By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Hanna Golden Eagles amassed 134 points to emerge victorious in the Los Fresnos tennis tournament, which concluded Saturday.
The Eagles were represented in six of the 10 finals matches and won two of them. Miranda Garzoria defeated Sabrina Lopez of Harlingen High in the girls singles A final 6-4, 7-6, and Paulina DeLeon bested Natalia Garcia of St. Joseph Academy 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the girls singles B final.
“We set ourselves up real well (Friday),” Hanna coach Terry Hoover said. “I thought we let a couple matches get away from us (Saturday), but with the conditions that we played under it’s really difficult, and the teams that we played are very well coached. Overall I thought we did a really good job. We did really well throughout the whole thing.”
The Eagles narrowly missed a victory in the boys singles A final when Chris Castillo faced off against St. Joseph ’s Fernando Alvarez.
Alvarez, who has appeared in the boyssingles A final match in the past three Metro-area tournaments, defeated Castillo 7-6, 7-6.
“I think it helped when he started playing more aggressively,” SJA coach Sophia Bonas said.
Castillo was behind in each set but battled back to force a tiebreaker each time.
“We just missed some really key shots,” Hooversaid. “We played it right, I thought Chris had a good plan but we just made a couple mistakes here and there, and that was the difference. When you lose two tiebreakers, it’s pretty tight. (Alvarez) is one of the top players in the Valley, so we’re pretty excited we played him that close. We’d like to finish it up, though.”
Finishing tied for second place with 110 points were the Harlingen High Cardinals and La Feria Lions.
Harlingen High also had a presence in six finals matches, winning three. The Cardinals’ effort was led by Kylie Leach and Nikki Fleuriet, who won the girls doubles B draw 6-1, 6-0 over Hanna’s Astrid Garcia and Arriana Gutierrez. And David Gracia won the boys singles B final over teammate Trey Werley 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Matt Alvarado and Thomas Cabriales won the boys doubles Achampionship Friday to assist in the Cardinals’ success.
“The kids did a great job, it was great experience for them,” Harlingen High coach James Tanamachi said. “I was impressed with the level of play they were able to maintain with the (weather) conditions. My kids that made the finals and even the ones that didn’t, I’m happy with the whole outcome. Hanna’s got a great team, so we’re happy to get good practice against teams in our district.”
Host school Los Fresnos finished in fourth place, one point behind the top three with a score of 109. The Falcons’ lone winner in a final came from Ricky Garcia and Maria Garcia in the mixed doubles B bracket. The duo beat Sam Reyna and Kris Rodriguez of La Feria 6-0, 6-1.
Rivera’s sole championship came from the girls doubles A team of Julissa Rostro and Ashley Cruz, who defeated Hanna’s Marcela Castillo and Sandra Zuniga 6-4, 6-3.
St. Joseph won one additional final along with the boys singles A. They also won the boys doubles B draw when Eduardo Alvarez and Mauricio Hage defeated Harlingen High’s Charlie de la Rosa and Homer Lopez 6-2, 6-1.
In the mixed doubles A final, La Feria’s Carlos Gamboa and Abby Pecina beat Weslaco High’s Alberta Cabrera and Hanna Diaz 6-2, 6-1.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.