Wildcats Team Tennis Coach Tony Martinez was pleased with his team’s 14-5 district win over short-handed Marshall at the Wildcat Tennis Complex Tuesday afternoon. The win evened the Wildcats district record at 1-1.
Coach Martinez awarded the Wildcat Ball to freshman Katie Beth Herd, who won her first varsity match. Herd won in girls’ singles despite losing a first set, 6-0. Herd won set two, 6-0 and then captured the match with a 10-7 tiebreaker win. Senior Jazzmin Cruz, who just took up tennis a few months ago, won her girl’s singles match, 6-1 and 6-0 despite a slight heel injury.
The Wildcats got strong plays from the boys. Captain Alex Benitez led the way along with Jonah Kirkpatrick and Blaine Flemens. The boys’ doubles team of Chase Crouch and Logan Schumacher won their match against Marshall, 8-3. Coach Martinez may have found a mixed doubles team for the future. He put youngsters Aaron Lucas and Heather Harris together and they won. Coach Martinez said they played well together and picked each other up. Coach Martinez said his message to his team before the match was a simple one. He told them to have fun, compete and make sure they hit the ball over the net and let their opponents hit into the net or out of bounds. After the match, the team celebrated three players with birthdays Tuesday: Zoe Wilson, Schumacher and Lucas. Coach Martinez said the Marshall coach chose to leave some players at home for team rules violations, such as missing practices.
