The Emmaus girls tennis program concluded a solid season with a good showing in the District 11 Class 3A team tournament.

Coach Robert Dragotta’s club, which went 14-4 to finish fourth in the league, defeated Southern Lehigh in the quarterfinals, 3-2.

“The district team quarterfinals match with Southern Lehigh was very exciting,” Dragotta said. “Both teams were cheering.”

This thriller started on a sour note for Emmaus as No. 1 singles player Shelby Carter and No. 2 Kate Smith each went down to defeat in straight sets. But all was not lost as No. 3 Liza Duerholz took care of the Spartans’ Sophia Delp, 6-2, 7-5.

Then the Emmaus doubles contingents took control. Maddie Everett and Anna Lyons defeated Southern Lehigh’s Maddie Smith and Ava Ashworth, 6-3, 6-4. Then it was time for the Hornets’ Alexa Makoul and Reshma Beraj to shine. They won a tough first set against Hanna Sumner and Ella Ahnert 7-5 before playing a dominating second set ending in a 6-1 win.

“Alexa and Reshma played their best match of the season and came away victorious,” Dragotta said.

But the exaltation ended the next day when the Hornets were shutout by Parkland in the semifinals, 5-0. The Trojans went on to win the district title.

“The district team semifinals match with Parkland had a lot of good points and games, but the Parkland team was stronger,” Dragotta said.

While ending any season on a loss is disappointing, there’s no reason for Emmaus to look back on 2022 with anything but fond memories.

“I am proud of how the girls worked this season,” Dragotta said. “Finishing 14-4 and being one of the top four teams in District 11 3A was a successful season.”