CLIMAX — It was a long trip out to Providence Grove on Wednesday night, but the return trip for Washington’s tennis team was full of smiles. The Pam Pack, which is sending two doubles teams to the 2-A eastern regional on Friday, didn’t even need doubles play to get past its first-round opponent, 5-1, in the 2-A dual-team playoffs on Wednesday.

Singles play has been a bit inconsistent throughout the season. It looked like that would be the case on Monday as many Pam Pack players struggled early on. Bouncing back was the name of the game, though.

Patrick Lovenberg rallied from a first-set deficit to win 7-5. Greyson Schmitt found himself down 4-0 in his second set, but came back to win it. Zack Pagnani had to win his match in the tiebreaker.

“It was really good in singles, which is what we needed because we haven’t done that well with singles throughout the season,” coach Miranda Whitley said. “It was good to go ahead and get done after singles so we could get back home.”

Dominating singles competition and not having to play any doubles matches let Washington head back east earlier than normal.

“It would have been really good practice for this weekend to play doubles,” Whitley said. Washington will be represented at the regional by the duos of Pagnani and Ben McKeithan and Greyson Schmitt and Patrick Lovenberg. The regional will be at Greene Central on Friday.

“But, with that long trip, it just didn’t make sense to stay there for another hour-plus when we had such a long drive,” Whitley added. They didn’t get back until around 11 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Next up in the dual-team playoffs will be 2-A Eastern Plains Conference foe North Johnston. The Panthers and Pam Pack will meet for a third time this season Tuesday in Kenly.

North Johnston owns a 2-0 advantage in the season series, but Whitley is confident in her team’s chances this time around. McKeithan, one of the Pam Pack’s leaders and best players, was sick for the first meeting, which the Panthers won, 6-3. Washington was dominated 9-0 the second time around, but that was right after spring break when the weather didn’t give the team much time to prepare.

“Everybody was just kind of rusty after spring break,” Whitley. “I’m hoping this time we can get our revenge. … I think it’s still going to end up going down to doubles. I’m hopeful. They just have to do what they need to.”

The four Pam Pack players heading to Greene Central on Friday can’t afford to look ahead to Tuesday’s match, though. McKeithan and Pagnani won the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference doubles championship. They’re aiming to qualify for the state championship.

“I’m hoping that Ben and Zack can get a seed,” Whitley said. “They seed the top four in singles and doubles. I’m hoping, at least, they can get a seed. That should put them in a good position to qualify for states.”