OREFIELD - The results won't tell the whole story.

Though Palmerton's Nate Andress and Sal Melo, along with Lehighton's Tegan Durishin, were unable to advance to the quarterfinals of the District 11 Class AA singles tennis tournament, the trio created their own narrative on the court Monday at Parkland High School.So, too, did Jim Thorpe's Shaun DiCostanzo, and another Blue Bomber, Seth Andress, who were both eliminated in the first round.The five Times News area tennis players represented themselves - and their schools - admirably, displaying the resolve of a champion.Nate Andress, who has played No. 3 singles for Palmerton this season, battled against No. 6 seed Abbhi Sekar of Moravian Academy before falling 6-1, 6-1 in the second round."I'm pretty proud (of myself)," said Andress. "I just have to hit my shots more often."Andress played his game and kept his composure throughout. But Sekar was simply too much for the freshman."He's a good player," Andress said of Sekar. "His serve got me in the first set. I had to adjust in the second set, but I would say his serve was what got me."Andress showed an ability to adapt in his first round match against Pen Argyl's Mason Hudnall, picking up a 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 victory."Nate did a really nice job and won a tough first round match," said Palmerton head coach Alex Knoll. "He lost the second set, but showed a lot of grit to win that tiebreaker."And I thought he played (Shaff) tough. It was a tougher match than the score showed. This was a really good experience for Nate that he can use for years to come."While the Blue Bombers' freshman will look forward to making his next stay in the tournament a longer one, Melo and Durishin savored the opportunity to participate -and win a match - in the event as seniors.Melo lost his second round match 6-1, 6-0 to the Salisbury's Mason Groff, the No. 8 seed, but topped Michael Swope of Palisades 6-1, 6-1 in the first round."For me, personally, coming out here and winning the first match really meant a great deal to me," said Melo. "The second match (against Groff) was close, but what are you going to do?"But winning that first one really meant a lot to me, especially with it being my senior year, being able to win one match at districts."Durishin, who lost in the first round last season, fought off a tough challenge from Notre Dame Green Pond's Matt Hidalgo to advance, winning 7-5, 6-3."I'm very proud, since District 11 is very tough when it comes to tennis," said Durishin. "Just to get that first win today against a tough opponent that I had never played before was great."The senior was unable to get past Salisbury's John Yurconic - last year's runner-up and the No. 2 seed - in the second round, falling 6-0, 6-0."Even though I didn't do too well when you look at the score, I felt like I played my best game, or one of my top games, all year in that match," Durishin said of his play against Yurconic.Lehighton head coach Dave Sherry praised Durishin's play, something the Indians' mentor attributed to his athleticism and unwavering work ethic."I think he's not just a great tennis player but also a great kid," Sherry said of Durishin. "He plays three different sports (wrestling, football) and he's good at everything. He pushes so hard to do well."And he's also in the top two or three of his class. He's going to do great things."Though Seth Andress came up short against Bethlehem Catholic's Colby Treadwell in the first round, losing 6-0, 6-1, the senior was happy to share the stage alongside two of his Palmerton teammates."This was our best season under coach Knoll, so it's special to see that everyone who was eligible for districts made it," Andress said. "Now we get to look forward to doubles and team districts and we'll see what we can do there."DiCostanzo has made great strides since the beginning of the season, and the junior continued the trend Monday despite losing his first round match 7-6, 6-1 to Bethlehem Catholic's Jack Jiang."I think that first set was the best set he's played all year," said Jim Thorpe head coach Norb Lienhard. "I told him that he represented himself and he represented Jim Thorpe unbelievably well."Only a junior, DiCostanzo has high hopes for what next year might bring."I think this is going to give me a lot of confidence," he said. "I thought I played really well today, much better than I have before this season and I just want to keep that going and build off of that."UPTICK … The three second round qualifiers was an increase from last year, when Jim Thorpe's Brett Luicana was the only one of the five TN players in the tournament to make it out of the first round.MOVING ON … The quarterfinals will be comprised of the eight seeded players in the tournament.