McALLEN — Several Rio Grande Valley tennis players punched their tickets to regionals with strong showings Thursday at the District 31-5A Tournament at McAllen High School.
The McAllen Memorial Mustangs captured the District 31-5A title with a dominant performance from top to bottom.
A pair of Mustangs squared off in the boys singles championship, as Agustin Salazar topped Ishaan Ramchandani.
Both qualified for regionals as freshmen but missed out as sophomores due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a cancellation of sports last spring.
“It was definitely tough because last year we didn’t have tournaments, not even outside school tournaments, so to be back out here playing tennis, it’s definitely very exciting,” Ramchandani said.
Now, the junior teammates are headed back to regionals to compete in boys singles.
“It feels good to be out here. Our top boys have been training together for the last 10 years, and we’ve trained hard together every day since for like two and a half hours,” Salazar said. “It’s very fun and we’re giving it 100% every time.”
Although Salazar won the boys singles district championship, it’s a case of iron sharpening iron for the Memorial teammates.
“At the end of the day, he’s my teammate and I play him every day, so whatever the outcome is, it makes it fun,” Ramchandani said.
The Memorial boys doubles team of Diego Salvo and Arshaan Auf also won the 31-5A championship over McAllen Rowe’s Guillermo Garcia and Hugo Garcia.
In mixed doubles, McAllen Memorial’s Zach Garza and Zaira Martinez claimed third place, while PSJA Memorial’s duo of Ian Cruz and Yolotzyn Alvarado beat Sharyland Pioneer’s Alyssa Cantu and Angel Martinez to capture first.
McAllen Rowe’s Diana Park defeated Sharyland Pioneer’s Sarah Lagrange to win the 31-5A girls singles championship.
Sharyland High’s Andy Fernandez and Olivia Sorce claimed the District 31-5A girls doubles championship by besting fellow Rattlers Mariela and Monica Castellanos in two sets. Sharyland will send both of its girls doubles teams to the regional tournament later this month.
The Region IV-5A Tournament is scheduled for April 27-28 at the Northeast ISD Tennis Center in San Antonio.