The Whitehall boys tennis team wrapped up their regular season this week on a positive note, laying the groundwork for a solid future.

The season culminated with two consecutive wins for the Zephs, defeating Jim Thorpe and William Allen to finish the year at 3-10.

While it wasn't quite the year that head coach Austin Berg envisioned, his team battled every time they stepped on the court.

Berg said he was a bit disappointed, primarily because the weather forced a lot of cancellations that interrupted their ability to maintain any consistency.

There were opportunities for wins in the early portion of their schedule, but they couldn't get that needed set victory to turn the tide. In matches against Allentown Central Catholic, Northampton, Pen Argyl and Pocono Mountain East, the margin of victory was just one match.

Still, they fought hard as a team, looking to find their footing as the new Eastern Pennsylvania Conference alignment rolled out this spring.

"They played their hearts out," said Berg. ""They were able to put away a lot of points the whole year."

Berg said they were competitive with a number of teams in the league, and that speaks to their desire to rise to the challenge.

"I couldn't be any more proud of them," he said.

Last week the District XI Boys AAA Singles Championships got underway at Saucon Valley High School. Whitehall's representative in that tournament was senior Islam Ahmed. Ahmed drew 8th seeded Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky from Freedom in the opening round and lost 6-0, 6-1 to the Patriot.

With the conclusion of the regular season on Tuesday, the senior finished his tennis career at Whitehall. The competition now shifts to district doubles play, and Berg will send Gavin Meyers and Max Nuscher to represent the Zephyrs at the 3A tourney. The pair will face Freedom's Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky and Ross Sonnenblick in the opening round. The Patriot pair enters the tourney as the sixth seed, while Whitehall's duo of Nuscher and Meyers is a new combination that Berg felt would be a strong tandem given their complimentary skills.

"Max is very strong at the net, while Gavin is very consistent," said Berg.

While they've haven't played tight at all this season, Berg is excited about their prospects in the best 2 out of 3 format.

"We're hoping for the best," he said. "Those are two talented players."

In their match against Jim Thorpe, the Zephs won 4-1. Berg said that No. 2 singles Alex Rohn won, as did doubles teams Nuscher and Daniel Herrera-Acevedo, Jeremy Lim and Jordan Saliby, and Toby Chan and Erick Poon.

The final game of the year pitted them against the Canaries. They won 6-1 for their second EPC win of the season. Rohn won at No. 1 singles, defeating Ian Miller 6-1, 6-0. Meyers, slotted at No. 3, won in straight sets over Nate Stuart 6-4, 6-3.

In No. 1 doubles Ahmed and Meyers won a pro set 8-1 over Sam Miller and Ian Miller, while Nuscher and Herrera-Acevedo won at No. 2 doubles 6-0, 6-0 over Nate Stuart and NjuanSon Thawng. Finally, Chan and Lim, playing at No. 3 doubles, defeated Shadi Eldawayati and Ed Lopez, 6-0, 6-1.

The attention now focuses to the postseason as the doubles tournament gets underway April 29 at Saucon Valley.