With the refurbishing of the tennis courts comes an inspired level of play for the Italy Gladiator Tennis Team who made some racket at the district meet:

Girls Singles:
State qualifying powerlifter turned tennis ace, Kaytlyn Bales placed 3rd defeating Gaines from Cayuga 6-0, 6-0, then took a loss from Smithey of Hubbard 0-6, 0-6. Bales then earned a win against Johnson of Italy 6-0, 6-0 and then lost her final match against Smith from Waxahachie AA 3-6, 2-6.

Taking the tennis world by storm, Krystal Johnson was all smiles after placing 4th.

Boy’s Singles:
Collin Westbrook won his first match against Lewis of Hubbard 6-4, 6-3, but was unable to move past the second match against Lambert of Wortham 1-6, 0-6.

Darrin Moore won his first match against Mick of Waxahachie AA 6-1, 6-1, but then met his match in his second match against Warren of Dawson 0-6, 0-6.

Girl’s Doubles:
Taylor Benavides and Megan Hopkins placed 4th after losing a tough one to Waxahachie AA who took 3rd 3-6, 1-6.

Alexus Miller and Rebecca DeMoss tried their best but could not make it past the first match after being upset by Hubbard. The Hubbard tandem had lost to Miller and DeMoss just days earlier at the scrimmage hosted by Italy, but the Lady Jaguars got their revenge at district.

Boy’s Doubles:
Zachary Hernandez and Ivan Roldan who placed 3rd defeating Wortham 6-3, 6-2, a loss to Hubbard 1-6, 4-6 and a win by default from Wortham.

Eduardo Garcia and Jesus Perez who went three matches with Wortham losing 4-6, 6-2, 2-6.

Mixed Doubles:
Although it was good to see Yesenia Sam overcoming an early season leg injury to compete at district, Sam and her doubles partner Bryan Michael fell to Hubbard in their first match.

Delma Garcia and Jacob Lopez also lost to Hubbard in their first match.

The overall meet winners:
Boy’s: Dawson taking 1st and Hubbard finished in 2nd.
Girl’s: The overall winners were Hubbard taking 1st and Waxahachie AA 2nd.

Coach Hamby would like to thank Coach Kyle Holley for running the brackets and all of his help that kept the meet running smoothly, Coach Bales for monitoring and keeping things under control, managers Jessica Garcia and Laura Luna and helper Alyssa Richards for being ball girls, errand runners and clean up crew, and the help of the other coaches and their athletes for being good sportsmen.

An enthusiastic Coach Hamby exclaimed, “I am so looking forward to next year!”

Congratulations to the team for their efforts this season. The Italy players practiced 4 days a week from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. after school honing their skills. Italy fans appreciate their dedication and wish the team good luck for next season!

Stats submitted by Coach Dana Hamby