North Catholic’s girls tennis duo of Evelyn Marche, left, and Macaria Stall show off their medals after winning the WPIAL Class 2A doubles championship on Thursday. Submitted Photo

Dorothy Dohanics believed she had a championship-caliber doubles team in Evelyn Marche and Macaria Stall.

North Catholic’s duo, both juniors, now have district gold medals to prove it.

Marche and Stall defeated Neshannock’s Madalyn Arrow and Sydney Arrow in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-2 Thursday at Bethel Park High School to claim the WPIAL Class 2A girls tennis doubles title.

“In these championship, high-pressure matches, it’s not all about who hits the ball the hardest,” Dohanics, North’s coach, said. “It’s about who handles the pressure better, and today, Evelyn and Macaria had nerves of steel.”

North’s tandem made it to last year’s final as the No. 2 seed before falling to a team from Winchester Thurston in three sets.

“Being the top seed this time, and after coming so close last year, we set out to win,” Marche said. “I thought we were the more energetic team today. We kept each other up even after we lost a point.”

During much of the season, Marche was North’s No. 1 singles player and Stall was No. 2. When combined, they complement each other well.

“Their communication is excellent, and they have a good feel for each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Dohanics said. “We focused a lot of our practices this season with keeping them together in doubles.”

Defeating teams from Quaker Valley and Mount Pleasant on their way to the final, Marche and Stall encountered a strong Neshannock duo (seeded No. 2) on Thursday.

“They are sisters, and I’m sure they play together a lot,” Dohanics said of the Arrow siblings. “They hit the ball very hard, harder than any team we saw in the tournament.”

But Stall’s play at the net, in particular, and Marche’s effort on the baseline, proved too much for the Lancers to overcome.

“Last year was nerve-racking, but I think that experience helped us today,” Stall said. “Evelyn and I are in the same grade, we have a lot of the same classes and are good friends. I’m just glad we pulled it out.”

Marche and Stall will compete in the state doubles tournament, which begins Nov. 6. Before that, however, they will both return to singles play as the Trojanettes (10-0), champions of Section 3, begin play in the WPIAL team tournament next week.