HERSHEY — Knoch's girls tennis program has won WPIAL and state championships, district individual titles and medaled at PIAA individual tournaments over the past few years.

The Knights had never won gold in an individual state tennis event.

Check that box — courtesy of sophomore twins Emily and Lindsey Greb.

The Greb sisters claimed PIAA Class 2A doubles gold Saturday at the Hershey Racquet Club, defeating Conrad Weiser's Emma Perkins and Michelle Timothy 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) in a grueling championship match.

“They were on the court for two hours and 15 minutes (in that match),” Knoch coach Nance Conlon said. “They had game point four or five times in that second set, we had match point a couple of times ... it was insane.

“That match was the last one still playing. Everyone else completed much earlier.”

The Grebs ultimately got it done.

“There were so many points, back and forth, it was hard to keep track,” Lindsey said. “We just didn't want the match to go to a third set.

“You never know what would have happened had it gone that far.”

The Greb sisters were playing their fourth match in two days. They had a set go 7-6 in one of their matches Friday. Earlier Saturday, they defeated Anna Marie Prichard and Abby Consiglio of Villa Maria 6-3, 6-3 to reach the finals.

“It was mentally tough, a lot of mixed emotions going on out there,” Emily said. “The biggest thing was to stay positive the entire time. We truly believed we were going to win.

“We were tired, but had that match gone to a third set, we'd have fought through it. We wanted to win so bad.”

Conlon said the sisters admitted that they “hadn't played that much tennis over a two-day span in a long time.”

But the experience was worth it.

“It's still sinking in that we made school history,” Lindsey said. “Doing it with my sister just adds to it.”

Lindsey missed most of her freshman season due to knee surgery she underwent before the start of the regular season. She did come back in time for the postseason.

One of the players the Grebs defeated in the finals — Emma Perkins — won the PIAA doubles title with another partner last year.

“We knew they were going to be tough,” Conlon said. “It's the state tournament. Everybody is tough.”

The Grebs' path to winning the tournament included victories over the District 11, District 10 and District 3 champions.

“It was definitely an advantage having my sister as a partner,” Emily said. “We've played a lot of tennis together and we obviously know each other on the court.

“But it can be harder, too. The fact we're sisters makes it easier to to get frustrated with each other. But we fought through that, too.”

Their older sister, Laura Greb, now plays tennis at the University of Dayton. She was a PIAA singles runner-up during her time at Knoch.

She could not be there to watch her sisters in action.

“But we called her right after the match,” Emily said. “She was as happy for us as anybody.

“With two years left to play, I guess we did set the bar pretty high for ourselves. But it will be fun trying to get back there to do it again.”

Knoch junior Ally Bauer was defeated in the PIAA singles semifinal round, dropping a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Karissa Ghigiarelli of Riverside.