Sharyland High’s Alan Gonzalez is heading back to the Class 5A state tournament after winning the Region IV-5A boys singles title Thursday in Corpus Christi.
Gonzalez and other Rio Grande Valley tennis players hit the courts for the final day of the regional tournament at the H-E-B Tennis Center in Corpus Christi. Five athletes came home with gold medals, two landed silver and three earned bronze on the final day of regional tennis.
Gonzalez defeated Smithson Valley’s Rowan Olsen 6-3, 7-6, (2). Gonzalez returns to state as the runner-up in 2022. Fort Bend Kempner’s Noey Do defeated Gonzalez in 2022 for the state title and also qualified for the state tournament as the Region III champion.
Sharyland High’s Koen Aggarao took home the bronze in boys singles. The Rattlers also picked up a bronze medal in girls doubles. Grace Shahin and Ximena Uresti defeated a team from Leander Glenn but did not have a chance at a playback match for second like Aggarao.
The Rattlers’ boys doubles team of Hugo and Guillermo Garcia defeated Harlingen South’s Ethan Carter and Diego Garcia to win the doubles championship. Carter and Garcia bounced back to win their true-second match and qualify for state as well.
McAllen Memorial’s No. 1 boys tennis player, Diego Salvo, and No. 1 girls tennis player, Dania Casas, combined in mixed doubles and are now regional champions as well. It would have been tough for Salvo to oust Gonzalez or Aggarao at the District 32-5A meet, or combining with a boy to beat Sharyland High’s now regional champs.
The pairing paid off and the duo is now heading to state after having to come back from dropping the first set to beat Leander Rouse’s Shannon Barton and Lucas Alden 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Thursday’s long list of qualifiers join Edinburg North’s Maya Chen as state qualifiers from the Valley. The tennis players head to the Northside ISD Tennis Center for the tournament. Both the Class 6A and Class 5A state championships will be held April 25-26 at the tennis center in Helotes.