Marble Falls team tennis beats Taylor for bi-district title
UPDATE: The Marble Falls Mustangs will face Waco Robinson, the District 18-4A champion, at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, at Copperas Cove High School.
The Marble Falls High School tennis team beat Taylor 10-9 for a bi-district championship Oct. 9 at Georgetown High School, the Mustangs’ first playoff win in team tennis in decades.
“We’re very proud of these kids,” head coach Samuel Whitley said, adding it’s been a very long time since Marble Falls advanced in the playoffs.
The Mustangs face the winner of the Waco Robinson-Palenstine match-up Thursday, Oct. 12, with time and site still to be determined.
The last several weeks prepared Marble Falls for having to win the final match to take the overall point for the team win. This time, sophomore Payton Glaser at No. 6 boys singles delivered. But not to be overlooked, Whitley said, was the win by Nevaeh Nelson (Montoya) in girls singles, too.
“Payton won 7-6, 7-6 with two seven-point tiebreakers,” Whitley said. “That was huge. Payton was the last one on the court, and he played point by point. Payton had the energy to continue to play. He was getting the ball over the net, he was doing a good job of mixing shots, attacking the net and attacking the guy’s backhand.”
Nelson (Montoya) “was ecstatic” after her 6-1, 6-3 win.
“It was more competitive than what the score shows,” the coach said. “She put in the time in the offseason, and it’s starting to pay off now. Her match was the match we needed.”
He noted Marble Falls won the majority of the boys’ matches, including sweeps in doubles. Collin Schilling won a third-set tiebreaker to win his singles match.
Whitley noted Marble Falls beat Burnet 10-9 in back-to-back weeks and lost to Lago Vista by similar scores twice.
“It’s not something new,” the coach said. “The first time you go through something you haven’t, there’s nerves. It’s not our first time. Our district has helped us a lot in dealing with this type of match.”
RESULTS
Boys
Singles
Womack def Johnson 6-1, 6-1; York def Hill 6-0, 6-0; Gasaway def Crane 6-1, 6-1; Schilling def. Talaveva 6-4, 7-6 (10-3); Kelley def. Lair 6-1, 6-4; Glaser def. Bachmeyer 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles
Gasaway and York def. Johnson and Hill 6-1, 6-3; Womack and Kelley def. Crone and Lair 6-0, 6-0; Schilling and Stence def. Kachmeyer and Lopez 6-0, 6-4
Girls
Singles
Trudeau lost to Michna 0-6, 0-6; Nelson def. Kandig 6-1, 6-3; Brown lost to Aplin 1-6, 1-6; Gosselink lost to Kennick 1-6, 1-6; Hernadez lot to Kennick 2-6, 3-6; Taylor lost to Yanez 0-6, 1-6
Doubles
Gosselink and Brown lost to Michna and Yanez 0-6, 0-6; Hernandez and Trudeau lost to Randig and Aplin 1-6, 1-6 ; Nelson and Taylor lost to Kennick and Kennick 2-6, 1-6
Mixed doubles
Farris and Derrick lost to Talaveva and Fuentes 0-6, 2-6
