After school on a scorching Tuesday afternoon on March 15th, the Jesuit Rangers pulled into Greenhill’s parking lot, ready to play against the top 10 players from an elite school. Realizing they would face their first tough competition since the fall season, everyone on the team knew that playing at their best was a must. However, as the players began to warm up, everyone felt the hot and muggy weather, a sudden change from the cool weather that usually permeates the Dallas Metroplex, which affected the player’s energy levels .
Soon, each match was assigned a court and the team began to warm up for a grueling match against a very competitive Greenhill team. Number one singles player Piere Craig ’16 was the first match to go on, facing Greenhill’s best player, Nate Eazor, ranked in the top ten in Texas. Even though Craig has yet to be defeated in a school vs school match, he was barely edged out 7-5,6-3. Luckily, number one doubles team Hayden Kissee ’17 and Campbell Frost ’16 continued their undefeated winning streak, ousting the Greenhill tennis team 6-2, 6-2. Kissee spoke after the match explaining that “I was really surprised at how strong our performance was against a stronger team. It makes my partner and I more confident in being one of the best teams in district and regionals.” Number two singles player John Lindberg ’18 sadly lost his singles match: 2-6, 2-6. On the other hand, the other three remaining doubles teams all managed to win their matches. The first of which, Nico Elizondo ’18 and Alex Giebler ’18, pulled out a close victory (6-4, 6-4) against a senior doubles team from Greenhill. Next, Matthew Salazar ’16 and Ethan Kissee ’17 won 8-4. Finally, Joey Cistuli ’17 and Marcelo Pier ’18 won their singles match in a closely contested game 8-6, coming from far behind after the first couple of games, down 3-6, to mount a comeback and win 8-6! After the match Joey Cistuli said, “We really weren’t playing well in the beginning, but after a while we started to realize how to play with each other better and won *dabs*.” Afterwards, the team of Salazar and Kissee were able to play a second match against an upcoming Greenhill team, easily winning 6-2 in an exhibition match. Overall, Jesuit only lost 2 out of the 9 matches against Greenhill- a surprising feat considering just how good the Greenhill team is. Lastly, Coach Andy Civello ’97 remarked that “while the match was supposed to be close, this dominance displayed by the Ranger team only helps our chances in Regionals.”
This Friday, the Jesuit Ranger tennis team will be playing in the Allen tournament, a competition full of many competent teams. Hopefully, Jesuit can pull out its first ever win in this tournament. With an undefeated season that spans since the first match in September, Hayden Kissee and Campbell Frost really want to claim another tournament, netting them another trophy but, more importantly, increasing their ranking for regionals in April and potentially state in May. On the same note, the rest of the top 6 are hungry for wins in the Allen tournament, wishing to acquire their first, or second for Piere Craig, win in tournament.
