Freezing wind chill, players wrapped in sleeping bags, and hand warmers. Must mean the spring tennis season is beginning for the raccoon tennis team. We have all been looking forward to ending the off-season and getting back on the weekly tournament grind leading up to District in April.
The varsity team opened the season hosting our tournament, the Polar Vortex Invitational. The week leading up to tournament day lived up the name of the tournament, but luckily for all involved, Friday turned out to be the warmest day of the week. Most of the players in the tournament looked a little rusty with the cold weather limiting practice time outside, but by the end of the day, we were all treated to some highly competitive matches. Haley Morrissey began her spring season with a dominant performance to win the A girls singles draw and Elena Zhang and Ally Byrne made a good run to the finals of the B girls doubles draw. Everyone else was able to get at least 3 matches played, giving them a productive first tournament. More importantly we all learned where we needed to place our focus in the practices leading into the Lone Start tournament.
Week two of the spring season saw the JV team heading to Grapevine on Wednesday for our first tournament. For the majority, this was their first high school tournament and we were again met with ideal weather. Preparation for this tournament was less than ideal, with us having to practice inside the gym for all but two practices since returning from Christmas break. However we saw all the work we have put in on volleys while stuck inside the gym pay off with some quality doubles play. The players have done a great job of not complaining about being inside and off the courts, but instead digging in and improving their abilities to move forward and play at the net.
Friday of week two meant another tournament in Frisco for varsity which competed in the Lone Star Showdown. This was a big step forward from week and resulted by the end of the day in multiple winners and the entire team bringing home first place in the team competition. Haley Morrissey backed up her tournament win in the Polar Vortex with a second championship in A girls singles. Akhil Bedapudi improved upon a 3rd place finish the prior week, with a first place medal in the A boys singles draw. Overall, doubles play continued to improve and more importantly, we saw everyone looking to use and improve upon the tactics we worked on in the lead up to this tournament.
In coaching news, Coach Kelly and Coach Woods were excited see all of the hard off season work pay off with improved play all across the program. Both coaches love the spring season and the challenges it brings with pairings, adjustments to tactics and technique, and of course discovering new places to grab a quick bite between the different tournament sites. Our newest discovery was a hole in the wall Mexican food restaurant in Grapevine called Taqueria del Campeon. Was it our favorite discovery? No, but it was a worth sampling and could see us giving it a second chance at a later tournament. It for sure met the most important requirement, which is getting us in and out in under 10-15 minutes so we can return to a site without missing any matches. While we could have used a little more flavor, the food was good and everyone there was extremely friendly and welcoming to the two patrons wearing royal blue pants on their lunch break. Something we always appreciate!
Week three of the spring season sees JV in action at the McKinney tournament and Varsity heading to Flower Mound (trivia question: name the first individual to win a district title at Flower Mound HS?) for the Marcus tournament. We look forward to continuing to make small improvements each and every week. Those College Station hotels really need to see the return of the Raccoons!
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