Nov 1, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

HERSHEY — Regardless of the outcome in her final two matches, when Belle Vernon senior Gabby Dusi leaves Hershey tomorrow evening, she will be toting more than a bag of chocolate after celebrating Halloween weekend at the “Sweetest place on Earth.”

Dusi earned two straight-set victories in the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Friday in the PIAA Class 2A Girls Singles Tennis Championship at the Hershey Racquet Club.

Dusi has guaranteed herself no less than fourth place. She was the runner-up in last year’s tournament.

Dusi will open play this morning at 10:30 in the semifinals against Cathedral Prep junior Paige Patsy, who finished third in last year’s state tournament after bowing out to Dusi in a hard-fought 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 triumph in the final four.

“I haven’t seen her play in a year, so I’m not sure how much better she has gotten, but it will be a good match,” Dusi said. “It is great to be able to place twice at the state tournament, but you always want to win it all.”

Dusi opened the tournament with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Big Spring junior Evyennia Raudenbush before defeating Constitution sophomore Medina Yuldasheva, 6-2, 6-1.

Dusi broke Yuldasheva’s serve twice in the second set, and won all four games in which she served. Yuldasheva won the fourth game to cut the deficit to 3-1 after Dusi jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Dusi won the final three games and yelled out, “Let’s go,” after scoring the final point.

“I definitely played better during this match,” said Dusi following her win over Yuldasheva. “I felt more comfortable and there weren’t as many nerves. I definitely made some bigger shots. I knew she was a good baseline player, and from warming up with her, I knew that she was struggling on her serve, so I honestly went in thinking, every game, to try and break her serve, was more my mindset this game, but that’s not always the same.”

Yuldasheva, who qualified for the state tournament after winning the District 12 title, earned a 6-0, 6-0 win in the first round.

Dusi fought off pain in the left side of her abdominal area to defeat Raudenbush. The injury to the Duquesne University commit occurred in the section tournament, and she had to medically forfeit out before winning her third straight WPIAL singles title on Sept. 18 despite having to serve underhand in the third set.

Dusi was in discomfort due to her injury for both matches Friday, but the pain was more prevalent against Raudenbush.

“The pain was there in both matches, but we are doing everything we can to prepare for it,” Dusi said. “I wasn’t running as much side-to-side (in the quarterfinals) so that helped me. I was controlling the corner a lot during this match, so I was able to stay in my strike zone a little more, which helped with the pain.”

Dusi focused on taking advantage of unforced errors and was able to defeat Raudenbush in a little over an hour.

“She definitely hit a lot of balls back, but when she made mistakes, I tried to capitalize on them,” Dusi said. “The forehand is definitely my biggest strength, so I try to use that as much as I can.

“My second serve has a lot of spin on it, which can bother my opponents, so I tried to make sure I did that as much as I could.”

The Hershey Racquet Club in an indoor hard-court facility. Dusi prefers to play her matches indoors, although she played the section and WPIAL championships outdoors, which is rare for her.

“I play a lot better indoors,” Dusi said. “My game is more suited for indoors. Most of the tournaments are indoors, especially in the Pittsburgh area, so I am definitely used to playing indoors.”