Each goal met means every team member has to put in full effort every practice and game. Varsity Team Tennis reached their goal of continuing their District Champion title for the third year in a row.

“At the beginning of the season, the upperclassmen really wanted to stress that every match matters,” senior Preslee Quisenberry said. “Every day we tried our best to remind each other that it doesn’t matter if you are number 1 or number 6.”

Varsity Team Tennis were not only District champions, but they were undefeated in their district season.

“Winning district three out of four years that I’ve been on varsity was rewarding,” senior Tobias Ramos said. “Knowing that we got to continue getting first and going undefeated in district was awesome.”

Whether players were experiencing days of rain or the Texas heat during practice times, everyone got the most out of every practice.

“When the courts were wet, we would all take turns squeegeeing the courts in hopes of getting the water off,” freshman Jacob Barron said. “If we couldn’t, then we’d go to the middle school gym and practice. We all tried to not let the weather get us down by trying to get the most out of every practice and having fun.”

When district play came along, the players made sure everyone was focused, ready to cheer on their teammates and were set on winning every match.

“I was confident that we would win district,” junior Jake Harrell said. “We had to practice a lot harder when we were preparing for Hondo since they are our toughest competition, but we came out winning 10-6.”

Having won district, the team was able to advance to playoffs.

“As we started playoffs, we had to practice harder because we would be facing tougher competition,” senior Rafael Rios said. “We broke everything down and got to start fresh. Knowing any match could be our last had us playing our hearts out every point and made us give our all.”

Since they won first in their district, team tennis got the skip the Bi-District game and got to automatically advance to Area. For Area, they faced their old rival who knocked them out of playoffs last season, Port Isabel.

“We were all really excited to play Port Isabel again because we barely lost to them last season,” senior Scarlett Smith said. “The rivalry made us all play better, and it increased our will to win.”

This year, they beat Port Isabel by two points and won the Area Championship title. They advanced to the Regional Quarter-Finalists match. Their season ended when they were defeated by La Vernia.

“Our regional match was very intense because not all of our opponents showed very good sportsmanship,” junior Brooke Runyan said. “The atmosphere was very heated, and everyone showed a very strong determination to win.”

Overall, no one was disappointed with the outcome of their season.

“The team rallied behind each other, encouraged each other and fought hard all season,” Team Tennis Coach Melanie Sostarich said. “I feel it was a successful year. The team’s mental game and confidence level rose to a high level, and I am so blessed to work with such great kids.”