On April 22 and 23, the Varsity Tennis Team competed in the UIL-6A Districts Tournament. Six athletes competed tremendously throughout the tournament, ending the normal season and many players moving on to Regionals.
Districts Results
Connor Cole won 6-0, 6-1 in his first match; 6-0, 6-0 in his second match; 6-0, 6-0 in his third and final match. Connor Cole will advance to the Regional Tournament.
Doubles team William Wayne and Ben Woodard had a great run a districts placing second. They won their first match 6-0, 6-0; 6-3, 6-3 in their second match; 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 in their third match; lost 6-4, 0-6, 5-7. They lost their finals round against Dillon and Van Davidson. Ben Woodard and William Wayne will move on to the Regional Tournament.
Ben Woodard said, “I am really happy with how my doubles partner and I performed at districts. I think we played the best we have ever played at a tournament. I am very motivated that we can continue to do well at Regionals coming up.”
Doubles team Van Davidson and Dillon Blanton had a great run at districts placing first. They won their first match 6-4, 6-1; won 6-3, 6-1 in their second match; and won against William Wayne and Ben Woodard in the final 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. Van Davidson and Dillon Blanton will also move on to the Regional Tournament.
Mark Scucchi also had a great run at districts placing 3rd. Mark won his first match 6-0, 6-0; won his second match 6-1, 6-3; lost in the semifinals 1-6, 2-6; and won the third place match 6-2, 6-2.
The Path of a Legend
Recently I sat down with a real hero of mine, Connor Cole ’25. Connor is one of the premier high school tennis players in the country at the moment and will be continuing his career beyond Jesuit. He also has regionals and, hopefully, state to look forward to – tournaments where he made history last year. In light of that, I spoke with him and some of his teammates on the tennis team to find out whether his confidence is justified, or just cocky.
The Interview
All legends have beginnings.
Connor: “I’ve been playing since I was four, and after fourteen years I’ve gotten to where I am. It hasn’t been an easy journey. It’s been one of hardship with lots of time and energy spent. Lot’s of tears, lot’s of sweat, and sometimes even blood.”
Where do you rank?
Connor: “As far as the ranking system go. There are really two main ranking systems. One is the national ranking, where you are ranked amongst your peers in the rest of the nation. And then there is something called UTR (Universal Tennis Rating). This is a rating that is universal, that is global. And, this goes from 0 to about 16.”
“This represents your skill level. The higher you are the better you are in theory. I am a 10.9 … which I am very proud of. And, my national rank is around 130. I am 50th in the nation for doubles”
Connor’s Jesuit-based and independent endeavors
Connor: “Really they are two completely separate things. Outside of school it’s all individual or you have doubles, but at Jesuit you are on the team. Typically, I found have found that I am much more skilled than most of the people in high school tennis, at least around where we are. There is definitely some amazing players in, you know, San Antonio, Houston which I’ll probably see at state if I get there. But these people, they are also the ones I see at the outside school tournament, at the USTA (United States Tennis Association) tournaments – is what they’re called. The USTA is who gives you your national ranking. So really, I know all those guys, and they’re pretty good.”
“In my fourteen years of playing, I’ve gotten to travel outside the country and even gotten and ITF (International Tennis Federation) ranking. Now this is where it gets tough. This is where I’m playing against other people from different countries. Of course the people from Europe are way too good and I can’t compete with them because all they do is play tennis everyday and don’t go to school. I got to go the Caribbean: Jamaica, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It was a great time but very fierce competition. I lost and I didn’t do good in any of them, but I absolutely value the experience. It’s something you don’t get in the United States. There are so many different people you get to play”.
The Jesuit Team
Connor: “Before Jesuit, I was always solo and all the pressure really got put at me. At Jesuit, it was really the first time I really had that team, sort of, experience. They didn’t have this at my middle school, elementary school, or anything. So it was really the first time I got that tennis community with my fellow classmates. And most of my friends now even, my closest friends, are those on the tennis team and who I’ve been able to grow with and build a bond with throughout my four years. It’s really nice being able to have that. Some, you know, as a freshman having the seniors to look up to – of course, they’re gone now and we are those seniors who have to fill in their spots; we have to be good role models for the underclassmen and show them how its done. I’ve also gotten the chance to be team captain with my fellow co-captain, Ben Woodard ’25. I think we’ve done a great job with the team this year. I think we’ve won all our matches, well I’ve won all of mine. We’ve got two doubles teams going to regionals and a singles team, well not singles team, a singles player, me, also going to regionals. I think that’s the mots we’ve had in a while and I think it’s going to be a great experience next week.”
By the publishing of this article, Connor and his team are already off to the races at their Regional Tournament where Jesuit Tennis will, once again, compete for the chance to have an illustrious spot on the Texas state tennis roster and ranking. We wish them luck!
The Next 4 Years: College at Davidson
Here there was much more back and forth between myself and Connor so I made sure to include both sides’ remarks for nuance and readability.
Interviewer: Tell me about you’re college signing.
Connor: “Well you know I went up there, signed some papers.”
Interviewer: How did it feel, after all the stress of playing tennis, to finally sign those papers?
Connor: “It was pretty nice to know that my fourteen years of hard work was finally put to something.” I always wanted to go D1, I never wanted to go D3, that felt like a waste of my time. You know? Why do D3 when I could go D1.
Interviewer: Go big or go home!
Connor: “That’s right! Go big or go home! Exactly. And you know, it’s nice to know that all of my hard work is finally being put to greatness. With Davidson, I got to visit. I got to spend a day with the team, you know be a student there in a sense. I really enjoyed the team and I enjoyed the sort of community they had there. It’s a really small school, similar to Jesuit, and I’m hoping I get to further this experience in a way by going to Davidson with the small classes and still having teachers that care about you and want you to succeed.”
The Recent District Successes
Connor: “So I performed amazing. Not as amazing as last year. Tennis matches: you have to win two sets with six games in each set, and you need four points per game … it takes a while. Not my matches though. I played three matches in districts in order to win. First round was 6-1 6-0, second round was 6-0 6-0, and then the finals was also 6-0 6-0. Unfortunately, our districts is not very challenging for me at least. But, you know, it is something I have to go through to reach the upper levels. And, you know what, I’m ok with that. And I know that’s not the same for everybody. Just like some of our doubles teams, they have trouble. But you know what? It helps them grow. It’s a challenge that they overcome. They overcome the hill! They get over the hill!”
“In doubles, it was another Jesuit team: Dillon Blanton and Van Davidson. And they beat the team of Ben Woodard and William Wayne in the finals. Jesuit indeed played Jesuit. First seed was Dillon Blanton and Van Davidson. Benjamin Woodard and William Wayne were fourth seed. So they overcome the odds. They approached the challenge and they overcame it. They even had two match points against the number one seed. However, they did not prevail and they unfortunately lost in the finals. But it was an amazing match.”
Expectations for Regionals
Connor: “So expectations for regionals? I expect to win. Now, the competition for regionals is certainly more challenging than districts is. Last year at regionals, I almost lost. I had a great match against this player Dmitry Goubin … Wow that was a match right there! In regionals, we play a full third set. So you need to win three sets … But that was a great match. I ended up winning regionals last year … and so this year I also hope to win it. There is not as strong of a competition as there was last year. So I’m hoping I can still get first again.”
The Road Ahead: State
Connor: “Well state. State is gonna be the tough one. I really hope all the good kid are playing doubles. I really hope they are not playing singles. I know they’re playing singles though so it’s really unfortunate. I probably will lose that one. Hey! But there is a chance! I would call myself an avid gambler.”
Working With a Legend: The Dillon Blanton Addendum
Dillon Blanton ’25 is also a member of the Jesuit tennis team in Connor’s class. They have played tennis together for all 4 years at Jesuit and are both traveling to regionals soon.
Dillon: “You know ever since freshman year it was clear Connor was different. He really had a different quality about him that really set him apart from the rest of the team. He was a natural leader. Even from Freshman year, he was just build different.”
The Fellow Students Cheering Him On
Connor: “One of my most amazing supporters and friends and honestly someone I think I needed in my life otherwise I wouldn’t be here today: Luke Lastelick. and Michael Kovac. I mean wow there is something about him. He came in Junior year, this new guy from Highland Park. Booo! Booo Highland Park booo!”
I even spoke to Connor’s fellow classmate, Jake Chostner ’25. Here is what he had to say about the man, the myth, the legend.
Jake: “Connor, what can I say about Connor? Where do I start? He and I go way back to Junior year. We’ve had a lot of fun times together, especially in the LRC (Learning Resource Center). He thinks he’s good at math but I’m, honestly, just a tad bit better. In terms of tennis, though, I’ve heard he’s pretty good. I’ve never actually seen him play which is a blessing to my eyes because I don’t know if I could watch tennis in general but even him playing would be hard on my soul. But yeah, pretty cool guy overall.”
A Reflection by Ms. Wainwright
It was a privilege to also be able to sit down with Ms. Wainwright, the head tennis coach at Jesuit. I asked her about her thoughts on the recent successes at districts and her expectation for regionals.
Ms. Wainwright: “Overall I was highly impressed with the level that, especially our doubles team, played at. It was some of the best tennis I’ve seen them play all year – some of them their entire high school careers. So highly impressed, I was very proud of the way that they played, of the way that they upheld our Jesuit values at the tournament. But, even more proud that we have 3 teams going to our regional tournament and it’s been a long time since that has happened.”
“Connor is the favorite as of right now for regionals. Both doubles teams, if they play at the level that they played at our districts tournament, then they have a chance at moving forward. We are in a very competitive region, so it will be tough, but I know that they will play to the best of their ability.”
Conclusion
On May 7, the tennis team will compete again in a more difficult Regional Tournament at the Courts of McKinney.
Stay tuned for more news about the Jesuit tennis team’s success on The Roundup.
