Belle Vernon senior Gabriella Dusi was left with a simple choice as she was surrounded by a gaggle of people, including her parents, coach, a trainer and a couple of WPIAL officials between the second and third sets of the WPIAL Class 2A single final.

She could continue gritting her teeth and try to control the pain emanating from her left abdominal area or she could retire as a two-time champion and turn the gold medal over to her training partner Avery Allan of Quaker Valley.

“I did not want to call it whatsoever. I wanted to finish the match, whatever it took,” Dusi said. “It was my last year and I wanted to play as hard as I could.”

Whatever it took was serving the entire third set underhanded so she wouldn’t get stretched out as well as avoiding hitting shots on her backhand to ave

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