The early morning rise. The short, quiet bus ride to Hockaday. The sweat that drips down from your scalp as you work tirelessly to beat your opponent in practice. Another bus ride back to barely make it to homeroom in time.
These all describe the hard-working, talented, and committed Jesuit tennis team. This team, after putting in long, hard practices, competed in a few matches in February. And it turns out all the practice paid off as the Rangers started the spring season with success.
First was the Keller Invitational:
Jesuit freshmen Hayden Kisse and Clark Shannon reached the B doubles finals. The pair put up a good fight, but they were overpowered and lost 6-3, 6-2. “We had some guys that were jusbeing partners for the first time, early in the seasen, doubles is about confidence in communication,” Coach Paul McDaniel states. Not all was lost though as Pierre Craig won the A consolation singles.
Next, in Flower Mound’s Elite 8 tournament, Jesuit would show improvement.
Jesuit’s Pierre Craig ’16 claimed his first title as he takes down Flower Mound’s Markus Sadowski 6-4, 7-5. As mentioned above, developing first time partners Henry Haskins ’15 and Matt Salazar ’16 played well into the tournament but lost to Plano East players Mehir Nadig and Patel in the B doubles finals 6-2, 6-2. In addition, Campbell Frost ’16 also played well into the tournament but lost to WFR’s Connor Curry in the semifinals. However, Frost would clinch third place by beating Vishal Mennon of Plano East. Juniors Thomas Carrier-Guillomet and Jackson White would lose their first round match but later steamroll the consolation for a victory over Keller’s Fortunado and Rice.
“We play tournament format. We are very skill specific. Singles players focus on signals and doubles focus on doubles. Skill development for that particular type of tennis. Be ready for one specific match,” McDaniel added. Coach seems confident and content with his players and prepares for more victories in the tournaments ahead.
