Reagan girls takes second place at a top-level national tournament hosted by Reagan High School in San Antonio on February 23 and 24, 2023.
Tournament events started Thursday evening with a banquet at the NEISD Tennis Center, where over 450 players from coast to coast, took pictures, shared food, played games, and created great memories to last a lifetime.
The matches started early on Friday morning at six different locations to accommodate over 40 teams from 24 high schools. Modeled after collegiate match play, each team played three lines of doubles and six lines of singles; the winning team is the first to win five lines.
In the first match against El Paso Coronado, Reagan girls were down 1-2 after doubles but that didn’t deter their tenacity; they just played harder in each of their single’s lines to win 5 lines to 3 in order to advance in the main draw to the next match against Waco Midway. The energy during this match was high, with spectators young and seasoned on the edge of their seats when the overall team score was at 4 – 4! The match was dependent on the last, lone deciding line that sophomore, Italia Valencia played with nerves of steel, to bring home the team win 5 – 4 in a third set tie-break. The girls were headed to play the finals the next morning!
Even after a long day that started well before 7am and having played against two tough teams, the girls made their way to the tournament site where the Reagan boys played against one of the Rattlers’ rivals, Vandergrift High School from Austin.
Much like the girls, the boys were down 1-2 after doubles, but made their way with several key singles wins to make the overall team score 3-3. At 4-4, the match was dependent again on one last, lone deciding line that freshman, Jairo Kirk, played with no apparent outward signs of nervousness. With the entire Rattler girls and boys tennis teams behind him, Jairo brought home the 5 – 4 team win with a very intense third set tie-break win!
After a hard-fought match against Lubbock High School, the girls proudly took home the second-place trophy. Congratulations Rattlers; this tournament attracted many top-level players from across the country and each line played was not easy!
Top Row L to R: Andra Daniel, Kathy He, Livia Washington, Neveen Jaffar, Amaya Yovanovich, Angela Pozos, Marcella Perry, Sarah Stevens, Coach Daniel
Front Row L to R: Jacqueline Huang, Angela Huang, Paulina Razo, Sabrina Scanlon, Bella Razo, Italia Valencia
Photo Credit: Eric Razo