Each of the three Salisbury doubles teams experienced firsts in their careers last Thursday during the opening two rounds of the District 11 AA doubles tournament at the West End Racquetball Club.

Most notably, Austin Albright and Zak Young qualified for districts for the first time. The two weren't just happy settling for a spot in the field, they wanted to win. And in the first round, Albright and Young took down Jim Thorpe's Dave Castro and Avery Maguil on the final set 6-4, 5-7, 10-7.

Another doubles team, Jack Bonge and Brendan Reichenbach did experience the district tournament a year ago, but had a quick exit in the first round. This year, however, Bonge and Reichenbach advanced to the second round for the first time in their young careers. They defeated Erik Gross and Srini Laliwala of Saucon Valley also on the final set, 4-6, 6-1, 10-6.

"They've put a lot of hard work into this," head coach Rob Benson said of his two doubles teams. "I think more than anything is they've learned the strategy of doubles and of playing tennis. They follow the instructions I give them, and you just can't be happier for them. I'm very proud of them, and everyone played well."

The two teams would eventually bow out in the second round, both to seeded teams from Moravian Academy and Palmerton.

Salisbury's other qualifying doubles team, Henry Rothermel and Ben Heydt, was seeded seventh, and looking for a solid run in the tournament.

In the opening round Rothermel and Heydt beat Pen Argyl's Anthony Polizzi and Wesley Smith 6-2, 6-0.

Just a week before, the two Falcons both advanced to the second round in singles. They both needed to adjust from the open play of singles, to a more condensed setting of doubles.

"The biggest adjustment for me is just playing safer," Heydt said. "I don't just go for kills each time like I would in singles. I don't really change my game at all, just keep playing hard."

This is nothing new for the senior Rothermel. Last season, he and Kazim Rajmohamed won two games in the district doubles tournament. This is the first time that these two are playing together, and they didn't skip a beat.

"There's no difference from last year," noted Rothermel. "We still expect and hope to go to quarters, which is one of our goals for this year."

Rothermel and Heydt reached their goal of advancing to the second day of the tournament and the quarterfinals with a second round win against Niko Franekic and Luke Mesko of Bethlehem Catholic by a score of 6-4, 6-3.

"They've worked really well together even as a new pairing," added Benson. "I put them in their natural positions. Henry was on the forehand side and I put Ben on the backhand side. Ben's two-handed return on a serve and Henry's forehand has been absolutely great for us. They're doing well and playing aggressive, and they're learning. So I am really happy with what they have done."

Rothermel and Heydt lost in Saturday's semifinals, 6-0, 6-3 to No. 2 seed Mike Antonis and Giovanni Mowery of Notre Dame (Green Pond).