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Bears' season ends

ALLENTOWN - The Pleasant Valley boys tennis team certainly had a season to remember.

The Bears finished 15-2 on the year (their second best record in school history) and were thisclose to winning their first Mountain Valley Conference championship since 2006.A few days later, the doubles tandem of Vince Voulo and Jon White captured third place in the District 11 Class AAA doubles tournament.Then yesterday at the West End Racquet Club, Pleasant Valley returned to the District 11 Class AAA team championships for the first time in six years.Unfortunately, it was there that the Bears wrote the final chapter in their storybook season.With Mother Nature forcing the match to be played indoors, the fourth-seeded Hornets posted a 3-2 victory over fifth-seeded Pleasant Valley to advance to Thursday's semifinals against top-seeded Parkland.Ironically, the same two teams faced off in 2006 (the last time Pleasant Valley appeared in the team championships), with the sixth-seeded Bears posting a 3-2 upset victory over third-seeded Emmaus."We went out fighting today. I'm certainly not disappointed with a loss to Emmaus or the way we played, although I am a little disappointed that the season's come to an end," stated Pleasant Valley head coach Mark Allison."It's been a really great year for us and that's a testament to all the hard work that the kids have put in. I think it was kind of unexpected since we didn't have a whole lot of experienced players coming back, but I honestly couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out."Pleasant Valley's freshman sensation Jon White defeated Ryan Jaeger 7-6(6-3), 6-2 in the second singles match, while the Bears doubles team of Stevie Berry and Mike Hughart knocked off Gavin Dougherty and Finn Hobson 7-5, 6-0 in the second doubles match.White finished the season with a perfect 18-0 record in singles competition.Emmaus won the other two singles matches, as Rowan Hobson blanked Vince Voulo 6-0, 6-0 and Mike Hensler handed Jonathan Walmach a 7-6(7-5), 6-3 setback.However, it was the first doubles match that proved to be the deciding factor, as Emmaus' Ryan Bressner and R.J. Dave defeated Lou Bravo and Kyle Tamraz.Bressner and Dave scored a 7-5 victory in the first set, while Bravo and Tamraz scored a 7-6(7-3) win in the second set. This forced a 10-point super tiebreaker which Bressner and Dave won 10-7."It really came down to that number one doubles tiebreaker and if a couple points turned around our way, we end up winning the match 3-2," added Allison."It's tough when you work hard to split a set and then you end up going to a tiebreaker that ultimately decides the match. You obviously feel good if you win it, but if you lose, it's a tough pill to swallow."While Allison might liked to have seen that third set played out, Pleasant Valley's season on a whole played out perfectly.Emmaus 3, Pleasant Valley 2SINGLESRowan Hobson (E) def. Vince Voulo 6-0, 6-0; Jon White (PV) def. Ryan Jaeger 7-6(6-3), 6-2; Mike Hensler (E) def. Jonathan Walmach 7-6(7-5), 6-3.DOUBLESRyan Bressner/R.J. Dave (E) def. Lou Bravo/Kyle Tamraz 7-5, 6-7(3-7), 10-7; Stevie Berry/Mike Hughart (PV) def. Gavin Dougherty/Finn Hobson 7-5, 6-0.