Muscles clenched, hands firmly grasped on the racket, eyes locked on his opponent, the tennis player ran abruptly to the left to send the green fuzzy tennis ball back to his competitor, sending the ball to the very corner of the court, just out of his opponent’s reach, to clinch the win. Such a description portrays the success the Jesuit varsity tennis team continues to pursue throughout their spring season.
On March 25-26, the Jesuit varsity tennis team, which consists of three juniors and three sophomores, guided under Head Coach Paul McDaniel and Coach Andy Civello, competed in the District 9-5A tennis tournament at the Fair Oaks Tennis Center in Lake Highlands. Jesuit was favored to win the boys’ division because of their immense talent, but there were still menacing teams out there ready to upset the predictions.
The weather played a considerable role in the tournament in testing the focus of the players. “It would kind of rain for a while and then stop and then would dry off and then get on for a little bit and then rain again,” explained McDaniel. “So, what I tried to emphasize to our players is it’s not always about being the best talent, it’s about who can keep their focus and concentration when there are other factors involved.”
Henry Haskins ’15 and Matthew Salazar ’16 exemplified this focus in their doubles performance. In their semifinal match, they won 6-4 in the third, which means they only had one service break. They continued to stay focused even at times when they felt certain points should have gone their way when they didn’t, and they continued to place pressure on their opponents to seize their victory.
Campbell Frost ’16 won 1st in the district singles division and Pierre Craig ‘16 took 2nd. Such a performance from the sophomores, who didn’t have much experience in UIL varsity, shows much promise for the Jesuit tennis program in the future.
As for Thomas Carrier ’15 and Jackson White ’15, they finished 3rd last year in the doubles competition and sadly weren’t able to qualify for regionals. This year, however, was their time for redemption.
“They have been a doubles team all year long,” continued McDaniel. “That’s one doubles team that we’ve kept together through the fall and the spring and they both made a lot of progress.”
As a result from this hard work and dedication, Carrier and White became district doubles champions without losing a set, a remarkable feat. Coincidentally, Carrier and White won over another Jesuit team in the finals.
“It felt like a huge relief after such high expectations throughout the season and to come in and cruise through the tournament makes us excited for regionals,” commented White. “Also, as a whole, Jesuit swept both singles and doubles, which made me feel proud to play for such a dominant Jesuit program and with a lot of crazy talented Jesuit brothers.”
With all of these victories, Jesuit ultimately won the District 9-5A Title, taking 1st and 2nd place in both the singles and doubles competitions. All six players clinched a spot in the regionals tournament as well.
“We did this with three juniors and three sophomores, which is almost unheard of,” stated McDaniel, greatly pleased with the results. “When we go forward, these guys are just going to get better. So, this was what we hope is going to be the beginning of a really dominant era as far as tennis concerned. It just shows the depth and the quality of where the program is right now.”
Jesuit will compete in the regionals tournament at the Regional Tennis Center in Waco on April 15-16. So, make sure to catch up with the team and cheer our Rangers to victory!
