The Parkland High School boys tennis team finished the regular season undefeated at 18-0 and won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference team championship.

The Trojans’ lineup had a ton of success throughout the year, including the District 11 3A singles champ in sophomore Derek Yao, who won his second straight district title, and juniors Manav Patel and Jacky Zhang teamed up to take district gold in doubles.

“Anytime a team can go undefeated, it is an awesome accomplishment,” said head coach Lee Rizzotto. “There is a ton of talent in the EPC and for our guys to lock in for 18 matches without slipping up says a lot about their mindset and talent. I was really proud to watch their focus all year.”

The Trojans fell just short in sweeping the postseason team titles, as they lost to Liberty in the District 11 3A team final, 3-2, back on May 7. Parkland won at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, but lost at No. 2 and 3 singles and No. 1 doubles.

Much of the lineup is undefeated on the season, including Yao (16-0), Patel (18-0), Tyson Noto/Doyoon Kim (12-0), Noah Elijovich/Pranav SenthilKumar (14-0) and Matt Huang/Ajay Gade (14-0). Zhang was 14-2.

“Derek is a special talent that does not come along too often,” Rizzotto said. “His mindset, court intelligence and consistency set him apart from everyone else. He is currently a level above everyone else in the league and district. I am not surprised at all that he repeated as district champ and we are looking for him to take the next step in the state tournament.

“Manav/Jacky, I’m really proud of these guys. They are good friends on and off the courts. They balance each other out well. They are not just happy to be in the [state] tournament, they are looking to go perform well and shock some folks.”

In singles at states, Yao will take on the runner up from District 1 in Michael Goldovsky from Council Rock South, in the first round Friday.

In the doubles tournament at states, Patel and Zhang will also compete against District 1’s second-place finishers, Tristan Lubiniecki and Jake Tsang from Conestoga.

“It is not too often that a school wins the district title at both singles and doubles to advance to states,” said Rizzotto. “It is exciting to me because I love to see the development in my guys and how proud they were of accomplishing this achievement. I’m looking forward to them making some noise at states and getting a chance to participate in a fantastic experience.”