BROWNSVILLE — Edinburg North’s Maya Chen crushed a serve, forcing her opponent’s return to pop up nicely. Chen then sent her opponent the wrong way with a strong forehand shot.
Chen defeated her Brownsville Hanna opponent 6-0, 6-0, gaining a point for the Cougars as Edinburg North’s No. 1 girl in singles. The Cougars claimed the bi-district win over the Eagles 11-8 on Tuesday morning at the Brownsville Tennis Center, advancing to the area round of the Class 6A UIL team tennis playoffs.
Chen, a freshman, went 5-0 in singles play during the District 31-6A season. She also competes in United States Tennis Association tournaments. Chen has traveled as far as Tennesse to compete in USTA events.
“I thought I played pretty well,” Chen said. “I do think I needed to adjust some things, but there is always room to improve.”
The Cougars’ No. 1 girl faced off against Hanna’s Kaela De Leon. Hanna’s top two girls were injured. De Leon did have success when forcing Chen to charge the net, but the Edinburg North freshman crushed her forehands and serves.
“Those two were definitely the key for me winning, I think,” Chen said.
The Cougars won the District 31-6A girls championship and finished third overall in district.
Hanna senior Javier Ramirez pulled out all the stops in his doubles and singles match to give the Eagles two points on the day.
Ramirez’s forehand was accurate, his serve was strong and he also lobbed shots past his opponents to win points. The senior said it was his best performance this year.
“I gave it my all out there,” he said.
Ramirez and Alex Cantu defeated Edinburg North’s Byron Pereira and Diego Esqueda 6-4, 6-2. Ramirez then defeated Esqueda in singles.
Hanna returned to the playoffs for the first time in three years and finished District 32-6A in second place overall. This is the Eagles’ first year under head coach Jesus Ontiveros.
“As a team we did good,” Ramirez said. “Everybody gave it their all.”
Edinburg North awaits the winner of Del Rio or Northside Health Careers in the area round. Del Rio and Northside Health Careers also played Tuesday.
“It was pretty tough,” Cougars head coach Ramon Sanez said. “Both teams were doing great, are similar and both have strong players. Hanna is a great team.”