On April 17 and 18, Jack Vickery and Rafael Ortega competed in doubles, and Luke McMullen in singles at the Regional tennis tournament to qualify for State.
Vickery and Ortega defeated Krum’s #2 doubles team in the first round 6-1, 6-1. Next, they defeated Wills Point 6-2, 6-2. In the semi-finals they played the #2 seeded team from Bullard and won a challenging match in three sets, earning them a trip to the final round. In the finals Vickery and Ortega faced a familiar opponent, the top doubles team from Krum, seed #3. Ortega and Vickery took the game 6-3, 7-6, clinching a spot at the State tournament on April 29-30 in College Station at Texas A & M University.
McMullen entered the tournament as the #2 seed and had relatively easy early rounds defeating Melissa 6-2, 6-0 and Pleasant Grove 6-0, 6-0. In the semi-finals he faced a very talented player from Dallas Madison and lost 2-6, 0-6. In the third place match he pulled out a win against Athens 6-4, 6-3 earning him a play back against Celina for 2nd place. He lost the first set in a tiebreak 6-7, then won the 2nd set 6-2. Unfortunately, McMullen encountered some cramping issues in the third set and lost 6-7, but played a match that qualifies him as an alternate at State.
Contributions by Coach Kurt Spasic.
