Thursday, 10/6. Congratulations and good luck, Anna and Ellie!