Liberty’s boys’ tennis team left everything on the court at Emmaus on March 13 and took with them a 4-2 victory, for what Hurricane coach Chris Conrad told them could be their last match of the season, and for senior singles players Louis Gruber and David Lynn, their last match of their high school careers.

“They are tremendous kids, and that it’s their senior season, it’s heartbreaking,” Conrad said. “I thanked them for their contributions. I wanted to recognize them.”

Gruber and Lynn had the chance to make history with what could have been four District XI team titles before the coronavirus pandemic lessened that chance, but as far as Conrad is concerned, the March 13 Emmaus match was the perfect match to be a district final.

“David and Louis smirked at each other before the match. They were ready for the challenge, and they wanted to do it,” said Conrad. “They played some great points.”

Lynn and Anthony Ronca won at two and three singles, and Shayan Farhad, Sid Tekumalla, Gavin Evans-Gartley, and Matt Bilger won at two and three doubles.

“In the moment, I was shocked because I didn’t expect anything like this to take place,” said Lynn, “but it definitely gave me an extra level of motivation. It was sad, but I think it helped me.”

The wind that day also caused Lynn to adjust his playing style.

“We had some long rallies, and I had to stay with it and wait for him to make some errors,” Lynn said.

Gruber lost his match at one singles, and Tyler Markovich and Jiaming Wang lost at four doubles, but now that some weeks have passed, he is trying to look at the positives like catching up on school work and preparing for college.

“Overall, it’s been disappointing, but I think it puts into perspective the little things,” Gruber said. “Four district championships would have been nice, but we had already shown what we were capable of and didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.”

Lynn said he was expecting a long season and making it to districts again.

“I definitely wasn’t happy about that, but I’ve come to terms with it these last two weeks,” said Lynn. “I’m blessed and lucky to have the opportunity to play with a great team and a great coach.”