Notebook: Hanna prepares for tournament
For Hanna, it was just another day at the office.
The Golden Eagles claimed a spot in every division except boys singles, sending seven players to the Region IV-5A Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday at the McFarlin Tennis Center in San Antonio.
Coming off a stellar district campaign and with some time to go until the regional tournament, things have got-ten a little bit lackadaisical for the Eagles.
“Everybody’s just a little flat,” Hanna coach Terry Hoover said. “They put a lot into wining district, so it’s going to take a little bit of time for that to wear off. But we’ll be OK.”
Hanna is sending its girls doubles team of Marithe and Carolina Guerra back for the third straight year. The boys doubles team of Andy Garcia and Claudio Sosa are going back for the second straight year. Karina Samaniego, one half of the mixed doubles team, is going back again.
So even with the recent bump the team hit, its experience should more than make up for it.
“We got some experience,” Hoover said. “They won’t be surprised anyway. The first year’s kind of a learning experience.”
In the tournament, the first round and quarterfinals will be held Tuesday. The semifinals, final and true second place match will take place Wednesday.
NOTHING BUT SOUTH
Out of District 31-5A, Harlingen South reigned supreme.
State-ranked in team tennis, the Hawks took seven of the district’s 10 spots in the regional tournament, securing first place in everything except girls singles, which went to Elaine Barron of PSJA North.
The domination didn’t really surprise South coach Noe Stillman, who moved 12 players into the next round.
“We had a good tournament, yeah,” he said. “We were happy with what we did.”
As for the regional, all eyes will be on Stillman’s son, Tomas, who easily won the boys singles district title and is expected to be seeded second in the regional.
“I’m sure there will be a little bit of pressure,” Noe said. “We know all the kids that are there, he’s capable of beating them all.”
Tomas, who had offers from a number of other schools, has verbally committed to Toledo.
THE POWERS
Once again, District 30-5A belonged to Sharyland.
The Rattlers took a spot in each of the five divisions, securing first place in boys singles behind district cham-pion Andres Tajonar, and in girls doubles and mixed doubles. They also picked up a second-place finish in boys singles, girls singles and boys doubles to send nine players in all to the regional tournament.
As for 32-4A, that once again belonged to Roma.
The Gladiators took both spots in boys singles behind champion Adrian Garcia, won girls singles and mixed doubles, plus took both spots in boys doubles.
In all, they are sending nine players to the Region IV-4A Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Blos-som Athletic Center in San Antonio.
THE EDCOUCH SHOW
Most of the Rio Grande Valley representation at the Region IV-4A Tournament on Monday and Tuesday at Pe-can Valley in San Antonio, and at the boys tournament Wednesday and Thursday at the same spot, will be from Edcouch-Elsa.
The Yellowjackets claimed second place on the boys side behind district champ Blair Hensley, and won the girls title thanks to individual champion Ashley Garcia, who beat teammate Miranda Nichols on a playoff hole to win her crown.
“The kids did a great job,” Edcouch-Elsa coach Jorge Benavides said. “We’re just glad to be representing teams over there again.”
It was the fifth straight district title for the girls and the 12th year in a row the boys will be going to the regional tournament. The girls are also expected to get a top-three seeding, as the Yellowjackets look to send a player off to the state tournament for the first time since 2003.
It will be an uphill climb going against the San Antonio teams who are much more familiar with Pecan Valley than Edcouch-Elsa, Mission Veterans Memorial (boys district champions) or Rio Grande City (girls second place), but they’re all certainly going to give it a shot.
“You can never tell in this game,” Benavides said. “The girls are hitting really, really well … It’s all going to de-pend on how they handle the golf course.”
Todd Orodenker covers golf and tennis for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com.
