OREFIELD The Pleasant Valley girls tennis team had some big shoes to fill coming into the 2014 season as former 14-match winner Emily Thek had graduated.

Kara Urland's 2013 campaign was cut short due to a season ending injury. Urland bounced back in impressive fashion and more than filled the big shoes left by Thek with a brilliant senior season.Urland is the team's No. 2 singles player, as she paired up with the two-time defending Times News Tennis Player of the Year Madison Olexson in the District 11 doubles tournament.The Lady Bear duo was impressive as they were victorious against the Dieruff tandom of Marissa Moyer and Siani-Lee Vasquez in the first round, and the Bangor pair of Olivia Smith and Jen LaBar in the second round.The Pleasant Valley pair matched up with the second-seeded Liberty squad of Samantha Peterson and Madelyn Conrad in the quarterfinals. The Lady Bear tandom came up short, 6-1, 6-0."The weather conditions were tough," said Pleasant Valley head coach Mark Allison. "Liberty was very aggressive at the net. We tried to do some different things with some lobs to keep them away from the net but the wind made it tough. The girls from Liberty are very good."Liberty head coach Leo Schnalzer agreed that the swirling winds were a cause for concern."Depending on which way the wind is blowing, the ball will take a dive a lot of times," explained the Liberty coach. "You have to go out there and survey it and see what it's doing. The wind was tricky, but the girls earned some great hustle points out there."Both Peterson and Conrad are only juniors, but are extremely talented and familiar with each other on the court. Peterson made it to the AAA singles finals a week ago and Conrad finished second in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference No. 2 singles competition a few weeks ago."Our court coverage was great and I thought the energy level was really up," explained Schnalzer. "Samantha and Madelyn are very good friends and they have very good communication and chemistry out there. The girls have more than met my expectations so far this season. Last year we lost a lot of close one-point matches, and this year we have been on the winning side of them."Olexson and Urland have done a fantastic job leading Allison's tennis team this season. Last year was the Lady Bears' first ever trip to the district team tournament. Guess what? The Lady Bears are heading back to the team tournament next week, much thanks to the stellar leadership of Olexson and Urland on and off the court."They've been a great pair to work with," said Allison. "These girls have had a lot of success. We've broke some school records over the years and got a ton of great leadership from them."Allison said that Urland specifically deserves much recognition."She went through a lot of rehab over the summer months," said Allison. "It was a slow process coming back, but to her credit ... she's a tough girl. I'm glad that when it happened she was only a junior, so she could come back for her senior year. She finished strong in district singles and here in doubles today."Pleasant Valley broke the team record for wins in 2013. The Lady Bears came just one victory short of tying that very record this season.Olexson and Urland will be called upon next week to lead the Lady Bears squad in the district team tournament, one final time."I set team goals very high and I think that's important," Allison said."We have to get back to the focus of the team itself and get some good practice in. We'll be ready to go next week."