DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
McAllen Memorial, McAllen High and McAllen Rowe will be well represented at the Class 6A regional tennis tournament in two weeks in San Antonio. Memorial, in particular, had plenty of stars.
The Mustangs had three first-place finishes and a second-place finish to highlight the District 30-6A tournament Thursday at Mission High. The Bulldogs had one first-place and two second-place finishers. The Warriors had first-place and second-place finishers.
The top two finishers in each category advance to the Class 6A regional tournament April 19 in San Antonio.
For McAllen Memorial, junior Jack Wang and senior Valeria Garza won their singles categories, as well as its boys doubles team of brothers Daniel and Alan Magadan.
“I kind of knew, for the boys singles, girls singles and boys doubles, that we were going to do well,” Mustangs coach Rhodora Elizondo said. “We’ve had consistent results since playing tournaments in December.
“No one really gets close to us. It was very unlikely that that would happen with the doubles, and with Jack and Valeria.”
Wang and Garza did not lose a game during their finals matches Thursday.
The Mustangs’ mixed doubles team of sophomores Andres Spinetti and Annabel Rodriguez earned second in their category despite playing together for just the second time this season.
“They’re very good friends and they’re comfortable with each other,” Elizondo said. “Annabel needs a partner that is strong and doesn’t limit himself. Andres has a very strong serve and he capitalized on that.”
McAllen High’s Somer Washington and Nathalie Galligan (girls doubles) won first place, while Camila Gonzalez (girls singles) and Robert Galligan and Nick Sanchez (boys doubles) each placed second.
Rowe will be sending its mixed doubles team of Francisco Salinas and Kassandra Guerra and girls doubles team of Marissa Soler and Jennifer Alvarado to regionals.