Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Tennis: Coppell, Carroll lock up No. 1 seeds
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
The District 5-5A Tennis Tournament got under way Tuesday (results not available as of press time) and despite not playing in the first round, Coppell already knew what it needed to do to qualify for a berth in the Class 5A Region I Tournament: win one match.
Coppell put itself in position to need a victory in just one round by defeating Hebron last Tuesday, 16-3, to secure a first-round bye and top overall seed in the district tourney. The top two teams from each district qualify for regionals, meaning a win in the semifinals - likely in a rematch against the Hawks -would advance Coppell, barring a playback.
Marcus has put itself in a similar position as well after defeating Flower Mound last Tuesday to secure the No. 2 seed. Like Coppell, the Marauders could face a rematch of their regular-season finale in the semifinals should the Jaguars win in the first round.
Last Tuesday, Coppell got out fast winning 6-of-7 doubles matches that counted to scoring and 8-of-10 in doubles, overall. The girls team of Julianne Cauley and Logan Astudillo won a tightly-contested match in a breaker (9-8, 7-4) despite Cauley being under the weather.
The Cowgirls also picked up wins from the teams of Lizzie Bell and Mira Shah (8-4), Melissa Coburn and Savannah Armes (8-4) and Marisa Kamstra and Shivani Burra (8-1).
"Hebron is a very competitive team and we played well in a lot of spots in our lineup," said Jane Jackson, Coppell head coach. "It was good tennis, but I never felt like there was a point where we weren't in control and that's what I liked most about the situation. Everyone played pretty well."
Boys winners were Zixiao Li and and Kihwan Lee (8-3), Tyler Stayer and Danny Bush (8-0), Sid Bagaria and Jacob Villanueva (9-8, 7-2) and Aakash Pai and Kavi Shah (8-1).
In singles, Coppell went 10-2, including 6-0 on the boys side. Individually, Lee squeaked out a match in a super-breaker for the Cowboys (6-3, 2-6, 10-2).
"That was the way you want to see your team come out and play every time," Jackson added. "You kind of use where you are after the doubles portion as a checkpoint. Even though we're disappointed to lose the mixed match, we still built a 6-1 lead, which was a great way to start."
Coppell will play its semifinal match at 4 p.m. at home. Jackson is hopeful the team will remain focused despite dealing with a tragedy at school following the disappearance of football player Jacob Logan Sunday afternoon at Possum Kingdom Lake.
"I'm hoping the team can turn it around and take on the attitude that Jacob had," she said. "It's been really tough but everyone has been pulling together so well. Jacob was a fighter and a winner and that's what we have to be and hopefully we can win for our school and in his honor."
Marcus, meanwhile, picked up its win on the strength of a dominant showing from its girls.
The Lady Marauders combined to go 9-0, sweeping in both singles and doubles.
"Big shout out to the girls," said Kelly Langdon, Marcus head coach. "They had a good night and were a big reason for our success."
In doubles, winners for the Lady Marauders were Preethi Kasilingam and Anna McMullen over Autusa Behroozi and Edwina Popa (8-4), Ludivine Varga and Molly Fisher over Kacie Berutti and Marilyn Lu (9-7) and Vanessa Phan and Nicole Wilson over Allie Polk and Maddie Todd (8-2).
Singles winners were Kasilingam (6-2, 6-2), Fisher (6-0, 6-0), Varga (6-7, 6-2, 10-4), Phan (4-6, 6-2, 10-6), Wilson (6-3, 6-1) and McMullen (6-3, 6-3).
While Varga and Phan needed to squeak out wins in super-breakers, the two were able to do so with limited pressure as the Lady Marauders had already secured enough points for the overall win.
In boys action, Flower Mound and Marcus squared off in tightly-contested doubles matches.
The Marauders' duo of Sebastian Langdon and Ben Wegendt outlasted Flower Mound's Andrew Eurek and Austin Todd (8-6), while Aaron Johnson and Cole Schafer repaid the favor by the same score for the Jaguars on the No. 2 line. Flower Mound's Noah Axelrod and Armand Behroozi also picked up a victory over Sam Karnes and David Lally.
In boys singles, winners from Marcus were Langdon (6-2, 2-6, 10-4), Wegendt (7-6, 6-1) and David Wittkower (7-5, 6-0).
Flower Mound's winners were Johnson (6-2, 6-3), Schafer (6-1, 6-0) and Axelrod (4-6, 6-4, 10-8).
The wins for Langdon and Wittkower capped perfect runs through district.
"They both had undefeated round robins, which we were very pleased to see," coach Langdon said.
Now the teams will gear up for the district tournament and potential second meeting in as many weeks.
"I liked what I saw in this match and hopefully we can keep it up next Friday," coach Langdon said. "But there were a number of matches that could have gone either way. I'm sure our guys are saying we could have pulled out a few more and had some more comfortable wins, and they're saying they could have gotten a couple and completely turned it around. It's always close and I expect the same if we play again Friday."
Lewisville, meanwhile, enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed after narrowly losing to Ryan, 10-9, on Tuesday. The Farmers were disappointed to suffer the defeat, in particular after picking up a 6-1 advantage following doubles competition.
"The kids were very excited after winning six matches in doubles," said Manuella Rogers, Lewisville head coach. "I feel they didn't know how to deal with the emotions during their singles matches. They were all very nervous. Our team hasn't won a dual match in a long time and the kids didn't know how to deal with the pressure of being ahead on the game and having to play consistently to win their singles matches."
Still, Rogers was extremely pleased with the effort she saw.
"They tried really hard," she said. "They did everything they could to get a win but, unfortunately, Ryan came ahead of us. Of course I wish we could have won, but I am very proud of the kids since they have never been so close to winning a district match in a while. I know we are headed towards the right direction."
Dragons lock up No. 1 seed
Coppell's former district foe Southlake Carroll adjusted nicely to its new district as the Dragons secured the No. 1 seed in 4-5A following a dominant run.
The squad capped off a perfect run through district that saw the team compile an overall record of 131-2 last Tuesday with a 19-0 win against Keller. The Indians entered the match second in the district standings.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Carroll «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
