Tennis: Racquet Cats sending eight to regionals

Aledo will once again have solid representation at the Class 5A Region I Tennis Tournament May 7-8 at McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock. The Racquet Cats qualified eight from District 5-5A Tournament April 22-23 at the Richland Tennis Center.

“All our kids were peaking at the right time,” Aledo coach Joe McCoy said. “We had 14 of 16 players make it to the semifinals, which qualified them to play on the second day of the tournament.

“Every player/team ended up finishing at or above their initial seeding. Even the matches we lost were very close.”

Lila Satterfield lived up to her No. 1 seed in girls singles, winning the district championship and going 3-0. Her teammate, McKinley Hayes, came in as the second seed and is joining Satterfield at regionals after finishing as the league runner-up. Jacob Heckathorn and Francois Britz won the district championship in boys doubles, also going 3-0. They beat a team in the finals who had previously beaten them in a tournament earlier in the spring.

Ben Kurth and Patrice Loftin placed second in doubles. Natalie Nawrocki teamed with Sydney Byrd to finish second in girls doubles, edging out teammates Eleanor Jack and Gracie Heydman, who placed third. Kurth and Loftin were 2-1, while Nawrocki and Byrd posted a 3-1 mark. Jack and Heydman finished 3-2.

Two doubles teams placed fourth, each with 2-2 records, Paxton Psencik and Tom Ruminsky in boys doubles and Noah Nottingham and Kieren Christensen in mixed doubles.

In boys singles, fifth seed Casen Freeland and unseeded Alex Vozeh each went 1-1.

“I am very proud of the way we battled and handled the nerves, which can sometimes affect the way we play and affect the result of the match,” McCoy said. “Our kids worked very hard throughout the spring preparing mentally and physically to put themselves in the best position to be successful in this tournament. They were focused from the get-go and all the work they’ve put in this spring paid off.”