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It was almost fittingly that the area's top girls' tennis teams, the Shamrocks of Bishop Feehan High and Warriors of King Philip Regional High, would meet somewhere along the line in the MIAA Division 1-South Tennis Tournament.

They did, in a dramatic, gut-wrenching three-hour affair in the quarterfinal round.

Four of those Shamrocks and a quartet of those Warriors are among the area's elite female tennis players to be selected to the Sun Chronicle All-Star Team for the 2008 season.

Two-time Hockomock League MVP Sarah Yeransian of Mansfield High, a four-time All-Sun Chronicle selection, is joined on by Bishop Feehan High's No. 1 player, Leah White, KP's No. 1 Courtney Puddester, North Attleboro High's No. 1 Ashley Llewellyn and Dighton-Rehoboth High's No. 1 Lyndsey Barbehenn.

The Connecticut College-bound Yeransian won 16 matches for the second consecutive season. White compiled a 33-5 record in her two seasons representing Bishop Feehan, while Puddester has posted 25 wins atop the KP totem pole in her two varsity seasons. In addition, other returning All-Sun Chronicle picks are King Philip High's No. 2 singles player Sarah Shipley, the winner of 39 matches over the past two seasons, and Brenna Pereira of North Attleboro High, the Rocketeers' premier doubles player over the past two seasons.

In a season where dynamic doubles play was the norm, a trio of tandems gained All-Sun Chronicle acclaim - North's No. 1 pairing of Tori Morris and Pereira (the owners of 23 wins); Bishop Feehan's No. 1 team of Eileen Flynn and Michaela Monroe (takers of 18 wins); and King Philip High's No. 1 team of Julie Kraby and Allison Agnew (also triumphant 18 times).

In addition, Bishop Feehan High's No. 2 singles player Siobhan Licudine and Foxboro High's No. 1 singles player Mary Cavanaugh round out the elite roster.

Five area teams qualified for the MIAA Tournament this season with Bob Goldberg's King Philip Warriors winning the Hockomock League title and Paul Perry's Bishop Feehan Shamrocks claiming the Eastern Athletic Conference title.

King Philip took a 20-match unbeaten streak into its MIAA Division 1 Tournament quarterfinal round match with Feehan and had it snapped by the Shamrocks, who took both doubles matches in the 3-2 decision.

The Shamrocks (18-2 overall on the season) advanced to the semifinals, losing to eventual sectional champion Needham.

Meanwhile No. 18 seeded Mansfield (the winners of 12 matches overall) upset No. 15 seeded North Attleboro (which had beaten the Hornets twice during the Hockomock season) in the first round of postseason competition, while coach Ray Kaiser's Dighton-Rehoboth High Falcons, with Barbehenn atop the ladder, finished at .500 and extended their season.