It was tight. It was taut. It was spine-tingling and at the end it was a defeat for the Parkland boys tennis program.

The No. 1 seed Trojans lost a thriller to No. 3 seed Liberty 3-2 and with it the District 11 Class 3A boys team tournament title last Thursday at Lehigh University. The loss ends Parkland’s 2022 season with a 17-1 record.

The deciding match was in No. 1 singles and featured Parkland’s Dan Zolotarev and the Hurricanes’ Shayaan Farhad. The Parkland senior won the first set 7-6 but he fell apart thereafter, losing 6-2, 6-1. Josh Thomas, the No. 2 singles player, took care of business beating Roman Farhad 6-3, 6-1.

Then Lucas Lee went through Liberty’s Luke Appleman like a knife through hot butter, 6-1, 6-0.

Things fell apart for Parkland in doubles. Going back to the season’s start, coach Michael Hingston indicated his doubles teams would be fluid.

“We are a little young there,” Hingston said as the season started. “But they are all hard workers.”

The hard work paid off as Parkland’s doubles play for most of the year was superb. In the districts it was a different story. No. 1 doubles Kevin Yao and Rithik Raghuraman could not keep it going.

They lost to Gavin Evans Gartley and Sid Tekumalla 6-3, 6-3. No. 2 doubles Taehyuk Yang and Ryan Wu pushed Liberty’s Chris Giannaras and Jackson Jobes hard in a good tennis match. Unfortunately for Parkland it wasn’t enough. The Hurricanes won the battle 7-6, 6-4.

The Trojans made the finals after victories over Easton in the quarters and Freedom in the semis. The last chance for any Parkland players to make states will take place at the District 11 Class 3A doubles tournament.

Zolotarev and D’Souza will comprise one Parkland team and Thomas and Lee another. The tournament is scheduled for May 9 and 11 at Lehigh University and Parkland High School.