WESLACO — It was a clean sweep for Harlingen South as the Hawks dominated the competition at the District 32-6A tennis meet on Friday at Weslaco East High School.
South won all five divisions and qualified an astounding 10 players for the upcoming Region IV-6A tournament in San Antonio later this month.
In the girls singles final, Grace Bell defeated Skylar Snell of Harlingen High 6-4, 6-1 and in boys singles, Adrian Munguia defeated Derrick Layton of San Benito 6-3, 6-4.
In the girls doubles division, Jessie Alfaro and Thifany Yeupell defeated a team from Brownsville Hanna to qualify for regionals. Meanwhile in boys doubles, the team of Jorge Garcia and Hunter Lamon earned a trip to San Antonio by beating teammates Victor Ringheanu and Breyer Tice, who also qualified for regionals by finishing in second place.
Finally, in the mixed doubles division, the brother-sister team of Rudy Montero and Valeria Montero upset the top-seeded duo of David Gracia and Kaitlynn Jones.
“We are enjoying much success at the varsity level due to hard work,” said Hawks head coach Noe Stillman. “And the future looks bright as South won first and second in every division but one in the freshman division. We have great kids.”
But while South may have dominated on Friday, Harlingen High and San Benito managed to send some athletes to regionals.
Despite their loss in the mixed doubles competition, David Gracia and Kaitlynn Jones did qualify for a trip to San Antonio as second-place finishers. The same went for Skylar Snell, who finished second in girls singles.
The mixed doubles final was particularly close as the team from South held on for the 7-5, 6-2 win.
“We had the lead in the first set and let it slip away,” said Harlingen head coach Jay Tanamachi. “But they (South) are a great team and outplayed us.
“As for Skylar Snell, she lost in the finals to South’s Grace Bell but had to play a true second match vs. Los Fresnos and she won that match 6-2, 6-2 to qualify for regionals.”
As for San Benito’s Derrick Layton, his second-place finish against South’s Munguia may have been a bit disappointing, but regardless he is headed to San Antonio come April 18-19 at McFarland Tennis Center.