The Whitehall girls tennis season ended in the district quarterfinals as Natalia Pedraza and Noel Yacoub took a big swing at the doubles title, falling a little short in their quest to claim the championship.

The pair made it all the way to the District XI AAA Girls Doubles quarterfinals before being ousted by Nazareth’s tandem of Halle DeNardo and Jennifer Soika. They lost 6-0, 6-1, ending the 2018 season for the Whitehall squad.

It was the second consecutive year that the pair made it to the quarterfinal round. Last year they were eliminated in the quarters by eventual champs Natalie Sinai and Rebecca Packo from Freedom. This year Sinai and Tashanna Smith claimed the D-11 crown. The Pates pair won the doubles tourney without dropping a set until the finals, defeating Parkland’s Murong Yao and Joanna Wu, 6-2, 6-0.

In order to reach the quarters, Pedraza and Yacoub began by defeating Dieruff’s Vivian Soto and Ashley Balbuena, 6-0, 6-1 in the first round. Their second round pairing featured a match against Northampton’s Liz Hozza and Rose Sharga. They defeated the Kid tandem 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

That set up the quarterfinal match against a strong Nazareth pair.

The Zephyrs finished the season 6-8 and will now look ahead to the 2019 season. They will lose Emma Garneau, La’Naa Roberts, Katie Peluso, Queena Lin and Tehreem Syed.

Garneau and Roberts have been integral parts of the program their entire careers, taking turns holding down the No. 3 singles position this season as well as playing doubles. Peluso has also been a fixture in the Zephyr lineup, usually at No. 4 doubles this season. Lin has also been a fixture on their doubles squad, often teaming with Garneau or Roberts at No. 1 doubles.

“Yes, this senior class was definitely a strong one,” said head coach Alex Green. “They were the backbone of our team. Queena Lin really stood out to me as our best senior leader. She was not a captain and looking back I would have made her a captain. She stood out with her attitude, her competitiveness, her willingness to practice and just her overall commitment to the program. She played with whomever she was paired with and never fussed about it. She was truly the ideal player for a coach.

“The rest of our seniors did a nice job as well. We ended up 6-8, so it would have been great to win one or two more. But our wins over Pleasant Valley and Northampton were certainly memorable. Our seniors have much more to think about now than just tennis. We wish them well in their all-important journeys. Hopefully they’ve learned something from the game that they can use in life.”

The Zephyrs have a lot to build on heading into 2019. Pedraza returns after a strong sophomore campaign, and will most likely slip back into the No. 1 slot. Yacoub returns as well, giving the Zephs a formidable one-two punch at the top of their singles lineup.

Also returning are Heylee Chan and Nicole Asmar, arguably their most consistent doubles pair the entire season.

Marina Fayez also saw action in doubles, and the junior will be returning for her senior season.

They also return Mabel Espinal, Emily Foehrkolb, Sydney Holderman, Amya Klingel, Miranda Ortiz, Sidney Ott, Mai Quach, Delana Spencer and Emily Williams.

“I think the state of the program is solid with Natalia and Noel at the top of the lineup,” said Green. “We will have Nicole, Heylee and Emily Tran returning. That is definitely a nice core of players but we will need some other players to fill out the lineup. Roster spots are up for grabs and whoever puts in the work will attain those positions. So it’s definitely a good and exciting time for the program.”