For many, a team tennis title for Parkland seemed to be an inevitable event this season. After all, the team dominated in the regular season, had the runner-up in district singles and a doubles team that won a district championship.

Things didn't turn out quite the way many thought that they would when Freedom upset the top-seeded Trojans 3-1 in the District 11 finals to advance to the PIAA Tournament.

The match marked the return of top singles player Andrew Sinai from a concussion that kept him from battling in the district singles tournament. Sinai's 6-3, 6-3 win over district finalist Nick Kshatri helped to set the tone for the Patriots, who would go on to sweep the singles matches. Nate Lyman lost to Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky by an identical 6-3, 6-3 score, while Ross Sonnenblick downed Peter Harrison 6-4, 6-0.

Parkland picked up their win in doubles action when Aneesh Kapoor and Alex Wu downed Jack Fried and Ronak Desai 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. The second doubles match featuring Parkland's Kishan Unjia and Nick Hawk, went uncompleted after Freedom had clinched the championship.

"I'm disappointed for my guys, obviously, but they lost to a very good team," said Parkland coach Mike Hingston. "I don't think that everyone realizes just how good they [Freedom] are and that they've got some young players who are really tough."

In the featured match between Kshatri and Sinai, a key was Sinai's ability to handle Kshatri's serve. Sinai broke serve a number of times throughout the match and focused on keeping his shots to Kshatri's backhand side, limiting chances for the Parkland junior to play to his strengths.

"Nick and Andrew always play each other tough and today was no different," said Hingston. "It was a great match and they both played very well, but today, Andrew came out on top."

The Parkland roster features seven seniors, but just one, Peter Harrison, was playing in the team event against Freedom. Hingston believes that his team will be losing some good players and he would have liked for them to be able to go out with a team championship.

"Peter is such a good kid and he works so hard," said Hingston. "We're going to miss him, he's done well for himself. We have a lot of seniors who all worked to make themselves and the team better and they can all hold their heads high."

Freedom opened their PIAA Tournament run Tuesday at Winning Touch Tennis Club in Allentown, but lost to Council Rock North by a 3-1 score. Kshatri and Harrison open play in the PIAA Doubles Tournament Friday at the Hershey Racquet Club.

"I'm sure they're disappointed right now," admitted Hingston. "But they'll be ready to play and I think it's going to be exciting for them and it's going to be exciting to watch."