HERSHEY — Abington Heights freshman Prayush Mallaiah is scheduled to face Conestoga junior Ethan Sun in the first round of the Class 3A singles tournament at the PIAA Tennis Championship at Hershey Racquet Club on Friday at 8 a.m. The matchup will be a rematch of a Class 3A team tournament semifinal in which Sun defeated Mallaiah 7-5, 6-0, handing the freshman his first singles loss of the season.

Mallaiah competed at the state level for the first time last week and returns to the Hershey Racquet Club for the singles draw. He posted an unbeaten record without dropping a set in the Lackawanna League and District 2 seasons. In earlier state team tournament play, he defeated Radnor sophomore Carter McIlwain and was leading Upper St. Clair sophomore Carter Litchman 6-4, 4-1. Mallaiah is ranked No. 6 in the state for the freshman class by tennisrecruiting.net.

Speaking about the upcoming rematch with Sun, he said he planned to adjust his approach. "I am focusing on having more consistency in my shots. When I played him, a lot of my errors were because he was forcing me into those errors, so that is what I will try to work on when I play him again." He also addressed his tactics for the singles meeting. "I'll be more aggressive with my game. I know his playing style now. I will be able to implement a better strategy this weekend," Mallaiah said.

Sun is ranked No. 8 in the state for the Class of 2027 and finished fourth in the District 1 Class 3A singles tournament. In the team tournament, Conestoga defeated the Comets 3-0 and finished as the runner-up to North Allegheny. Sun's No. 1 singles matches against Hempfield sophomore Braylen Garcia and Hershey sophomore Gabriel Yuan did not finish during the team tournament, and he lost to North Allegheny junior Advaita Sircar 6-1, 6-0.