Marble Falls tennis adds more wins in tough tourneys
CAPTION: Cooper Womack’s championship match in boys singles is referred to as the match of the day because of the long rallies and winning shots. Courtesy photo
The Marble Falls High School tennis program competed in the Liberty Hill tournament and a Pflugerville tournament, both on April 11.
The best match of the day was in boys singles between Marble Falls junior Cooper Womack and Liberty Hill junior Jacob Cooper.
The Panther defeated the Mustang 7-5, 6-3.
“There were a lot of people watching it,” Marble Falls head coach Samuel Whitley said. “There were some phenomenal rallies and shots by both players. (Womack) did well against this kid. Cooper had a lot of shots that should have been winners. (Jacob Cooper) ran them down. It was the best match of day and for Cooper, his match of the year. It was the highest competition Cooper has played this year by far.”
In one way, Jacob Cooper propelled Womack to become the player he is today – a two-time defending district champion, regional champion and Class 4A state qualifier.
When the two were just starting to play for their schools, Jacob Cooper beat Womack.
“This kid beat him soundly in middle school, which is when Cooper decided he needed to learn to play tennis,” Whitley said. “Cooper wanted to play him. It was a phenomenal match to get him prepared for district, regionals and state.”
Last year, Jacob Cooper played mixed doubles with Ryan Delmonico where the two lost in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
In girls singles, Marble Falls’ Nevaeh Nelson (Montoya) was third in the A division and Chloe Brown took first in the B division.
In girls doubles, the team of Mia Hernandez and Sophia Trudau finished third in the A division and Savannah Hamblin and Elsa Vandiford was the runner-up in the B division.
“I thought we had a good show,” Whitley said. “We medaled in every division except for mixed doubles. We didn’t have a mixed doubles. You’re going to win matches, you’re going to lose matches. But coming back to win medals is a good feat. A certain number of (Class) 5A and 6A schools were present.”
Whitley noted the competition throughout the Liberty Hill event resulted in a long day with matches beginning at 8 a.m. and not finishing until 10:30 p.m. That’s because many matches went to three sets with the third set using a tiebreaker. That means that every winner and every error results in a point, though players still must win the set by two points. Even those third sets had a two-point deficit.
“There were a lot of good, quality long matches,” he said. “There were a lot of players and a lot of long matches.”
In Pflugerville, Lanon Faris was second in boys singles B division, while Chloe Taylor was second in girls singles A division and Briana Morales took second in girls singles B division.
Marble Falls will travel to play the Llano Yellow Jackets at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 16, at the Llano Independent School District tennis courts located in front of Llano Stadium on Texas 71 East. This is the final tune-up before the District 24-4A tournament in Taylor April 22 and 24.
CAPTION: Mia Hernandez (left) and Sophia Trudeau placed third in the A Division of girls doubles at the Liberty Hill tournament April 11. Courtesy photo
