Bethlehem Catholic and Liberty’s boys tennis teams went head-to-head twice in two days with the Hurricanes winning both matches, but it was the matches at two singles between Becahi’s Armaan Makwana and Liberty’s Shayann Farhad that were the most even.

Both hardworking, solid players at number two, Farhad won Friday’s contest, 6-4, 6-2.

“In the first set, I was trying to do one-two punches and serve out wide and then just try to finish the ball in two points, and that was working,” Farhad said. “I was up 5-2, but then he started to come up to the net himself and he got a few games off me. But then I kept everything cross and didn’t try to do anything fancy, so I managed to win that one.”

Farhad was down 0-2 in the second set when Liberty coach Chris Conrad stepped in.

“Coach Conrad came and told me to keep everything cross and come to the net when you can, and that strategy was working like a charm. I think he only got like six points after he told me that, and that’s what got me the win,” said Farhad.

The following day, Makwana knew he had to be more consistent in his play and make smarter decisions such as when and when not to come to the net.

The first set found Makwana going for too much at times, or leaving the ball short when he could have gone deeper, and after Farhad won 6-3, Makwana knew he had to change something.

“In the second set, I tried to be more defensive. I tried not to leave the ball short and not go for angles. I waited till he missed,” said Makwana, who won the second set, 6-3.

Becahi coach George Harmanos encouraged Makwana to mix it up and hit deep, then come to the net.

“In the third set, I played like I did in the second and mixed up my shot selection,” Makwana said and won 6-2.

For Makwana, it was less about revenge and more about really wanting to win. Makwana and Farhad could meet again in the EPC Tournament scheduled for April 22.

Number one singles players Curt Gruber from Becahi and Anthony Ronca from Liberty also played a challenging match on Friday.

“He’s a good player,” said Gruber. “He got everything back, lefty serve, good spin. I had to fight for every point. If I was in trouble, I could throw up a lob to reset the point, and I had some good defense today, and I think that annoyed him and also got me a couple points at 30-all or something like that where I could then close out a game.”

Gruber won the match 6-4, 6-2.

“I think if I served better, I could’ve put it away much quicker,” Gruber said. In the second set, I was a bit smarter, more patient. I think I played my forehand pretty well today and tried to mix everything up, so my slice was able to throw him off balance. I didn’t come to the net as much as I intended to, but when I did, I think I won almost all the points at the net.”

Gruber also won Saturday’s match, 6-2, 6-0.

At three singles, Roman Farhad won both matches against Anthony Barczynski, 6-1, 6-1, and 6-4, 6-1.

At one doubles, Liberty’s Will Lotto and David Broczkowski defeated John Valance and George Pavis, 8-7, and Liberty’s Jackson Jobes and Leo Babbin defeated Zach Schmalz and Patrick Core, 8-0.

Liberty’s Luke Appleman and Gavin Evans-Gartley won at two doubles, 6-3, 6-4, over Josh Maruscak and Dan Smith, and Evans-Gartley paired up with Sid Tekumalla to defeat Maruscak and Smith, 6-0, 6-2.

At three doubles, Tekumalla and Chris Giannaras defeated Vallance and Schmalz, 6-0, 6-0, and Liberty’s Matt Bilger and Tyler Markovich defeated Pavis and Ethan DiLello, 6-0, 6-0.

Bilger and Markovich won at four doubles against DiLello and Xavier Sanchez-Shive, 6-1, 6-1, and Liberty’s Ben Pfeiffer and Chris Giannaras defeated Sanchez-Shive and Vallance, 6-2, 6-2.