The Greensburg Central Catholic girls' tennis team is playing like a team that doesn't want its season to end.

The Centurions placed third in the WPIAL Class AA team tournament last week and won their first-round PIAA tournament match Tuesday against Mercyhurst Prep, 4-1.

More than half the Greensburg Central lineup comprises seniors, and the team has known for the past two weeks from when the WPIAL tournament began that a loss would mean the end of the high school tennis careers of Susie Soltis, Madeline Leo, Annmarie Queale and Breanna Hauser.

"It's definitely motivating us because we don't want to lose; we want to be a team as long as we can," junior Faith Finoli said. "We're all great friends and we don't want to lose each other."

The Centurions defeated Montour and Vincentian in the WPIAL tournament last week before losing to Quaker Valley in the semifinals. But GCC rebounded to defeat The Ellis School in a must-win consolation match, 5-0. The top three teams from the WPIAL qualified for the PIAA tournament.

"They're a strong team, and they support one another, and I think the seniors do realize this is their last chance at accomplishing a state championship, so they seem to be even more motivated," Greensburg Central Catholic coach Dr. Michael Kluska said.

The Centurions will play Harriton in the quarterfinals at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Hershey Racquet Club. The semifinals and final are scheduled for Saturday.

Last season, the Centurions similarly placed third in the WPIAL and defeated Mercyhurst in the first round of the PIAA championships but lost to Harriton, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.

This is the fourth season in a row that Greensburg Central Catholic won the WPIAL consolation match. The team lost in the PIAA quarterfinals in each of the past two seasons and lost in the first round in 2006.

Soltis and Leo play first and second singles, respectively, and paired to win the WPIAL doubles tournament earlier this month. They will play in the PIAA doubles tournament next weekend, also in Hershey. Finoli plays third singles.

As strong as the Centurions' singles lineup is 1 through 3, the secret to team success is strength at all five starting spots, and GCC went through the entire regular season having lost only one match at each of the two doubles spots.

Sophomore Jackie Hauser teams with Queale at first doubles and Hauser plays with sophomore Alie Prez at second doubles.

"Both teams are strong and they give us the depth," Kluska said. "You need to win these matches if you're going to win when you get this far."

The 4-1 loss to Quaker Valley was a tight one, with close matches up and down the lineup.

"It's definitely our goal," Kluska said. "The girls are playing well enough that if they all play their game, we have a good chance of playing well -- if not winning states -- as a team."

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