Salisbury sophomores Mason Groff and John Yurconic had confidence in themselves. So did their head coach Rob Benson as they entered the state doubles tournament.

When all was said and done, the duo capped its season in a way no other Salisbury tennis players had in the past: with a state medal.

After winning two matches on Friday, the first day of the PIAA Class AA Doubles Tennis Championship at Hershey Racquet Club to advance to the semifinal round, Groff and Yurconic battled in the semifinals to open play on Saturday. And despite a tough loss to open the weekend, the pair responded with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory over Lancaster Country Day's Sebastian Pena and Drew Kopan to earn a third-place finish.

"To bring home a medal for our school and our team feels great," Groff said. "I'm really proud of everything that we've done over the season."

A trip to the championship match was on the line when Groff and Yurconic faced ELCO's Adam Bahney and Galen McNaughton, two seniors, to begin play on Saturday.

Despite experiencing the state tournament for the first time, it seemed as if the Falcons had Bahney and McNaughton right where they wanted them in the first set. But after coming up short in a competitive tiebreaker, 12-10, Groff and Yurconic then dropped the second set 6-3 against the eventual PIAA champions.

"They were serving volleys, so John and I had a little bit of a struggle with that," Groff said. "That first set was so intense that it was tough to continue."

"We knew we were going to get a medal," Benson said, "but we also knew our first match on Saturday was the toughest one. We lost the first set 7-6 in a 12-10 tiebreaker. There were great points from both sides. I think each team had about six set points on their racquets at one point or another."

The tiebreaker went in favor of Salisbury in the consolation match, with Groff and Yurconic edging out a 7-6 (7-5) advantage. That momentum shifted over into the second set where they won 6-3 to cement their tournament showing.

"They did what they had to do," Benson said. "We were up 5-2 and Mason was serving, and those guys came back and broke a serve at love. They were up 40 to love in the next game on their next serve, and that's when the kids came back and won that game."

Groff and Yurconic defeated Elk County Catholic's Alan Brennen and Drew Meyer (6-1, 6-0), also two seniors, in the first round on Friday. The two then downed Mount Pleasant's Noah Cenkner and Alex Temple (6-2, 6-1) in a similarly convincing fashion hours later.

"They learned a lot about themselves and about their games," Benson said. "And the next time they get in that situation, they won't lose that 12-10 tiebreaker. It's all a learning process, and we'll have to see how it works out next year."

"John and I have been working very hard over the past year to get to where we have been," Groff said. "Whether that was the Colonial League and district finals for team, or states for doubles, we've been working very hard. I think our commitment to the sport really got us there."