Shady Side Academy junior and Renfrew native Elle Santora celebrates with teammate Aya Youssef after defeating the Mars tandem of Amelia Haley and Emily Ivory in the WPIAL Class AAA Girls Doubles Tennis Championship at the Oxford Athletic Club Thursday. Santora and Ivory both began their playing careers at Butler Country Club.

WEXFORD — Elle Santora stared across the net at a familiar face Thursday afternoon at the Oxford Athletic Club during the WPIAL Class AAA Girls Doubles Tennis championships.

Standing there was Mars sophomore Emily Ivory. The two had grown up together with a tennis racquet in their hands at Butler Country Club.

“I can't even tell you how many years it's been,” said Santora, a Renfrew native and a junior at Shady Side Academy after spending her freshman year at Knoch. “We were basically babies when we started.”

Thursday, Santora and her Shady Side Academy doubles partner, Aya Youssef, squared off against Ivory and Amelia Haley for the WPIAL championship.

Santora and Youssef emerged with a 7-5, 6-4 victory.

“It was a really intense match,” Santora said. “It could have gone either way. I think what really decided it was my partner. She hit some amazing ground strokes and rallied and rallied and rallied.”Santora also was a standout at the net against the Mars duo.“Elle was seeing the court really well,” Ivory said. “She was so good at the net and she played really smart.”Not bad for Santora and Youssef, a tandem that was put together less than two weeks ago for the WPIAL doubles tournament.<i>Read about the match in Friday's Butler Eagle.</i><em>Butler Eagle sports editor John Enrietto contributed to this story.</em>

Mars sophomore Emily Ivory, left, celebrates a point with teammate Amelia Haley in the WPIAL Class AAA Girls Doubles Tennis Championship against Shady Side Academy Thursday. Ivory and Haley lost 7-5, 6-4, but are still the first Mars girls doubles team to advance to the PIAA tournament.