Mirror photo by Michael Boytim The Hollidaysburg girls tennis team is presented with its District 6 3A championship trophy Wednesday.

STATE COLLEGE — A season of preparation and hard work can all be undone by one uncontrollable factor — injuries.

But creating depth and making sure players who currently aren’t in the starting lineup are getting better in practice along with their teammates can be the way to conquer that adversity.

Enter Katherine Wang — who played in a match for Hollidaysburg for the first time in the Lady Tigers’ postseason opener against Altoona and, along with partner Olivia Panaro, clinched the District 6 Class 3A girls tennis championship over top-seeded State College Wednesday at No. 2 doubles.

Panaro and Wang fell down 2-0 in both sets before rallying in each to defeat Kazie Dingwell and Natalie Labosky, 6-2, 6-3, and help Hollidaysburg win the match, 3-1.

“They were very resilient,” Hollidaysburg coach Brian Denis said. “They very easily could have gone down 3-0 in both sets. They really battled back. In the first set, there were definitely a lot of nerves. Katherine, we just kind of threw her into the doubles mix last week. She’s a freshman and a great worker, but Rina Stiffler, who is normally one of our doubles players, got hurt about 10 days ago. We scrambled to throw someone in there — so for Katherine especially — I’m sure she was nervous. Her first two matches were playoff matches.”

Denis helped Wang along by pairing her with the player — Panaro — that he considers his best doubles player.

“I’m super proud of Olivia Panaro,” Denis said. “She’s been with every different partner this year. She’s never complained. She’s by far the best doubles player out there. Wherever I put her, she has no complaints and goes out and puts her head down and works hard. It’s fitting, I thought, that she had the winning shot today. She’s really matured the last couple years and turned into a leader.”

Panaro said she also had some help.

“Katherine and I have never played together in a match before,” Panaro said. “It was really exciting to play with her, and we did really well together. I was just thinking — this was all Jesus.”

The pair spent the last week-plus preparing for Wednesday’s moment.

“These past couple practices, we have been playing together a lot,” Panaro said. “We have learned how to communicate well, and we bonded super fast. We made sure to talk to each other, say ‘nice shot’ every time and Coach Denis really did help. We could hear him cheering for us every time, even when we were down or missed a shot. It kept our spirits up.”

In the second set, State College was threatening to pull within 5-4 up 30 to love. Panaro and Wang battled back, and after both teams had an opportunity to take the point, Panaro’s shot grazed the line to State College’s left to clinch No. 2 doubles and the match for Hollidaysburg.

“I came over in one of the last games, and it was very intense,” Hollidaysburg No. 2 singles player Grace Muriceak said. “But they pulled through, and I knew they would.”

Muriceak cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory despite playing next to teammate Crosby Denis, who was struggling against State College’s Joanna Liu. Denis defeated Liu in the District 6 3A individual semifinals, but Liu got the best of her Wednesday, 6-4, 6-2.

“(It added pressure) a little bit,” Muriceak said. “But honestly, it kind of motivated all of us, because we wanted this so bad and worked so hard for it.”

Coach Denis was thrilled to see Muriceak, No. 3 singles player Emma Moritz and Panaro and Wang step up.

“We’re a team,” Coach Denis said. “Crosby has carried us for three years now, and it was time for someone else to step up. You talk about a total team effort — our No. 1 doubles team battled. Grace and Emma have been rock solid at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. They haven’t lost all year. We have the three best singles players in our area.”

Each victory was critical as it appeared State College’s Isabella Terrones and Jessica Lee were on their way to a win at No. 1 doubles with a 6-4, 4-1 lead when the match ended.

“There’s five matches,” Coach Denis said. “Everyone wants to watch No. 1 singles play. That match is just as valuable as the No. 2 doubles match. That’s why we talk about being a team. The girls get along so well, and we don’t have any seniors. I wondered who would step up. Everyone stepped up. The girls cheered for each other.”

Hollidaysburg, which will play the third-seed from the WPIAL on Tuesday, Oct. 21 in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A team playoffs, improved to 17-0 and won the District 6 team championship for the third year in a row — all played at State College.

“State College has 40 or 50 girls on their roster,” Denis said. “We’re the little engine that could sometimes where we are so much smaller than them but keep stepping up. We have a bunch of winners. That’s one of the things we have learned the last three years. Every tight match or big match, we pull it out.”

SINGLES: 1, Liu, SC, def. Denis, 6-4, 6-2; 2, Muriceak, H, def. Navayanan, 6-2, 6-0; 3, Moritz, H, def. Brush, 6-1, 6-1.

DOUBLES: 1, Terrones-Lee, SC, led Eardley-Klingner, 6-4, 4-1; 2, Panaro-Wang, H, def. Dingwell-Labosky, 6-2, 6-3.

Records: Hollidaysburg (17-0); State College (13-2).