Tennis Begins School Year With Busy Season

The tennis team competed in Liberty Hill Saturday, losing 18-1. Their team tennis record is 2-3. They will face Belton at home tomorrow. 

The only pair up to win was senior Elias Arellano and junior James Vasquez. They won the first set 7-6 (5), lost the second set 6-4, then won in the tiebreaker 11-9. Vasquez almost pulled out a singles win, but lost in the tiebreaker 10-12. 

¨Best Arellano has played all year,” Peiser said. ¨We needed him to get to hitting as well as he was last year.” 

Sophomore Allison Valdez was the lone undefeated player up until her loss against Liberty Hill. The senior Alyssa Sharkey and junior Amore Zapata pair up fell in a close two sets, making this their first loss together. 

¨It was a good learning experience for all of them,” Peiser said. ¨Practice will be more beneficial to the players this week after they saw things they could work on and how they wanted to hit.”

The team traveled to Lake Belton and lost 5-14 Aug. 24. Girls’ doubles pair ups Allison Valdez and junior Abby Valdez and Sharkey/Zapata won in straight sets, senior Caylin Clements and senior Kailr Watson fell 7-6(5), 6-3. Valdez sisters both won their singles matches along with Amore Zapata, senior Alyssa Sharkey and junior Hannah Durbin both won in extra matches. All the boys’ doubles and singles were defeated. Junior Nate Champion and junior Aubriana Flores lost in mixed doubles.  

The team also, traveled to Pflugerville High then played Leander at home Aug. 20-21. They lost against Pflugerville 7-12 and won against Leander 13-6. 

“It was nice to see smoother shots and better stamina,” Peiser said.  “They are improving each match and that is what we want to see.” 

Senior Travis Calk and junior Clayton Shaw played at the #1 spot for doubles and lost Aug. 20. Vasquez/Rogers played at the #2 spot and won.  #3 doubles team won by default for boys doubles. Valdez/Valdez won at the #1 spot for doubles. Flores/Watson came out with the win at the #2 spot for doubles. Sharkey/Zapata won at the #3 spot for girls doubles. Clements/Arellano lost in straight sets playing mixed doubles. Vasquez and Champion both won for boys singles. All seven girls won their singles matches.
¨We played much better than we did [previously], but came up short against a good team,¨ Peiser said. ¨I moved around a lot of our doubles teams and had them play with a different partner. They were getting to used to playing with each other and not playing as strong so I mixed it up.¨

Boys’ doubles Shaw/Calk paired up to play in Pflugerville Aug. 21. They won in a third set tiebreaker. Team Vasquez and sophomore Luke Rogers won. Arellano/Champion lost in a third set tiebreaker. Girls’ doubles Valdez/Valdez won 6-2, 6-2. Watson/Clements lost in the third set. Flores/Sharkey lost in two sets. Shaw at #1 spot won in the tiebreaker and Vasquez won at #5 spot for boys singles. Allison Valdez won at the #5 spot. Watson won at the #2 spot, and Clements won at the #4 spot for girls singles. 

“Overall they started improving and that is what we want to see,” Peiser said. “ We do not want to peak early.  We want them to keep improving over the next few weeks before we start our district matches and then play lights out.”