Granbury wins first team tennis match in three years

Granbury High School’s first-year tennis coach Connor Mason was grinning ear-to-ear Tuesday after his Pirates won their first team tennis match in three years by an 18-1 margin, and the Pirates also gave their coach his first-ever varsity win.

“I know I will be tired tomorrow, but I am so pumped up for our players right now,” Mason said. “That’s what it’s all about. I’m happy to get my first win.”

It’s a significant step for Granbury’s tennis program, and it came on a day when the Pirates faced a mixture of top teams from Fort Worth North Side and Western Hills high schools.

“You know every kid came out ready to play today. They all wanted it. They wanted that feeling that we came close to multiple times this year,” Mason said. “All of them came up with that fire to compete and grind out those wins that’s super significant.”

Granbury faced a “stacked” roster with the visitors wanting to get their best teams on the court for doubles, and the Pirates often were playing up with No. 2 or No. 3 doubles teams facing a higher berthed opponent.

“We kind of did something a little unorthodox,” they combined their lineups, so we had the best of both schools playing us,” Mason said.

The farther down Granbury’s teams’ seedings went, the higher those of the opponent went up. But no match was more contested than the No. 1 mixed doubles pairing of Laney Sebastian and Caleb Hammond.

The two battled it out to the match’s tightest score at 9-8 and needed a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker to seal the deal. It was a contest that required some soothing words from Mason.

“I told them to take the pressure off themselves,” Mason said. “You know, relax, let’s play the tennis. We know you know how to play and keep a cross-court game going. Don’t make the simple mistakes ...  or (you) go for too much -- let them mess up and then take advantage.”

What’s the next step for Granbury High School tennis?

“We are going to work off of this win and keep improving our skills. That was the first step. It’s a building block in the process of putting Granbury tennis back on the map,” Mason said

Up next for Granbury is a home match against Glen Rose, Tuesday, Aug. 31, starting at 4:30 p.m.

BOYS SINGLES

(GHS names first)

Jaden Stover def. Hugo Torres 8-0; Gavin Logsdon def. Jorge Vrbina 8-0; Gaston Montellano def. Carlos Banda 8-1; Joshua Quintero lost to Juneel Patel 8-1; Christian Jobe def. Mike Toughphonray 8-5, Justin Lloyd def. Omar Jasso 8-0, Caleb Hammond def. Marco Martinez 8-0, Connor Townsend def. Hector Palomares 4-3.

GIRLS SINGLES

Hannah Baker def. Arel Nunez 8-0; Avery McCall def. Stephanie Parra 8-0, Garima Shrestha def. Ximeng Miranta 8-0; Kate Childs def. Oriana Gomez 8-5; Carlee Carey def. Alejandra Mares 8-0; Maddie Felton def. Neveah Vega 8-0; Laney Sebastian def. Karen Medina 8-0; Molly Grossman def. Lesley Diaz 8-5.

BOYS DOUBLES

Logsdon/Stovers def. Uribina Patel 8-1; Jobe/Quuntero def. Torres/Toughphonray 8-4; Lloyd/Townsend def. Jasso/Munoz 8-1.

GIRLS DOUBLES

McCall/Baker def. Gomez/Neveahuna 8-1; Shrestha/Felton def. Nunez/Diaz 8-0; Carey/Childs def. Mares/Miranta 8-1.

MIXED DOUBLES

Sebastian/Hammond def. Palomares/Palomares 9-8 (7-5); Montellanos/Grossman def. Parra/Logsdon 8-0.

Russell@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066 Ext. 231