ABOVE: Pictured left to right in front row are Andrea Smith, McKenzie Carroll, Hannah Defriend and Reagan Burleson. In the middle row, Cassidy Self, Linzi Flusche, Daniella Scarati, Makenzee Lowther, Trent Lowe, Ethan Brackamonte and Shelby Lundh are pict
LEFT: Pictured left to right are McKenzie Carroll, Andrea Smith, Linzi Flusche, Reagan Burleson and Makenzee Lowther. These young ladies represented the junior class in the TTCA’s Team Tennis Championships.
Luke Stacks and Colby McWhorter, two seniors that participated in the Team Tennis State Championships. The contest was held March 6 and 7 in San Antonio. Both will move forward in singles’ competition in pursuit of advancement to state and the title.
Senior Hannah DeFriend is pictured in the middle with Coach Jim Longbotham left and Coach James Brooks right. Longbotham previously stated that DeFriend, the sole senior player for the girls this year, is aiming for state in the singles competition. Contr
Goats take fifth in State Tennis
The Groesbeck Goats Tennis Team competed in San Antonio Friday and Sat., Mar. 6 and 7, for the 2020 TTCA 3A and Under State Team Championship.
The team performed well overall, with matches coming down to the wire and within a hair’s breadth of victory on several occasions. Overall, the team battled Brownfield at tourney’s close, earning the fifth-place spot overall of 16 teams competing.
First up, the Goats faced Sonora taking the win with 10-3. Moving forward to face Brock at 10-0, the Goats lost out, though Brock fell in the next bracket to Wall. The Goats also faced off against Knippa Saturday night, being the victor based on the overall score at that point. Groesbeck played Brownfield advancing from that round, with 10-3 to 10-9 overall per team respectively. Wall and Brownfield matched up, with Wall moving forward to play for the Championship title, with Mason taking the top spot in that match.
Each team match in the competition consists of 19 matches, with six boys’ and girls’ singles each, three boys’ and girls’ doubles each and mixed doubles. Players may play but are not required to in both singles and doubles or mixed doubles. The scoring system is No Advantage-Scoring, best two-of-three set matches with a 7-point tiebreaker at six games all in the first two sets. If a third set is necessary, it will be played as a ten-point match tiebreak. Each match that the team won was counted as one point for the team.
The team played both days, with the level of competition between schools close enough that individual plays mattered for the team score. The topscoring team was Mason with 10-4, followed by Wall at 10-5, and Reagan County at 10-6 representing first, second and third, respectively. Brock took fourth, while Groesbeck finished at 10-5.
Competing in the tourney were Mason, Peaster, Kirbyville, Randolph, Reagan County, Academy, Brock, San Saba, Groesbeck, Sonora, Knippa, Yoakum, Wall and Martins Mill.
