Heading into their District 11 Class AA championship match against Moravian Academy, the Salisbury boys' tennis team had already accomplished more than most had expected.

The No. 2 seeded Falcons, who recorded 16 wins and made an appearance in the Colonial League title game, disposed of No. 7 seed Palisades in the district quarterfinals and dropped No. 3 seed Bethlehem Catholic in the semifinals. That paired the Falcons up with No. 1 seed Moravian Academy, a team responsible for four of Salisbury's six losses all season.

And while the Lions were expected to advance and keep their undefeated mark alive, which they did 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Northwood Racquet and Fitness Club in Easton, the Falcons showed plenty of character, passion and fight in their first district finals appearance.

"Coach told us at the beginning of the year that he thought we could make it this far," said No. 1 singles player John Yurconic. "If the players believed that we could make it this far, I don't know. But we made it this far. We believed in ourselves throughout the entire year."

"They learned a lot this year just from playing in this kind of environment," head coach Rob Benson said. "This was big for them. You could see they were nervous, but that's going to happen. Now they have it under their belt and hopefully that will be better for us next year."

The Lions, who are now 20-0 (14-0 in Colonial League) this year, have won the last six Class AA titles and 10 of the previous 11.

If it weren't for Moravian, it may have been the Falcons' year atop the district ranks. The Lions dealt the Falcons four losses, including the Colonial League and District 11 title games.

When next season rolls around, the Falcons will have the Lions' number on one thing. Salisbury will return all seven players from this season's squad, including freshman standouts Yurconic and Mason Groff at No. 1 and 3 singles, while the Lions are losing two seniors No. 2 singles player Madhav Sekar and No. 1 doubles player Jack Reilly.

The Lions will return much of their championship team, too, and undoubtebly have a few risers in the program, but many expect these two teams to be in the same exact spot next year.

"They lose two seniors and we don't lose any," Reichenbach said, "so maybe we can get them next year."

Sekar defeated Ben Heydt in No. 2 singles (6-0, 6-1), while both Lion doubles teams earned victories on Saturday. Reilly and Jackson Dorogi won at No. 1 singles over Jack Bonge and Brendan Reichenbach (6-1, 6-0), and Abbhi Sekar and Oliver Scott won 6-0 in both sets against Aaron King and Eric Young.

"We were trying new things," Reichenbach said. "When something didn't work, we would move onto another. We were just experimenting and trying to learn some new stuff for next year."

After dropping the first set 6-0, Mason Groff was locked in a tight 3-2 second set at No. 3 singles against Adam Kramer before the match was called.

Yurconic, like the rest of the Falcons team, continued to fight throughout his entire match. Paired up against district singles runner-up Zach Shaff, Yurconic took two games in the first set before the match ended 6-2, 4-0.

Both Yurconic and Shaff will be back next year, and Yurconic believes he still has something to show to the Lions' No. 1 singles player.

"He's been here before so he has that on me," Yurconic said. "But whenever I play him, I still haven't shown him my best game. He hasn't seen me play my best yet. I'm hoping that will come sooner or later, hopefully next year, and I can't wait to play him again.

"It's fun, definitely in freshman year, to make it this far. Last year we didn't even make this kind of stuff. To come in and have that much of an impact on my team is a great feeling."