DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Vivian Reem of Loyalsock returns a shot by Lola English of Bucktail during a District 4 Class AA team semifinal match against Bucktail at Williamsport High School on Tuesday. The Lancers won 3-1.

A year ago, Loyalsock’s girls tennis players wrapped up the regular season with a losing record and could only watch as teams made runs in the team tournament. While Loyalsock had singles and doubles entries last year in the postseason, Loyalsock wasn’t able to qualify for the team tournament and that stung for the players who were hoping to compete.

This year, however, the Lancers have been nothing shy of solid and quickly erased last year’s woes.

Loyalsock won the HAC-II this year with a perfect 12-0 record and are now a win away from claiming the District 4 girls tennis team title.

That’s not a bad one-year turnaround for coach Kirk Bower and his Lancers.

“It means so much, it means we get a run at team states which we’re super excited for. I can speak for everyone on this team when I say we’ve been working so hard this offseason to really get better after where we ended up last year,” Loyalsock doubles player Kinsley Hill said. “We missed team districts and we weren’t even .500.”

“We’re very happy to be here,” Loyalsock doubles player Annalise Berger added.

The Lancers have been playing well throughout the district tournament. Loyalsock earned a quarterfinal win over Central Columbia, 3-1, before beating Bucktail on a chilly Tuesday afternoon at Williamsport High School, 3-1.

Loyalsock also entered the District 4 tournament as the No. 2 seed in the field and will face top-seeded Danville, a team Loyalsock has not played yet this season.

“They’re a very, very athletic group, so that’s definitely something we have to look out for,” Berger said.

Danville’s team consists of standouts Josie Bendle — the Ironmen’s first District 4 singles champion since Michelle Wood in 2003 — Gyovanna Sundareson and Alexa Preisz in singles competition and doubles teams Elyse Spahr and Sanah Bhanushali and Ellen Pena and Siyah Bhanushali.

“I don’t really know,” Loyalsock singles player Vivian Reem said with a laugh regarding expectations for Thursday’s final. “They’re a really good team so I think we have to practice and prepare a lot for them.”

Loyalsock is battle tested though. Loyalsock was the only team this year to hand Hughesville a regular-season loss, doing so twice, and have talented singles and doubles players.

Caroline Crawford was seeded in this past weekend’s singles tournament and on Thursday, she led her matchup at No. 1 singles over Eva Sockman of Bucktail, 6-4, 5-4, before the match was pulled.

Reem won at No. 3 singles for Loyalsock vs. Lola English, 6-2, 6-3. Loyalsock’s Gia Biacchi didn’t get to compete on Tuesday due to Bucktail having a forfeit at No. 2 singles.

In doubles competition, Hill and Berger had a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Carrie Ditty and Riley Salizzoni. Loyalsock’s Lashlyn Sauers and Kaylene Kriner lost a tough matchup at No. 1 doubles to Bucktail’s McKenna Bissman and Kelsie Wagner, 6-2, 6-1.

For Hill and Berger, they note their friendship as being a key strength to how well they play together.

“We just get along really well so it’s really fun to play with someone that you get along with,” Hill said.

Berger also noted how well they communicate with each other being beneficial.

Reem is glad to have helped her team advance to Thursday’s final. Reem’s No. 3 singles win was the deciding victory in the 3-1 contest to send Loyalsock to the final.

“It’s very exciting. It hasn’t happened in a while and our team is very excited,” Reem said. “We’re still pretty young so we have time to grow more and we’ve really improved. We’re excited to move on.”

As for what Reem feels her entire team’s biggest strength is as a unit?

“I think that we stay positive. We don’t let a loss get us down and we always keep going,” Reem said.

That attitude and positivity is a big reason why the Lancers are competing for the District 4 team title on Thursday. Loyalsock’s last District 4 team championship came in 2013 when this year’s current players were in elementary school.

The Lancers are hoping to snap that title skid, but know Thursday’s match will be one of the toughest they’ve competed in yet this year.