The EPC tennis season got off to a delayed start because of bad weather, so it's almost fitting that the conference tournament would also get off to a delayed start because of bad weather. Last Friday's early rounds were postponed to Saturday, leaving a lot of tennis to be played. The tournament made it through the quarter-final rounds, leaving the semis, finals and consolations to be played at a date that still isn't determined.

For Northampton, the tournament was made even tougher by some tough draws. At number-one singles, Tom Reinhard had to open against number-three seed Matt FitzMaurice of Emmaus, who was last year's District 11 runner-up. Carter Test drew the number-five seed Danny Procaccino of Stroudsburg in number-two singles and Kyle Herbert-Dunn faced third seeded Brian Smith in number-three singles.

In doubles, coach Kim Davis had to do some juggling because of being short on players because of ACT Testing. Ethan Schwartz and Kevin Trinkle had to play a pigtail round match against a team from Whitehall and lost in a close 8-5 match, while Dominic Jackson and Troy Adams lost a pigtail match to a duo from Stroudsburg 8-3. In number-four singles, Cory Croll and James Marsh won their pigtail match over a team from Pocono Mountain West to advance to the Round of 16, where they ran right into the top-seeded duo from Parkland. Croll and Marsh put up a strong battle, but fell 8-4 against Parkland.

"Some tough draws and some disrupted teams," said Davis in summing up the tournament. "Tommy had a really tough draw with FitzMaurice. Mark and Tanner are seniors who came out for the first time and gave the experienced Stroudsburg team a hard fought victory. Kevin and Troy both played without their usual partners.

"The best match of the day was Cory and James at number-four doubles. They handily won their pigtail round and then put up a great effort against the top-seed from Parkland. They lost the last four games at deuce point and had Parkland literally talking to themselves."

The schedule has left teams with little time to work on things in practice, which for a young team like Northampton, is crucial. It's also left teams with a bunch of tired players because of constant stretches where they're playing a number of days in a row. The loss of practice time, not to mention having to shuffle doubles partners, made it difficult to prepare for the conference tournament.

"Players and coaches are just burned out. We have had two on-court practices and played nine matches in ten days at one point. A definite disadvantage for an unexperienced team like us," said Davis.

Even without a normal amount of practice time, Davis has seen a lot of development from his players, who have had to go with somewhat of an on-the-job training routine this season. From having to wait to practice outdoors to having to battle a schedule that was copied-and-pasted together, Davis appreciates the growth that he's seen, but is hoping to find more young players for the future.

"All the players have gained some experience," he said. "Sadly, most are juniors and seniors, so we need more freshman and sophomores to sign up."

The District 11 Tournament is being played this week, with the finals on Monday. Reinhard drew Easton's Ryan Betts in the first round of play in districts.