Playing in a loaded section, the Moon boys tennis team has its sights set on making sure it stays competitive in 2008.

With six seniors playing in its seven-man varsity lineup in a 3-2 loss at home against Trinity on Monday, the Tigers know that, for most of them, this is their final chance to mount a challenge in Section 5-AAA.

"With this section, it's always touch-and-go," Moon coach Mark Harmon said. "Peters Township is always loaded, and the other teams, like Bethel Park and Montour, have good players, too."

Harmon repeatedly tells his players not to focus too much on wins and losses, but instead to focus on playing the best that they can each match.

"It's going to be neck-and-neck every match, and if we lose the first time, we can use that as motivation when we see these teams the second time around," he said.

The return meeting with Trinity could be just such a case this year, as Moon barely lost on Monday to a team which swept both matches, 5-0, in their two 2007 meetings.

The first two matches to finish on Monday were on the singles courts.

In the No. 2 singles match, Jack McCready struggled for the Tigers after losing a close first set, falling 6-4, 6-0 to the Hillers' Derek Burda.

In No. 3 singles, the story was almost the exact opposite. Moon's Zach Schriver survived a lengthy first-set tiebreak against Trinity's Spencer Kilpatrick, fighting off two set points before winning the set himself, 10-8. From that point, Kilpatrick fell apart, allowing Schriver to cruise to a 7-6 (10-8), 6-1 win.

"Zach's done a real good job for us at third singles, picking up a lot of wins so far," Harmon said.

On the doubles courts, Moon took a 2-1 team lead after the No. 1 doubles team of Mike McElligott and Spencer Donaldson rallied after dropping the first set, winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

That meant that the Tigers needed just one of the final two matches, both in their third set, to go their way for a team win.

Moon's No. 1 singles player, Travis Duncan, struggled through a streaky day, which was never more evident than in his final set. After breaking serve to start and winning the first two games, Duncan was broken twice himself to fall behind, 5-2, against David Dwornick. Duncan again found his rhythm to hold serve and then break to pull to 5-4.

The match ended when Duncan was broken a third time, however, making the final score 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

"I give him a lot of credit, because he's a good player, but has to face the best guy from every team," Harmon said of his No. 1.

"That shows his character that he goes out there and gives it everything he has."

Just moments after Duncan's loss, the No. 2 doubles team of Matt Connolly and Ankit Medhekar, the only junior in the Moon lineup, were beaten by Dylan Schooley and Alex Stough, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, giving Trinity the team win.

The loss drops Moon to 1-4 (0-3), but the team has been close in every match except against powerhouse Peters.

Harmon doesn't worry about that, however, because he knows he has a close-knit team that will stick together through the season.

"They're a real close group, especially the seniors," he said. "They have a lot of fun together, and it's even fun for me to coach them and go out and hit with them in practice."