The tennis team opened the season with high hopes and confidence. The team established themselves by going against 6A competition early, and then dominating in district matches. The tennis team’s record is 7-5 (5-0 in district).

Tennis coach John Macapaz had high expectations for his team to win district and they met those goals. The team has won 21 district matches in a row – a streak that started four years ago.

The team now prepares for the postseason, which will start next week. Their last regular-season home match will be Friday against Conroe at 3 p.m. The team will compete in the bi-district match against Montgomery High School on Oct. 7 at 10 a.m. The match will be held at Kingwood Park.

Macapaz spent the preseason watching his players compete against bigger schools in hopes of preparing them for the 5A competition they face during the season and in the postseason. He also sprinkled 6A opponents during the season.

Junior Elijah Van Duker said each week he worked to improve and grow.

“My main goals are to, of course, get better, to be able to have competition that I can grow from, and to be able to grow from and to be able to win,” Duker said. “I hope that our team will be able to grow better at tennis and learning strategies like that, but also to be able to grow closer as a community, because I think that’s a big priority for our team.”

Senior captain Andres Campos always thinks about how he can positively boost the team’s morale during hard times. He pushes his teammates to improve their techniques and to stay sharp for the two seasons.

Once the fall season ends, the team returns in the spring for individual match ups with high hopes of improvement.

“I [want] to keep the team motivated,” Campos said. “We have two seasons, so a lot of kids sometimes lose motivation halfway. And [when that happens], I want to keep them motivated. So when we come back for [the] spring season, they come back even better and stronger.”