Reagan Rattlers Secure First Trophy of the Season at the NEISD Invitational Tournament

Semi-Finals playoffs against Boerne Champions – 8am matches

The second Day of the NISD Invitational tournament held at the Northside Tennis Center did not fail to disappoint. Our Reagan Varsity Tennis Team rose to the occasion despite the sweltering heat, a long day of challenging matches and probably the hottest day of the year so far. Well at least it felt that way watching from the sidelines!!

The day kicked off with the Semi-Finals Match against Boerne Champions, and to the spectators delight play began with the doubles teams taking to the court first. The Doubles consisted of 3 Girls, 3 Boys and a single Mixed Doubles pair. The line ups went as follows:

• Mixed Doubles – Gavin Fonger & Livia Washington (w 6-1, 5-7, 10-4)
• Line 1 Girls – Kara Greenlee & Alissa Ortiz (l 5-7, 2-6)
• Line 1 Boys – Kyle Totorica & Deuce Daniel (w 6-1, 6-2)
• Line 2 Girls – Emily Higgs & Paulina Razo-Zapata (w 6-3, 1-6, 10-2)
• Line 2 Boys – Joseph Snyman & John Tototrica (w 6-1,6-2)
• Line 3 Girls – Kathy He & Melanie Villareal (w 6-2, 6-3)
• Line 3 Boys – Imanol Avila & Anish Sehgal (w 6-1,6-2)

The line up exhibited some strong partnerships from prior years as well as some new first time pairings. The Line 1 and 2 boys consisted of three seniors and a Sophomore that got the point count going with 2 decisive no-nonsense victories. Both pairings exhibited some exceptional service control inflicting damage from the outset of each point, and sealing the deal with crisp volley’s and the occasional power overhead thrown in.

Our Girls Line 1 faced a tough pairing and despite a close and competitive first set they eventually succumbed to some very close games despite the what the score reflected. The no-ad scoring format can be a real drag and sometimes the games do note reflect the closeness of the match.

The Line 2 Girls also fought hard to take a quick lead 1 set up and dropped a set to lead them into a 10 point tie break. Fortunately the experience from our senior Emily Higgs coupled with the power strokes from Paulina Razo-Zapata helped slingshot their way to a strong and convincing tie break win

Both Line 3 pairings for the boys and the girls team were no match for the competition and Imanol and Anish made short work of their opponents as well as Kathy and Melanie exhibiting a mirrored result to easily overcome the Boerne Pairs.

The talk of the doubles matches in the semi finals round, was definitely the roller coaster match during the mixed doubles.

A rapid first set win by Gavin and Livia sealed a strong position going into the second set. However, the Boerne pair rallied back hard to claw their way into a 2nd set win. Fortunately, the constant practicing of 10 point tie breaks during team practices, allowed the Rattler pair find some familiar territory and to stomp to a 10-4 victory and a vital point (always in mixed) to add to the tally of Rattler 5 Boerne 2 after the doubles were done and dusted.

Following shortly thereafter the Boys Line 1 through 5 (the same lineup as the day before) got on court and proceeded to dominate play and proceeded to get 5 more points without getting close to dropping a set.

Only the Line 1 to 4 girls were needed in singles play. Our girls faced much tougher opposition and all four lines battled hard against the Boerne Champions. It was Paulina who eventually prevailed to win the final counting point to take us into the finals later in the day.

Overall the Rattlers took a 10-3 victory to secure a spot in the final for the tournament.

Finals vs Georgetown High School – 2pm

With a slot in the finals our Rattlers got plenty of rest and hydration between the matches. This proved critical with the day getting hotter and the opportunity for fitness and stamina playing a crucial role in the afternoon sessions play.

Again our doubles teams led out against the opposition with only the mixed doubles get a new pairing of Hunter Alexander and Livia Washington this time around.

The Girls Line 1 and 2 competed hard but were unable to prevail against some strong pairings on the Georgetown team.

The Boys secured 3 points toward the tally with no measure of incident. The pair of Jon Totorica and Joseph Snyman only dropped a single game to a dominating win over the line 2 pair, and ended the match with an out wide serve ace from Joseph that literally put his opponent into the court next to them. Some oohs and aahs followed that one from the spectators and team mates alike.

The Line 3 pair basically carried on where they left off from the morning doubles. The strong ground strokes from Imanol Avila and some deft volleys from Anish Sehgal were too much for their opponents and they tore their way to victory in a strong second set.

The Line 1 doubles for the boys was hotly contested with some line calls getting questioned and a scary moment when Deuce Daniel took a direct hit to the eye from a reaction volley directly in front of him. After some tense moments, and some first aid, he managed to recover well enough to continue the match. The duo went on to win securing another point toward the tally.

The mixed doubles pair of Hunter Alexander and Livia Washington went on to win a solid victory in straight sets. However the match of the day happened to land on the shoulders of Melanie Villareal and Kathy He in the girls Line 3 position.

The match unfolded into a classic come back story. The first set went to Georgetown 6-4 and Melanie and Kathy had to dig deep in the heat of the day after 2 days of seemingly endless matches for both girls after previously grueling matches. Of course with the wind in their sails and the entire team cheering and supporting from behind the fencing they rallied hard to win the second set,  6-3.

With the match squared at one set apiece the ten point tie break began. Georgetown leapt to a quick 3-1 lead after some long crosscourt rallies with each pair giving no quarter. The rattler pair dug deep to level the scores and advance to a 6-4 lead only to see it wane to the advantage of the opposition. Sitting at 7-8 the Rattler girls coiled up to strike and lead the charge to take the match in an exhilarating final point to win 10-8. Kudos to Melanie and Kathy for gritting it out and not quitting.

The final tally after doubles left Reagan leading 5-2 going into the singles matches.

The girls lead out the charge and despite some excellent point play and flashes of brilliance, the heat and 2 days of tough matches they were unfortunately outmatched by a very strong and experienced Georgetown Line Up. This left the overall match score at 5 each.

However, with the team spirit high and the depth of our boys team, they entered the fray oozing with confidence and some serious swagger.

The first to lay claim to another point was Jon Totorica, who clinched his match in some kind of record time. If you blinked you might have missed it, but there was no missing the crushing passing shots and forehand winners.

Shortly thereafter Joseph Snyman got stuck in to his match a steely determination after his showing in the doubles. He too followed suite to an extra match point with only dropping two games in the second set on his way to victory.

Shortly thereafter Deuce Daniel quite literally served his way to victory with crushing topspin kick serves that wreaked havoc on his opponent. Deuce got done with a convincing 6-1,6-0 win.

With the Overall score sitting at 8-5 to Reagan the Line 1 Girls player of Melanie Villareal and the Line 4 and 5 players of Kathy He and Emily Higgs kept the Georgetown momentum at bay. Despite all three having exhausting matches earlier, they all continued to battle fiercely. During this time the final matches played out. Kyle got the penultimate point, despite suffering from some heat fatigue in the brutal conditions. In true Kyle fashion he gritted his teeth and got the job done ousting his opponent to clinch a vital point.

The final point for the overall win came from freshman Anish Sehgal. His clinical play and groundstrokes were no match and without showing any signs of cracking under the pressure of the finals resting on his shoulders, he sailed to a 6-0, 6-0 win, and clinched the classic “double bagel” to secure the overall win for the Reagan Rattlers to take the tournament 10-5 against Georgetown High School.

Overall the team performed superbly and gave a strong showing for what the rest of the season will hold for the Reagan Varsity Tennis Team. Thanks go to all the team members who didn’t play and to our Team Manager Koral for his constant help and support. Also a big thanks to the Parents supporting and even Mr. Castillo, one of Reagans own teachers who braved the heat to cheer on our Rattlers.

The Varsity team will face off against some strong opposition in Austin this Thursday (Aug 19th) vs Westlake away and Friday (Aug 20th) versus both Lake Travis High School and Westwood, both away. These three teams traditionally represent some exceptionally strong opposition and State Team Champions amongst their accomplishments. If any parents or supporters can make the trip you will be in for some quality tennis and some amazing matches.

Till the next tournament, Go Rattlers – “STRIKE EM!!”

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself” – Henry Ford

Submitted by Jake Snyman