Just a year and a half after graduating from Harlingen South, Jeremiah Gonzalez is continuing to turn heads at the college ranks, helping lead the St. Mary’s University Rattlers into uncharted territory.
With the help of 6-foot-5 doubles partner Bojan Popoviv, the Rattlers tandem became only the second St. Mary’s men’s tennis duo to advance to nationals after recently securing the ITA Fall Regionals doubles title.
Afterward, the tandem shook things up at the ITA Oracle Cup after they defeated the No.1-seeded team of Alejandro Valarezo Plaza and Blake Hunter of Washburn, 2-6, 6-3, 21-19, to become the first team in St. Mary’s history to win a match at nationals and make it to the semifinals of the ITA Oracle Cup.
Unfortunately, the Popovic-Gonzalez tandem fell to the No. 4-seeded team of Oliver Frank and Christian Schmid from Azusa Pacific in the semifinals 6-4 and 6-2.
However, after a historic season, the duo did not leave empty handed. After securing a remarkable 6-1, 6-4 victory the tandem made Rattler history again by winning third place at the ITA Oracle Cup.
After the match, St. Mary’s head coach Lisa Dausin had a few word to say about her team.
“I feel as if Bojan and Jeremiah grew leaps and bounds as a team in this tournament facing that type of competition,” Dausin said to the St. Mary’s Press. “I would sure like to see them have a rematch in the spring. They are going to be a great team for us in our lineup moving forward.”
During his time at Harlingen South, Gonzalez reached UIL state tennis tournament every year. As a freshman in 2013, he qualified for the state tournament in Austin as part of a doubles squad. A year later, Gonzalez returned as part of a mixed doubles team, and as a junior he once again reached state as an individual qualifier.
In his final year, Gonzalez won the District 32-6A title and the Region IV-6A championship before finishing as state runner-up.