Two of the younger players on the Salisbury girls' tennis team put together one of the better runs in recent history at the district level in last week's District 11 Class AA Doubles Tournament.

Sophomores Leandra Roelker and Claudia Crouthamel won both of their matches last Wednesday at Parkland High School to advance to Thursday's quarterfinals round. And despite coming up short against Central Catholic's Marina Zardet and Sabrina Elward (6-2, 6-2), the duo impressed many considering they only played doubles together once all season.

"We won more matches than we did last year, and we did better than everyone expected," Roelker said. "I'm really happy with the way we played. I have to give my partner Claudia credit. I think she played stellar today and the entire season."

"They did a good job," head coach Rob Benson said. "Even though they lost 6-2, 6-2, it was a lot closer than what the score showed."

In fact, the only time Roelker and Crouthamel took the court together was against Allen earlier in the regular season. The two also played in last year's district tournament and won their opening-round match.

The two have developed plenty of chemistry over their first two seasons. The future only looks brighter as their junior seasons are on the horizon.

"It was crazy playing in districts last year," Roelker said. "I never thought we would get this far. We played as hard as we could."

"We both train year-round, and we are definitely going to work very hard during the offseason," Crouthamel said.

After defeating Central Catholic's Laura Lupin and Madison Hess (6-1, 6-0) to begin the tournament, Roelker and Crouthamel downed Saucon Valley's Amanda Blazka and Taylor Wasem (6-0, 6-2) to move onto play Thursday.

While the entire Lady Falcons' lineup has progressed throughout the season, Roelker and Crouthamel's mental focus impressed Benson more than anything else. That had a big part in their run in districts.

"Leanda has improved tremendously, but both of them have improved mentally a lot," Benson said. "They still have a ways to go, but they have improved mentally a lot. They play doubles the way I like them to play it aggressively."

The Lady Falcons also had two other doubles teams play in the tournament. Juniors Faith Moore and Tricia Pingarelli dropped their first-round matchup against Palisades' Celia LaPorta and Kaitlyn Swartz (6-0, 6-1). Seniors Hannah Kahn and Laura Albright came up short in their last match together against Notre Dame-Green Pond's Emily Hammel and Lydia Yuhas (6-2, 6-1).

"They all lost in the first round, but they played very well," Benson said. "They played with a lot of smarts and a lot of heart."

You don't have to go back too far to notice how much of an improvement the Lady Falcons have made.

Just two years ago, the Lady Falcons' team consisted of just five players. That team won just one game in the Colonial League. In the previous four seasons, the team won a combined five games in league play. But the start of a turnaround was evident this season, as the Lady Falcons finished with four conference wins, the most since the 2005 season.

"I think it was a good season, [but] I don't think it was a really great season," Benson said. "We've got a lot of people that are going to improve over the course of the year. Hopefully that's what is going to happen."

"I love playing on this team because we are truly like a family," Crouthamel said. "We spent so much time together that we all became really close."

Press writer Justin Carlucci also contributed to this story