To date, the Whitehall boys nascent tennis season has been highlighted by a will to win, and that mindset has allowed them to prevail in some close matches.

Head coach Austin Berg said that their 6-1 victory over Pleasant Valley last week demonstrated that resiliency and their desire to come out on top.

“We had that passion to win,” said Berg.

Berg said that the No. 4 doubles match featuring Trevor Girard and Jeremy Snyder was a perfect example of that keen desire to win. They were playing the tandem of John Berry and Michael Tauer. After winning the first set 6-3, they dropped the next set 4-6, setting up the decisive third set. They rallied and won the tiebreaker 11-9, showcasing the fortitude that’s needed to overcome adversity during a match.

“They want to win,” said Berg. “They were down but they bounced back. I hope they keep up the fighting spirit.”

That fighting spirt was also true of No. 2 doubles pair of Nick Demjan and Aidan Gilboy. They had to go to a tiebreaker in a tough first set against the Bear duo of Nicholas Vo and Jason Allesch. Once again that will to win came to the forefront as they won the tiebreaker (7-4), giving them a 7-6 first set victory. That win propelled them to take the next set 6-3 as they won in straight sets.

Erik Poon and Daniel Lim, the No. 3 doubles team also had to rebound after a setback. That came in the second set when they were upended 5-7 by Tyler Fahrenkopf and Brian Kagel, extending the match to a third set. But the pair fought through that adversity to win the third and deciding set, 6-4.

In their other doubles match at No. 1, Noah Zahradnik and Edward Harrich dispatched of Antonio Carbone and Andrew Jetty in a pro set, winning 8-4.

The Zephyrs swept the doubles matches, and Berg believes their ability to weather some rough spots and ultimately win will pay dividends throughout the season.

At No. 1 singles, Jeremy Lim took care of Jake Ammerman in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Berg said that Lim is someone who will continue to improve and is looking forward to his matches against some teams inside their conference. He believes he’ll do quite well this season. He’s 2-0 so far this season, winning his first match Pocono Mountain West’s Joe Romano 6-0, 6-0.

At No. 2 singles, Gavin Meyers defeated Najja Francis in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4.

“Gavin did a great job,” said Berg.

Meyers is also 2-0 on the young season.

The lone loss came at No. 3 singles as Nick Rohn lost in straight sets to Josh Schaffner, 6-7, 1-6.

Berg said that Rohn needs to tailor his game more for singles competition now. He said it’s “a different beast” and that Rohn needs to pull back at times. When he was playing doubles, he could rocket his serve since he was sharing serving duties with his partner. If he ran into trouble with it because it wasn’t landing inbounds, he could still be productive in other phases when his partner was serving. Berg said that he’ll need to make that adjustment in singles to eliminate his desire to overpower his opponent.

The Zephs are 2-0 so far this year, winning their first match against Pocono Mountain West 6-1. This week features matches against Liberty, East Stroudsburg North and Dieruff.