When the 2013 District 11 Class AA girls tennis championship tournament opens with singles competition on Friday, Salisbury freshman Leandra Roelker will have a place in the field.

Roelker, who went 9-7 during the regular season, earned a spot in the tournament with her solid performance. She went 8-2 as the team's No. 2 singles player before moving up to the No. 1 position later in the season. Head coach Rob Benson recognized the freshman as the team's Most Valuable Player.

When district doubles begin play on Monday, October 14, Benson hopes to have two teams in competition. He's looking to have Roelker and fellow freshman Claudia Crouthamel pair up as the first doubles team.

"Depending on the draw, I'm hoping she can win a round or two," Benson said. "I certainly expect, again depending on the draw [and] if they don't get the No. 1 seed, Claudia and Leandra should win a round in the district doubles."

Seedings were not yet available at time of press.

Laura Albright and Hannah Kuhn, who went 4-12 in doubles play during the season, is the second team Benson is looking to get into districts. The two will represent the Falcons' as captains next year.

"I also feel if I can get Hannah and Laura in, depending on their draw, they can always win a round," Benson said.

"We call them our dynamic duo. The improvement from last year to this year is just like 200 percent. They've got the shots. Now they're learning the techniques and when to use them.

Michelle Dang, the team's Scholar Athlete of the Year, and Talli Oliver, have continued to work hard all season on the court. Dang teamed up with Albright in last season's district tournament, while Oliver and 2013 graduate Ali Greenholt combined as a team too.

Junior newcomers Faith Moore and Tricia Pingerelli have continued to improve all season long and were recognized as the team's Most Improved Players.

"We had to force feed them a little bit, and put them right into varsity matches and they have to get used to playing" Benson said.

Despite three losses to end the season, Benson has seen improvement from his team from a year ago and is pleased with the season the Falcons had.

The Falcons finished with a 4-9 record in league play, a jump from last year's one-win season. Overall, the Falcons were 4-12 on the season, but three of those matches were decided by a 3-2 defeat.

"This year, I would say that we're a lot better," Benson said. "We have a long way to go, but obviously if we get more athletes out, that will help too.

"This year I could go out and do some drills with them, where as last year I was just teaching the basics. So they've come a long way."