Marble Falls tennis earns trophies from Burnet tourney

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Cooper Womack is finding new ways to win that continue to result in adding medals and trophies to his personal case. Courtesy photo

The Marble Falls High School tennis team’s top players continue to add to their trophy cases after competing at the Burnet Tournament March 1.

Sophomore Cooper Womack won the boys singles title while the doubles team of Landon Farris and Riley Stence took the consolation championship.

Womack won all four of his matches. The 1st two matches used a pro-set scoring format, which means it was a match played to eight games. Then the semifinals and finals were best-of-three sets. The Mustang won his semifinal match 6-4, 6-0 and his title match 6-1, 6-0.

“The semifinal and championship were actually competitive,” head coach Sam Whitley said. “The first match he played Friday took 20 minutes to play. But the stiffer competition meant playing matches for 90 minutes. That’s competitive for that long mental shape. The opponent got a little frustrated then. We were able to make some good points. He won all the sets. He happened to win the right points at the right time. You have to prepare for the mental aspects as well.”

Whitley noted that Womack, who is the defending the District 24-4A champion, “has changed” how he plays.

“He surprised a lot of people being a freshman,” the coach said. “He still doesn’t give up on points. They don’t turn them back on him anymore. He’s adapted how he plays. He figures out what his opponent is good at and works on his opponents’ weaknesses. He’s adapted as the meet goes on and changed his strategy to his opponents’ weaknesses and strengths.”

Farris and Stence teamed up only for this tournament so both could get some valuable court time.

“I want every kid to play every week they can play,” Whitley said. “This helps you prepare physically and mentally for district. We have two more tournaments after district. I want to see where I can put the kids. I want them to have the opportunity to be successful.”

The next tournament is the Leander Independent School District event March 6-7.

The district tournament is March 26-27 and April 3 at the Charlie and Nancy Herrington Tennis Center on the Marble Falls High School campus. The Class 4A Region III tournament is May 10-11 at Bryan Rudder High School. The Class 4A state tournament is May 16-17.

The reason for the amount of time between the district tournament and the regional tournament is because of state-wide testing in April.

Whitley said he has scheduled tournaments after the district tournament to keep his players sharp.

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CAPTION: Marble Falls tennis player Landon Farris (left) and Riley Stence pose with their boys doubles consolation championship. Courtesy photo