By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Playing an area team tennis tournament that includes squads from Brownsville and Harlingen is a relatively new competition.
It’s an event that is only three or four years old, the coaches say. The top two teams from each district used to advance directly to the regional tournament, but that’s no longer the case.
The Hanna Golden Eagles have participated in the area tournament every season it has existed.
The area tournament is scheduled again Tuesday. The top teams from District 32-6A and District 31-6A — four from each district — square off in dual match competition to see which of them will reach Thursday’s championship match at 4 p.m. at Harlingen South.
In 32-6A, No. 19 state-ranked South was the district winner with Harlingen High in second, Hanna in third and Los Fresnos in fourth. In 31-6A, Edinburg Vela was the winner with Edinburg High in second, Edinburg North in third and Edinburg Economedes in fourth.
Beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the tournament’s quarterfinal matchups will be Hanna vs. Edinburg High at Harlingen High, Los Fresnos at Edinburg Vela, Harlingen High at Edinburg North and Economedes at South. The four quarterfinal winners play Tuesday afternoon. The semifinal victors move on to Thursday’s title showdown. The area tournament’s top two teams advance to Class 6A regional competition Oct. 27-28 in San Antonio.
Veteran Hanna tennis coach Terry Hoover, now in his 42nd year of guiding the Eagles, said it’s been another productive team tennis season for his squad.
“I think we improved a lot from the start of the school year,” Hoover said. “We’ve had a lot of really young players step up. Our boys have matured on the court and started being very solid. We’re real happy about where we are right now.
“I see that our team is composed of a lot of fighters who work hard and keep a positive attitude,” Hoover added. “I think our mental game is pretty tough. It’s been an exciting team tennis season. We’ve played some really good teams. There are no weak sisters in our district. Everybody’s competitive. Hopefully we can keep it going (into spring tennis).
Playing for the Hanna boys are Alan Garcia, Servando Robles, Raul Caballero, Luis Aguirre, Jonathan Martinez, Jorge Diaz and Adrian Aguilar.
For the Lady Eagles, the players are Paulina de Leon, Jessica Sosa, Rebecca Fernandez, Natalia Cordova, Taylor Crouch, Leslie Arrezolo, Elise Zamora and Paloma Rodriguez.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess