Reagan Rattlers vs Fort Bend Clements in the NEISD Invitational Finals

The Rattlers fought hard against Clements to narrowly lose in a closely fought battle against the Houston school. The final score of 8-10 demonstrated how closely the match was contested and how hard fought each and every point was.

The Day kicked off with the usual doubles matches and the play did not disappoint with both schools demonstrating a high level of tennis and all matches being hotly contested.

Three matches stood out in the doubles play and the matches kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. The Line 1 Boys of Kyle Totorica & Deuce Daniel went all the way to a second set tie break. Ultimately they held on to win in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

The Line 1 Girls Lineup of Alissa Ortiz and Kara Greenlee provided an enthralling match and a vital point for the team as they played their way through a riveting match to an eventual victory in the third set tie break. After going down in the first set 5-7, the girls rebounded with a lot of Rattler spirit to win the second set 6-1. The third set was played as a 10 point tie break and the duo held on to win this 12-10 after several “heart in your throat moments” during this fiercely contested match.

Line 2 Boys of Joseph Snyman and Jon Totorica was another critical point won for the overall score. The boys duo went down a break in the first game of the match to eventually battle hard to get back the break and force a seven point tie break for the first set. The tie break continued without missing a beat and they eventually won the breaker 7-5 with Snyman’s insane down the line recovery winner from a drop shot the opponents thought no-one could get to. The second set went all the rattlers way and they finished off their opponents in the 2nd set 6-2 for another vital point.

Our doubles teams went on to win another two matches { Mixed – Kim and Washington (6-2,6-2), Boys Line 3 – Avila & Alexander (6-2-, 6-4)} to take the team tally to 5-2 against a strong Clements line up.

The singles proved all important and as the day wore on our rattlers fought hard in all matches.

The first point in singles came from Deuce Daniel who was up 6-1, 3-0 when his opponent had to unfortunately retire from injury. Not long after that, Jon Totorica romped home with a 6-2, 6-3 win that had him serving out of his mind and hitting such pure ground strokes it was a pleasure to witness.

Unfortunately with the scores at 7-2, the Clements Girls team made a charge a came back with a vengeance to get back to 7-7 a piece. The Clements boys also made a late charge to secure two further points which left the tally 7-9 with only three matches still on court.

Anish Sehgal was steadfast as he powered his way to a win over his opponent 6-4, 6-2, to take the score tally to 8-9 and give a glimmer of hope to the Rattlers team.

However, despite standing strong and competing hard, the Clements team prevailed to win the decisive match and claim the victory. The Rattlers team showed some amazing grit and determination in all matches to claim 2nd place in the tournament. While the team would have preferred to have walked off with a first place trophy, they walked away with their heads held high and were gracious in defeat. The many positives and the level of tennis that was played was a joy to watch and will only take the team from strength to strength. Way to go Rattlers and keep on playing hard and competing. STRIKE EM!!!!

“Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather it is knowing that you will be okay no matter how things turn out.” —Garth Ennis

posted by Jake Snyman