As the temperature rose past 80 degrees last Thursday, Whitehall’s Daniel Labram and Bethlehem Catholic’s John Vallance were battling in a nearly two-hour tennis match at three singles, the only match left to finish.

Becahi had won its other matches, so Vallance was looking for the sweep, but Labram, who tugged at his shirt to fan himself often, was looking for the win.

“It was very intense. I really wanted him to win. it was a good game,” said Labram’s teammate Nate Mak.

Mak and the rest of the Zephyrs, along with Coach Bob Panny, watched with anticipation as Labram won, 6-4, 7-6.

“I was on the edge of my seat the whole time,” said teammate Josh Laky. “He worked so hard for that match, and he never gave up. It was inspirational.”

Adding to the drama was the fact that Labram is a doubles player, but with the injured Karim Wasfy unable to play at one singles, Coach Panny was forced to change the Zephyrs’ lineup.

And then the match went to tiebreak.

“I was exhausted at that point, and I was like, I have to get this over with,” said Labram as he wiped beads of sweat from his face. “It was long. It was hot. He had some good shots. We had some long rallies, some long points. He was a good player, but he made some mistakes.”

Vallance had a tendency to hit the ball too hard at times.

“I saw his weaknesses, like when I lobbed it over him, sometimes he couldn’t get it, and then I think I used those weaknesses to my advantage,” Labram said, “but he had some pretty powerful serves that I couldn’t return all the time, so I had to get used to that.”

And if Labram wasn’t used to all eyes on his match on Thursday, he is now.

“That added a little bit of pressure, but it was helpful because the other team, they were clapping and cheering, so it was good to have some people clapping and cheering on my side too,” he said.

Other scores in singles play from Thursday’s match at Becahi were Armaan Makwana defeating Mak, 6-0, 6-0, and Anthony Barczynski defeating Laky, 6-1, 6-0.

Mak and Laky were also moved in Whitehall’s lineup.

In doubles play, Dan Smith and Callen Kok defeated Vincent Tran and Antoni Szlagiewicz, 6-0, 6-0, Xavier Shive-Sanchez and Josh Maruscak defeated Lex Prebosnyak and Gabby Roustic, 6-0, 6-0, and

Ben Blum and Ethan DiLello defeated Henry Le and Jimmy Kaba, 6-0, 6-3.

Whitehall 5 Pen Argyl 0

Singles

1. Nate Mak (W) def Fred Blasi (PA) 6-2 6-0

2. Josh Laky (W) def John Vanic (PA) 6-1 6-1

3. Dan Labram (W) def Andrew Kondisko (PA) 6-0 6-2

Doubles

2. Antoni Szlagiewicz/Vincent Tran (W) def Mason Beers/Jack Scherer (PA) 6-1 6-1

3. Lex Prebosnyak/Gabby Roustic (W) def Matt Oakley/Evan Frable (PA) 6-1 7-5

Stroudsburg 5 Whitehall 1

Singles

1. John Willis (S) def Nate Mak (W) 6-0 6-0

2. Jackson Kozma (S) def Josh Laky (W) 6-0 6-0

3. Dan Labram (W) def Luke Torres (W) 6-0 6-3

Doubles

2. Noah Dickison/Matt Lipitz (S) def Antoni Szlagiewicz/Vincent Tran (W) 6-1 6-3

3. Jarod Ruhl/Bestan Torres S) def Lex Prebosnyak/Gabby Roustic (W) 6-1 6-0

4. Adam Aksamit/Ayan Mansur (W) def Henry Le/Venkat Gangupantulu (W) 6-0 6-0

Whitehall 5 Pocono Mtn East 1

Singles

1. Daniet Trott (PME) def Nate Mak (W) 6-3 6-2

2. Josh Laky (W) def James Grassi (PME) 6-3 6-3

3. Dan Labram (W) def Evan Schmidt (PME) 6-3 6-0

Doubles

2. Vincent Tran/Antoni Szlagiewicz (W) def Shawn Mayes/Adam Valderrama (PME) 6-1 6-3

3. Lex Prebosnylak/Gabby Roustic (W) def Chaddwick Bennett/Eric Szcezecinski (PME 6-1 6-1

4. Henry Le/Jimmy Kaba (W) won FFT