Marble Falls team tennis beats Belton New Tech
CAPTION: Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa, who plays No. 1 girls singles and girls doubles, went 2-0 in her matches. Photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School team tennis team crushed Belton New Tech 17-2 Sept. 10 in District 25-4A play.
The Lady Mustangs won all nine of their matches and only one required a third set.
“Our No. 5 line girl Zoey Scott had a tiebreak match,” Marble Falls head coach Samuel Whitley said. “Our girls play extremely well, and we had some nail biters of matches.”
He noted that girls No. 1 singles player Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa wasn’t attacking the net like she normally does and he asked her why. The reason was because when the Lady Mustang got to the net, her opponent began lobbing the ball her head. So she decided to stay back a little more.
“She made that adjustment on her own,” the coach said. “And she was able to pull out the win because of it, I think. When kids learn to play the total game, understand what I’m trying to do – No. 1, I feel like I’ve done my job and No. 2, I love it when kids are able to realize this isn’t working, let me make adjustments. My goal is to make them go out and play without me and make adjustments on their own, smart adjustments.”
The Mustangs only lost two matches, in singles, after sweeping the doubles. The losses came in third-set tiebreaks with the final set playing to 10 points and winning it by at least two points.
“On the boys’ side again, we all played well,” Whitley said. “I think three of the boys matches went to tiebreaks. Sean Smith won his. Jared Smith lost his in the third set tiebreak, and Tyler Redmond, who’s my No. 3 singles line player, wasn’t one of the first boys to play, but he was out there early, and they played a great match.”
Redman’s third set score was 15-17.
“It was a very tough match,” Whitley said. “It was just one that was back and forth but very well played. Pleased with how we played all of our matches and those tiebreak matches. It’s really good for our players. It just gives them a lot more competition and more experience and you learn when you lose from tiebreak matches.”
The coach pointed out playing in a tiebreaker takes being in physical shape and being mentally tough.
“Tennis is a physical game,” he said. “But the mental part of any sport is tremendous. We’re concerned about the next ball, not the outcome, and you really have to stay focused on the next ball. When you’re getting frustrated because you hit a bad shot, that’s the stuff that you got to let go of real quick because you hold onto it and you’re not going to play as well as you should. So the mental aspect of it is a lot greater than the physical aspect of it, but you have to have the stamina in order to play the matches.”
Most weeks the summer heat creeps into the triple digits and Whitley noted that New Tech’s athletes, who practice in the mornings because the program doesn’t have campus tennis courts, aren’t used to playing in the afternoon, and the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs are.
“We practice from 3:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon in the heat of the day,” Whitley said. “That gives you the ability to play. Whatever I’m playing in, that’s what I want to practice in. They have a good coach (Jordan Wedemeyer). They would be a lot better if they could keep kids in the program. He has a lot of underclassmen and normally by the time they become sophomores, they drop out and focus a lot more on their schoolwork and their classes. I think he only had a couple of seniors on his team. He’s a good coach but if you can’t keep players in your system, you’re always starting over every year it seems like.”
Marble Falls turns its attention to the final three weeks of the regular season beginning with welcoming Salado Thursday, Sept. 17, followed by hosting Lago Vista Thursday, Sept. 24. Matches begin at 4:15 p.m.
Then Marble Falls travels to Lampasas for matches that start at 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28.
These four teams are expected to compete of the district title.
RESULTS
BOYS
Singles
Cooper Kelley def. Kimball 6-1, 6-2; Jared Smith lost to Do 6-2, 5-7, 1-10; Tyler Redman lost to Long 6-4, 5-7, 15-17; Sean Smith def. Ybarra 6-4, 3-6, 10-5; Logan Hargraves def. Lopez 6-3, 6-0; Ben Sowers def. Trulove 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
C. Kelley and L. Hargraves def. Kimball and Do 6-1, 6-2; J. Smith and T. Redman def. Lopez and Catterton 6-4, 6-0; S. Smith and B. Sowers def. Trulove and Ybarra 6-0, 6-4
GIRLS
Singles
Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa def. Ogwudo 6-4, 6-4; Savannah Hamblin def. Lee 6-0, 6-1; Bri Morales def. Cook 6-2, 6-0; Harper Cook def. Coleman 6-0, 6-0; Zoey Scott def. Mathews 6-1, 0-6, 10-6; Izabela Schiener def. Higley 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
A. Mitchell-Ochoa and S. Hamblin def. Ogwudo and Lee 6-0, 6-1; B. Morales and H. Cook def. Coleman and Cook 6-0, 6-0; Z. Scott and E. Sanders def. Matthews and Higley 6-1, 6-1
