The Redhawks tennis team finished their spring season at the varsity district tournament Thursday and Friday. Even though the team will not be advancing to regionals, there was still a silver lining for the Redhawks. Most notably, six out of the ten entries by the team made the quarterfinals or better, with junior Hailey Zhang earning a bronze in girls’ singles.
For assistant coach Neil Grobler, the quantum of solace lies in the character of his athletes.
“[We] battl[ed] the toughest 5A competition in the state of Texas,” Grobler said. “Although our season did not conclude in the picture perfect way, I am beyond proud of our athletes and the hard work and dedication they poured into improving their games throughout the season. Tennis, arguably one of the toughest mental sports, has many emotional ups and downs, and the resiliency the Redhawks varsity group showed throughout our spring season is truly admirable.”
Although he’s slightly disappointed by the overall outcome, freshman Ranveer Awasthi has taught him and his teammates lessons that will be valuable in the future.
“The outcomes were not as satisfactory as we expected, [but] I felt that this tournament was a good learning experience of the ups and downs of tennis, learning how much the difference between skill can be and certain aspects of the game which I overlooked,” Awasthi said. “Now that our spring season is over, we will be focusing on improving for next year. We have our annual banquet this Friday to commemorate our hard work this year, and after that, we will meet again during the summer to improve our teamwork and practice for next year.”
