By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — For the Harlingen South Hawks tennis team, things are probably as good as they can get.
The Hawks flexed their muscles at the District 32-6A tennis meet and did so in dominating fashion, taking first place in every division Wednesday morning at Harlingen High School.
South head coach Noe Stillman was happy his team met expectations for the most part and they will have a good solid number of players representing at the regional meet.
“We’re pretty happy with the way it turned out,” Stillman said. “Most of our entries did what they were supposed to with the exception of a couple, but we’re real happy to qualify a bunch of people to the regional tournament— I’m very pleased.”
The top two teams and individuals from each division will move on to the regional tournament at the McFarlane tennis Center in San Antonio April 19 and 20.
Among the district winners was senior and St. Mary’s commit Jeremiah Gonzalez.
The top-seeded Gonzalez took home the boys singles title by defeating teammate and No. 2 seed Bobby Leon in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
“I played pretty well and I was happy with my play,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a good start for regionals. I was happy to play Bobby in the finals because he is my teammate. It really shows how strong our team is.”
Those weren’t the only Hawks going at it Wednesday.
The girls doubles team of top-seeded Josie De La Fuente and Ariana Grey took down No. 3 Jessie Alfaro and Thiffany Yeupell in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
In girls singles, No. 1 Valeria Montero of South defeated No. 2 seed Larissa Lopez of Los Fresnos, 6-3, 6-1.
In boys doubles, South’s Jorge Garcia and Jonathan Rozeff (1) defeated Harlingen’s Travis Walther and Matthew Alvarado 6-4, 7-6 in an emotional match.
“(Garcia and Rozeff) have come a long way and had a really good year in which they have come a long way and improved a lot,” Stillman said. “It was good win because Travis Walther is a really strong doubles player, so it was good to see our guys hang on and close it out.”
The biggest threat to South on the day was the No. 2 seeded Harlingen mixed doubles team of David Garcia and Natalie Marquez, who pushed the top-seeded South duo of Hunter Buie and Grace Bell.
Garcia and Marquez took the first set 4-6 only to drop the next two 6-2.
BITTERSWEET
South’s Noe Stillman was happy to watch senior Jeremiah Gonzalez win the boys singles district title Wednesday, but it also meant having to think about a team without his top guy.
“Jeremiah is a tough guy in our area and I can’t recall the last time he lost to anyone down here,” he said. “It’s been great having him and he’ll be hard to replace. We’ve looked for another way to get another year of eligibility, but that’s not possible.
“We’ll hate to see him go, but he has a couple of tournaments left in him I think.”