By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
East Valley 4A tennis athletes competed in the Region IV-4A tournament Wednesday at the H-E-B Tennis Center in Corpus Christi.
Raymondville’s Keighara Leija picked up a 7-5, 6-3 win in the first round of the girls singles. Leija lost both sets 6-2 in her quarterfinal match.
Franklin Brooks and Eva Telles, also from Raymondville were the only other winners on the day. Brooks and Telles defeated a team from Sinton 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinal round. They lost to a duo from Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway.
The boys doubles team of Jonathan Leal and Ythan Castillo of La Feria, by a score of 6-5, 6-1, and Raymondville’s duo of Frank Pardo and Antonio Espinoza lost to a team from La Vernia.
District 32-4A boys singles champion Jose Bolanos of Raymondville and Port Isabel’s Caleb Mahl were knocked out in the first round. Bolanos lost to a competitor from Boerne, and Mahl was beaten by an athlete from Uvalde.
La Feria’s Julia Conde and Jimena Salazar, the girls doubles District 32-4A champion, lost to a team from Boerne. Raymondville’s Jazzlynne Espinoza and Marilyn Castillo were knocked out by a team from Navarro.
The mixed doubles team of Ezequiel Palestina and Xaria Boling of Port Isabel lost to a team from Fredericksburg, and La Feria’s Jessica Herrera lost in her girls singles match to an athlete from Davenport.