Marble Falls tennis begins district play
The Marble Falls High School team tennis team welcomes Cameron Yoe in the District 25-4A opener at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Charlie and Nancy Herrington Tennis Center on the high school campus.
The district is playing a true round robin this season to determine the top four teams in the standings. They will take the playoff berths.
Marble Falls is off to a hot start thanks to a 3-1 record.
The Mustangs and Lady Mustangs have beaten Lockhart, Copperas Cove and Taylor and lost to Leander Glenn. Last season, Marble Falls beat Taylor for bi-district championship.
Marble Falls looks poised for better results this year for several reasons.
The first is the addition of Nathan Redman, who was the Burnet High head tennis coach, as the Marble Falls assistant coach. Head coach Samuel Whitley is excited about this hire because of Redman’s knowledge of how to run a program and prepare players to compete. The two have worked together to conduct tournaments, so they have a history of working well together.
“We’re able to work the kids aggressively,” Whitley said. “That’s been a big help.”
Several familiar faces return this season. Cooper Womack and heaven Nevaeh Nelson (Montoya) are at No. 1 singles for boys and girls. They are joined by Chloe Brown, Payton Glaser, Elin Gosseling, Mia Hernandez, Cooper Kelley, Nicolas Smith, Chloe Taylor, Sophia Trudeau and Weston York.
Whitley noted that varsity practices Aug. 15-16 were among the best of the season because it was the perfect mix of court enjoyment with lots of sweat equity.
“It was intense,” he said. “They were focused and laughing during drills. When you make a good shot, you feel good about yourself.”
Marble Falls’ preparation for the 2024 season simply has made the players want to perform better, the coach said.
“We are hungry to win,” he said. “They’re working extremely hard to get better.”
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