Fall for varsity tennis

The Varsity tennis team drew their fall season to a close, finishing district play in fourth place. During playoffs, the team beat Houston Lamar 12-4 and drew Seven Lakes in the Area Semi-finals losing 10-3, yet gave them their closest match. Ending their season on a high note the team beat Taylor 10-8. Athletes and coaches now look forward to the spring season.

“Our district is very tough, but we have a solid team. I expect many of our athletes to have good chances to advance to regionals,” Coach Richard May said.

The girls double team, junior Valentina Martinez and Sara Haakonsen, and top player, senior and co-captain Bianca Tijerina have a possibility of qualifying for regionals and advancing even further.

“[Bianca] has improved so much since her freshman year and has many great competitors” May said. “Our girl’s doubles team qualified for regional last year, and I believe they are the strongest team in the district, if not the region.”

Although most athletes condition out of school, coaches strive to help them maintain and develop their doubles skills for the upcoming season.

“We do some conditioning and some intra-squad matches to continue to improve,” May said. “Coach Harvey and I have a great deal of experience competing in doubles over the years- we try to help them by sharing our experiences.”

The team will be preparing until February to face their top rivals, Memorial, Seven Lakes, Taylor, Clear Lakes and Clements.

“In the spring, some schools will have a few good players so while they cannot compete with our depth, they can compete with us at the top levels” May said.