BY SCOTT HARRISON | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
MISSION — After an eight-year absence, a boys doubles tennis team from Sharyland High is preparing to compete in the state tennis tournament, which takes place Tuesday and Wednesday in College Station.
Senior Carlos Ramones and junior Sebastian Arizola will represent the Rattlers at the competition for the first time since 2007.
“They have put together the concept of playing doubles, meaning that you have to attack the net and do certain things in order for your opponents not to exploit your weaknesses while exploiting their weaknesses,” explained Rattlers boys tennis coach Mike Salinas. “All top-level doubles is going to played around the net area cutting off angles and things of that nature.”
The pair qualified by reaching the finals of the Region lV-5A tournament in San Antonio before losing to Flour Bluff’s Noah Ortiz and Jeff Orchard.
“We learned from that match: Don’t get too confident and try for every point,” Arizola said. “Still, don’t go into the match with the mentality you might lose, but go in there thinking you will win, and you’ll win.”
Eight teams participate in the tournament, and Sharyland’s opening competition will be Nick Bradham and Tarun Muthuchamy of College Station High at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
“They are both short and really don’t hit the ball too hard but just put angles,” Arizola said. “We are going to try to put the ball over their heads and just try to win,”
These two teams have never met in a doubles tournament. Meanwhile, Braham won the Class 3A singles championship last year.
“We just have to communicate and stay focused,” Ramones said. “Go point-by-point and match-by-match and see how it goes. I really want to make the most of it since, as a senior, it’s my last shot.”
Tuesday is the quarterfinal and semifinal matches of the tournament while the finals take place on Wednesday. The Sharyland duo would have to make the finals for the possibility of a rematch against Ortiz and Orchard. Salinas has an idea what needs to go differently this time for his players to come away with a title.
“They are going to have to cut down on unforced errors,” Salinas said. “Also make the right decisions, because when you are at this level every point and movement is going to have a consequence, so you have to make the right shot. There is not really too much to exploit at this level, so you have to wait for the opportunity to arise and take advantage of it.”
This is the second year Ramones and Arizola have competed together as a team. They lost in the regional quarterfinals in 2014, but both feel they are more comfortable working together this year, and that has resulted in more wins.
“They both communicate well and both are pretty aggressive with their shots,” Salinas said. “Arizola is a finesse player who has great hands around the net, and he can hit a lot of soft angles. Ramones is more of a power player, so you got the power on one side with the consistency and touch on the other side, which balances things out.”
Both players plan to play tennis in college but are not sure if it will be at the same school. Neither player has ruled out that possibility.
“Since I am older and more experienced, it is my responsibility to calm Arizola down when he is mad or something,” Ramones said. “I try and take a leadership role on the court.”
Ramones has not narrowed down yet where he will compete in college, although Salinas indicated both schools at the NCAA Division ll and Division lll levels have expressed interest in him.