Prior to the season, Curt Killion modestly said if certain pieces fell into place his team had a small shot at the playoffs.

Two weeks and six contests in, the Salem girls tennis coach said the squad had to win every tight matchup remaining to accomplish the goal.

In the season’s final week, he smiled, knowing the Lady Blue Devils had accomplished something no one expected.

And following a 9-0 loss to defending champ Central in the Class L quarterfinals, Killion expressed an unusual emotion for a coach who just watched his team fall in a seasonending shutout – joy.

“This is probably the biggest overachievement for any team I’ve ever coached,” he said. “I mean, our team was very flat. In other words, my No. 1 wasn’t that much better than my No. 6, and we just didn’t have the strength at the top of our ladder to compete.

“That put a lot of pressure on the girls at the bottom, but they really came through,” Killion continued.

“I’ve had strong teams underachieve, and I’ve had weak teams play like weak teams, but I’ve never had a team like this do so well.”

Killion wasn’t knocking his squad. Rather, he was acknowledging the staunch competition his charges faced each day.

Yet they finished with an 8-6 record and earned the playoff’s No. 7 seed. To get there, SHS won four of five one-point contests – against Alvirne, Merrimack, Timberlane and Dover.

“That’s what really made the difference, those tight wins that could have gone either way,” said Killion.

Salem also beat Memorial and Trinity, 7-2, and Winnacunnet and Keene, 6-3.

Against Central in the playoffs, No. 1 Angela Rullo wasn’t able to play, so the rest of the ladder was bumped up a spot, and despite hard-fought efforts, each fell, said Killion.

Aside from his team’s general success on the court, Killion noted another achievement for his squad this year.

“In prior years we were afraid to go to a no-cut policy because we felt practices wouldn’t be as effective for our starting players with so many girls on the courts, and some of our past captains also felt it would damage the closeness of the team,” said the coach. “But we gave it a try this year and went with 25 players, and (captain) Nicole Antonelli really helped keep everyone together. I’m really happy we made the move because we all had a lot of fun, and it gave a lot of kids that ordinarily wouldn’t be doing anything this spring a chance to learn tennis and be part of a team.”

Though the Lady Blue Devils graduate Rullo, No. 3 Antonelli and No. 4 Fay Long, they return No. 2 Danica Blakslee, a freshman, and juniors Caitlin Peters and Julianna Blaisdell, their No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Junior Andrea Vinci, who played No. 1 doubles with Rullo, and sophomore Breanna Edelstein, Salem’s No. 7, also return.