Cathedral High School’s Emma Hogue and Marty Lewis took home the MAIS-AAA title for No. 2 girls doubles over St. Aloysius last year, but their win after a late third-set deficit wasn’t all they had to prove.

Hogue and Lewis battled with fellow seniors Natalie Fletcher and Grace Anne White for the No. 1 seed this season, an process that took just over a month to decide.

“We must have played them 50 million times,” Hogue said. “We wanted to have the No. 1 spot this year for sure. We were relieved when it was finally over.”

Both duos demonstrated their strong nature Tuesday afternoon as each won matches to aid the Green Wave to a 7-1 win over Delta Charter at the Vidalia Complex tennis courts.

Hogue and Lewis defeated Emily Smith and Heather Tillman, 6-0, 6-0, and Fletcher and White took the No. 2 match over Madi Skipper and Megan Hawn, 6-0, 6-0.

“I’ve had strong girls consistently for a while now,” Cathedral coach Beth Foster said. “They are really competitive. You can see it.”

While Foster said she has confidence both sets of girls can make it to the state championship this year, she admitted practice would become more serious when the district tournament gets closer.

“I hope to see two state winners this year. They can do it as long as they stay with it,” she said. “They just need to play their game and go through with their swings.”

Hogue is hopeful too, and this time, she said, it would mean a lot more.

“Even though last year wasn’t a breeze, it is more rewarding to say that we won the No. 1 spot,” she said. “We wanted more competition, and we are excited.”

The lone match-winner for Delta Charter was Hayden McFarland in No. 1 boys singles. He defeated Aiden Whitaker in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Storm coach Emily Dawkins said most of her team is freshman, and it is beneficial for them to play as many matches as possible.

“Most of my freshman work hard and are getting there, it just kills them when the lose 6-0 and 6-1,” she said. “I just tell them that it’s going to happen because they are playing seniors. They just need to continue to learn strategies. I just want them to stick with it and not get discouraged.”

Cathedral (4-0) will take on Loyd Star at 4 p.m. April 4 at home at Duncan Park, and Delta Charter will be back in action today against WCCA at home at the Vidalia Recreational Complex.