Before this weekend, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers tennis team never had any players advance to the regional meet.
That all changed as six Chargers earned qualifications in two different events for the Region IV-5A competition after Saturday’s District 32-5A meet at Brownsville Veterans Memorial High School.
Brownsville Veterans took both qualifying spots in the boys doubles division as Raul Hernandez and Nick Marroquin defeated teammates Robert Rodriguez and Jose Garza 6-0, 6-0.
Then, Kaylee Gazoria and Pilar Elizondo also won their match in straight sets to capture the girls doubles district title, defeating Porter’s Sonia Grimaldo and Diana Amaro 6-1, 6-4.
“Not all the matches went the way we wanted them to, but it was a good showing for our boys and girls teams,” said Brownsville Veterans second-year head coach Leo Casanova. “This is the first time in school history, so it’s big. We’re going to see what’s available (at regionals) and I’m hoping we’re going to have some good matches out there.
“We don’t know what we’re in for because we’ve never been there, but we’re expecting a lot of tough competition.”
The Region IV-5A meet will be held on April 18 and 19 and the North East ISD Tennis Center in San Antonio.
While Brownsville Veterans is making its first appearance at regionals, Porter is returning after a five-year hiatus from the tournament.
“It’s been five years since we were at regionals, but before that, we were there consistently,” Porter head coach Jaime Guillen said. “We’re back and the (players) will be representing Brownsville Porter really well. Veterans will be up there with us, so it’s all about representing Brownsville.”
Leading Porter in regionals is its mixed doubles team of senior Alondra Barrosa and junior Jairo Diaz, who defeated the Donna High team of Diana Martinez and Angel Rodriguez, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8, in an emotional match.
For Barrosa, she described the match as “tiring” and the road as “tough,” but Diaz, her partner of two years, said he appreciated the peaks and valleys they’ve experienced in that time.
“We’ve fought and got mad at each other. She’d get mad if I didn’t do well at the net or hit the shots how she wants me to — it’s minimal stuff,” a smiling Diaz said of his partnership with Barrosa. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re there. It’s scary (to think about the competition at regionals), but we’re going to keep trying because there is no backing down.
“If we go down, then that’s how it goes, but we can change that and it’s up to us.”
Also qualifying for Porter was the girls doubles team of Grimalo and Amaro, who had to qualify by beating Edcouch-Elsa’s Alyssa Vasquez and Marisol Roque in a true second match, 6-0, 5-7, 10-7.
The Charger boys won the district’s team championship, racking up 39 1/2 points to oust Edcouch-Elsa (25) and Donna High (15).
Over on the girls’ side, it was Donna High taking home the overall title with 31 points, followed by Porter (27 1/2) and Brownsville Veterans (23).
DÉJÀ VU
Donna High junior Jennifer Garcia will head to the regional tournament as the 32-5A district champion in the girls singles division for the third-consecutive year.
And like she did the two previous years, she defeated Mercedes’ Crystal Werbiski to do so.
This year, Garcia bested Werbiski in straight sets (6-2, 6-4).
“(Werbiski) is a really good opponent, so it’s been a tough three years facing her,” Garcia said. “Today was different from the other years because she was tougher and smarter and more confident — she pushed me, too.”
Another thing that has been consistent for Garcia at regionals has been her bowing out after one round.
She hopes that will change.
FRIENDLY FIRE
A year ago, Edcouch Elsa’s Frankie Lara and J.C. Salinas both qualified to the regional meet as a freshman boy’s doubles team.
Both are heading back to regionals for their sophomore campaign, however, they will both be first-time singles competitors.
Lara defeated Salinas 1-6, 6-4, 10-7 in the District 32-5A boy’s singles final, but both will move on to the regional meet.
“It was close match and we were hitting hard the whole time,” Lara said. “It feels good, but I know it will be really hard (to move on), but I’m going to try my best.”
“It was very tough today,” Salinas added. “It was a good feeling to be a good match with (Lara). For regionals, I need to be more consistent and more confident.”