SCOTT HARRISON | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — McAllen Memorial’s boys doubles tennis team extended an undefeated season Thursday as the Mustangs claimed most of the championships during the final day of the District 30-6A tournament at McAllen High School.
Jack Wang and Alvaro Rocha improved their perfect record to 35-0 this year with a quick win against McAllen High’s Robert Galligan and Nick Sanchez (6-0, 6-0) in the district championship match.
“This year is the first time we played together, so we have been practicing real hard and working with our coaches,” Rocha said. “I think the reason for the success is practice and now having played a lot of games together.”
Both Rocha, a senior, and Wang, a sophomore, advanced to the semifinals of the regional tournament last year, but only Rocha was a doubles player at that tournament.
“We communicate well and rely on each other to win,” Wang said. “I played mixed doubles last year, but my partner was a senior.”
Second-seeded sophomore Daniel Magadan of McAllen Memorial went three sets (7-5, 2-6, 6-4) to beat top-seeded teammate Carlos Reyes for the boys singles title. Then, Reyes got right back on the court and in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) beat McHi’s Andre Hernandez to earn his way into the regional.
“I just worked hard and focused, so as a result played good,” Magadan said. “Reyes is a good player and it took me a while but I got through it and won. I have to train harder for the regional and hope for the best.”
Reyes was the only No. 1 seed not to win a district title, but might have had a legitimate excuse if he was a little tired over the two days of competition. It has been a busy week because on Monday and Tuesday he played in the district golf tournament and won first place in that as well.
McAllen Memorial’s Alex Rabinovich and Valeria Garza added a mixed doubles title for the Mustangs after a two-set victory (6-2, 6-1) over McHi’s Brandon Milligan and Amanda Cantu.
“For the last several years, we have always had a district champ but this is the best year so far,” McAllen Memorial coach Rhodora Elizondo said. “I have high hopes of players going to the state tournament because some of our players have been to the regional for three years so they have experience.”
Elizondo credited the addition of Kareen Abdullah to the tennis staff in January as making a significant difference toward the improvement of the Mustangs. Abdullah was a former tennis player at UTPA.
McHi did manage to win one title on the home courts against its crosstown rivals when freshman Camila Gonzalez was victorious in two sets (6-3, 6-2) over Memorial’s Annabel Rodriguez for the girls singles championship.
“You have to stay calm, play with the ball and hope for the best,” Gonzalez said. “Rodriguez is a good player who knows how to hit and where to put the ball, plus has a good slice, but she made a lot of mistakes while I tried to be more consistent. I still need to work on my conditioning, make my backhand more consistent and work a little bit more on my forehand.”
Rodriguez managed to still qualify for the regional when she came back to defeat McAllen Rowe’s Amaris Lopez in two sets (6-2, 6-3) during the match to determine second place.
The girls doubles champions was Rowe’s Jackie Sienes and Kassandra Guerra. This duo battled in the title match for a two-set (6-3, 6-1) win over McHi’s Danielle Rueda and Somer Washington.
Both the winners and second-place finishers in each varsity division advanced later this month to participate at the regional tournament in San Antonio.