After placing third in their first tournament of the season, varsity tennis began district play at Mayde Creek on Tuesday, Aug. 23, starting the season with a victory.

Although losing key seniors from last year’s varsity squad, the team has shown promise with consecutive first place and third place finishes.

“With [the inexperience] we have on much of the team, we are very pleased to see how well our athletes are competing and how close many of the matches were,” Assistant Coach Richard May said.

Their greatest struggle has been playing through the heat, but the athletic abilities of all the players have kept the team running smoothly.

“The kids are in great shape and did well for the most part,” May said. “We also held [non-mandatory] open drill sessions once a week all summer for any returning or incoming tennis player to come to.”

The team also competed in the Fort Bend Tournament on Friday, Aug. 26, and Saturday, Aug. 27, against top-ten College Park and two of the top 4A squads, Montgomery and Alamo Heights.

With the team’s #1 and #4 seed players out with injuries, they were defeated in all three matches of the tournament.

“With more time, I anticipate we will see better results as we have a very talented group,” May said.

The team remains optimistic of the victory at Mayde Creek and the third place finish at the Woodland. Their goal for the season is to finish first or second in district, which would qualify them for the regional tournament.

“We know Seven Lakes and Taylor will be tough,” May said. “But we have the capability of knocking both of them off.”

However, the confidence ends there.

“Memorial is another story,” May said. “They are loaded on the boys and very deep on the girls.  We struggled last year in two matches against them, and even though they lost a bit of talent from last year, they reloaded with some incoming freshmen.”

Coach May has high expectations for senior Maximo Agoglia, who competed in doubles at state for the past two years with former partner Andres Corredor.

“This year, he is focused on making it there in singles,” May said. “I think we have a real shot at bringing home a state championship in individual team season.