It’s been a good start for the Whitehall girls tennis team, getting out of the gate early with a couple of league wins.

They began the season by defeating Pocono Mountain West, 7-0. Pleasant Valley was the next stop on their schedule, losing to the Bears 0-7 to knot their record at 1-1.

With two matches under their belt, they Zephs hosted East Stroudsburg South High School last week and won a tough match against the Cavaliers, 5-2.

It was a quality win for head coach Alex Green’s young squad. The Cavaliers were coming off a 7-5 season last year which earned them a spot in the District 11 playoffs.

Green said that played well against the Cavaliers, with big wins sprinkled throughout the match.

One of the biggest came at No. 3 singles as La’Naa Roberts gutted out a three-set victory over Zayra Tom-Wing. Roberts dropped the first set 6-7 (13), bit rallied to win the next two sets convincingly, 6-0, 6-3. Green said that her win clinched the match for the team, earning them their second win of the season.

“That was a really big win for us,” said Green.

Noel Yacoub was also victorious at No. 2 singles, defeating Lindsay Scerbo, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 1 singles Natalia Pedraza couldn’t extend her match to a decisive third set, eventually losing that second set 5-7 to Kaitlyn Semon. Simon won the first set 6-1.

Whitehall also cam out on top at one, two and three doubles. Heylee Chan and Sandra Reeves played at pro set at No. 1 with that duo winning 8-3 over Hannah Osusu-Afryie and Elana Boyer.

At No. 2 doubles, Catharine Chen and Adrainna Ordonez defeated Maddie Malsch and Valerie Osario, 6-3, 7-5, while at No. 3 doubles, Teresa Nappo and Emma Garneau defeated Tamara Davis and Delaney Robbins, 6-0, 6-3.

Green liked the way his team battled throughout the match.

“It was really important for us to beat a team that been toward the upper part of the standings,” said Green.

Roberts gritty win at No. 3 could serve as a real confidence booster. In fact, it can serve as a lesson for the whole team, said Green. He said that he’s always stressed that tennis is 50 percent technique and 50 percent competitive desire.

“You want to be competitive and you want to be tough,” said Green. “We definitely have some tough girls on the team and we hope to develop some more.”

Green said that he’s seen some improvement, especially on their junior varsity squad. He expects to see more going forward, and that expectation extends to the varsity as well. Right now he’s trying to establish good practice habits where they work hard and get things accomplished. He also wants to keep them motivated.

“I want to make sure that their spirits are good and that they’re ready to play,” said Green.