SCOTT HARRISON | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
PHARR — PSJA Southwest’s Pablo Cavazos defeated Mercedes’ Brandon Cuellar to capture the boys singles tennis title Saturday, but the District 32-5A tournament was bittersweet for the Javelinas as a pair of defaults cost the hosts an opportunity to also win the boys team title.
The second day of the tournament was completed on Saturday after lighting and rain brought a halt to the competition after only slightly more than an hour of play on Friday afternoon.
A solid overall performance by Edcouch-Elsa included a first-place finish (37.5) over runner-ups Mercedes and PSJA (17.5) in the girls team standings, although the Tigers came back and edged the Yellowjackets 35-to-32.5 to claim the boys team trophy.
It was a three-set victory for the second-seeded Cavazos (6-1, 6-7(3-7), 6-4) over top-seeded Cuellar, who had defeated the senior in two previous meetings this year.
“This was a tough match, so I had to stay focused because Cuellar is a pretty tough player and we had the rain delay,” said Cavazos. “In the second set, I felt that I got overconfident and started playing a little bit sloppy but I regained my confidence and took it in the third set.”
The loss forced Cuellar to face PSJA High’s Joseph Moya to determine a second-place winner, and the sophomore rebounded from his setback to take the match in straight sets (6-2, 6-3). Cuellar’s win prevented Edcouch-Elsa from a sweep of both team titles.
Jacob Mena and Gabriel Gonzalez of Edcouch-Elsa won the third-place match, but will automatically be going to the regional because Garcia and Gonzalez weren’t able to face them in a match that would have determined second place.
“The injury was disappointing because of a great result in singles with Pablo (Cavazos) winning the district title,” said PSJA Southwest coach Moises Garcia. “All we had to do was win one of the two double matches that we defaulted in order to win the boys title. Meanwhile, we worked hard to get Cavazos prepared to play with the strategy he needed to win and he used the game plan so we had a great result.”
Donna North’s Jennifer Garcia won the girls single title over Crystal Werbiski of Mercedes in two sets by the scores of 6-1 and 6-3.
“I was able to stay confident going for my shots and have fun, which were the keys to my winning the girls title,” said the top-seeded Garcia. “Crystal (Werbiski) is a good player with a strong forehand.”
It was first-seeded Grecia Sanchez and Janessa Salinas of Edcouch-Elsa taking home the girls doubles title (6-1, 6-3) against PSJA High’s Giselle Perez and Mariah West in the championship match. The final district title went to the combo of second-seeded Levin Ramirez and Becca Barco from Edcouch-Elsa, who upset their No. 1-seeded teammates, Rudy Juarez and Leah Villanueva (6-3, 6-7(5-7), 6-4) for the mixed doubles crown.
Regional action will be held later this month in San Antonio, with the district champions and second-place competitors in each category earning an invitation.