Sports
Tigers’ tennis team falls in Regionals to Coronado
Monday, 12 November 2012 by Grayson Edds
The impressive Tiger Tennis team accomplished their goal this year by making it to Regionals for the second year in a row. Unfortunately luck was not on their side when they went drew El Paso Coronado, the No. 5 team in the state, for their first competitor.
"The score doesn't show how well the kids did play," said Coach Kyle Larson. "We lost 10-0."
The teams had an opportunity to play 19 matches with the option of stopping at 10.
"When they got to 10, we were up in some single matches. They were getting a little nervous that we were going to make a comeback," Larson said. "I saw some of the best tennis out of our kids. Watching it, it looked pretty evenly matched."
Even though he said the opposing team had a lot of depth, Belton certainly did not get run over.
"They just got the last point," he said. "Our kid would just hit one right at the top of the net or a foot out. You could tell they were frustrated, but it's those little things that separate us from the next level. They played really well. When we told the kids the night before who they were playing and what they were ranked, their first tendency was to think that this wasn't good for us. I told them that we're in a new region, and they don't know us. If they do win, let's make them remember Belton and earn that win. They were successful in that by far."
The Tigers also played two consolation matches while they were there. They played and beat North Crowley, district champions from their district, on Friday afternoon 11-8. Saturday morning they played Keller High School, but lost to them 12-7.
In overall matches that were completed, freshman Tara Donohoe and junior Jacob Daugherty both went undefeated. Both players were up in the match against El Paso, but didn't get the chance to complete their games. Senior Katie Burgess didn't get to go up against El Paso, but did win all of her matches against North Crowley and Keller High.
The No. 2 boys doubles, senior Ryan Jones and sophomore Riley Wesson, also played well, according to Larson.
Larson is proud of their hard work and dedication to succeed in their goal of getting to Regionals this year, acknowledging the amount of hard work it takes to get there.
"I think overall, from start to finish, it was an awesome season," he said. "Since August the kids had a goal. They wanted to make it to Regionals. They wanted to make a good showing. It came true and I think they're all proud of what they've done."
