A battle of two young tennis teams with first-year head coaches took place between Whitehall and Bethlehem Catholic last week when Becahi became the 5-2 winner over Whitehall on Sept. 13 at the courts on Illick’s Mill Road, Bethlehem.

“Very relieved,” said Becahi coach Dan Arkans, regarding the number one doubles match that didn’t need to be played. “Both girls were tired.”

On the other hand, Whitehall coach Susan DiGiacomo was hoping for a 3-3 tie that would force the match at one doubles.

“It got close,” DiGiacomo said, “but we just couldn’t pull it out.”

With the score tied at 2-2, Becahi’s Kiley Parkes and Madison Araniego were well on their way to a 6-1, 6-1 win against Elena Attieti and Trinity Goeti at number four doubles.

But Whitehall’s number three doubles team of Izzy Morales and Jessica Lin were beginning a second-set comeback against Louisa Robinson and Narao Erdazio, eventually won by the Golden Hawks, 6-1, 6-3.

“We’re very young. Nine freshmen,” said DiGiacomo. “Some of the girls aren’t working well together, and we’re finding that out now.”

Coach Arkans has a similar challenge, more than halfway through the season and still trying to settle on doubles pairs.

“It’s really difficult. We just don’t have a lot of time in the season with our foreign exchange players coming after the season had begun, and they’re both really good, Victoire (Claudel, from France) and Narao (Erdazio, from Spain), so we had to re-challenge, redo the ladder, and find the right doubles teams,” Arkans said. “Narao much prefers doubles over singles, so we had to find the right partner for her. It’s a lot of mix and match, and I feel like we have a lot of girls with the same skill level. It’s just finding the right combinations.

“Narao and Louisa are a really good team. They almost beat Emmaus, who [Coach Dragotta] told me hadn’t lost a match this year. It’s only their second match together, but they seem to play really well together, and Madison and Kiley are also new. I never know what to expect with doubles. I thought [the match] might be split.”

Coach DiGiacomo said that Olivia Toto is solid at number two doubles, but there’s still mixing and matching being done with the rest of the Zephyrs’ doubles players.

Toto was paired with Alexsandra Nuki in the match with Beca, but Judy Pintor and Elizabeth Schock won, 6-1, 6-1.

In singles play, Whitehall’s Sonakshi Sharma defeated Claudel at number one, 6-1, 6-1.

“Today, I was able to serve both ways, by the line and by the T too, so that was something that was working well today,” Sharma said. “In the match, I kept hitting some balls with a lot of topspin, some a little bit flatter.”

Becahi’s Ava Burkhart was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Brenna Pangaio at number two.

“In the first set, she started hitting short to me because I was standing really far back, and she wasn’t hitting deep, so I had to adjust and be able to go up to the net and hit some volleys. She got me on one point because I wasn’t ready for it, but I caught on and eventually did win,” Burkhart said. “In the second set, she wasn’t really doing it that much anymore because she saw I was able to hit volleys. I think I hit really deep for her. I think she was standing up into the court a little bit. A couple of times I would hit really deep, and she would watch it. I think she wasn’t used to that and needed to adjust.”

Whitehall’s Gio Yacub won the number three singles match over Josie Fiorini, 6-4, 6-1.

“Everything seemed to be working for her,” said DiGiacomo of Yacub. “Her serve was working. She was getting a lot of balls back, and she was playing very well today.”

Fiorini has had her share of close sets, but Arkans sees a way for her to win them.

“Josie’s just got to stop doing so much running in the first set. She’s tiring herself out in a lot of first sets, and it’s a lot of back-and-forth matches that she’s in where there’s these long, 20-ball rallies,” said Arkans. “I was trying to get her to find some angles more than just hitting straight to the player. She is a fighter, and she gets in these matches where the other girls are doing the same thing.”

Becahi’s Sofia Fiorini and DJ Jones won the alternates match over Marilyn Ogunsemre and Fatuma Abdella, 8-0.

As the regular season begins to wind down, the Hawks will have played four matches this week, and the Zephyrs will have played five matches.

“Finding that balance between academics and sport is what’s going to really become important for us this week,” DiGiacomo said.