The Italy Tennis team, head coached by Aidan Callahan, traveled to Alvarado to compete in the JV district tournament. Also participating, were Italy’s varsity players Lisa Olschewsky and Cruz Enriquez who managed to advance from the day before.

Match highlights:
Sierra Harris dominated the JV girls singles division by winning her first match 8-0 over Maypearl and 8-1 over Whitney to become the 2011 District 15 AA Girls Singles Champion.

JV doubles partners, Drenda Burk and Melissa Smithey, tied 8-8 during their first round pro set against Whitney which resulted in tiebreaker to decide match. Burk and Smithey won the tiebreaker 7-2 to advance to round two.

During round two, Burk and Smithey were up 5-2 when Smithey suddenly took ill and had to take a brief break from the game. After returning, a pale Smithey used her racket as a support prop between points. The Grandview team was able to take advantage of Italy’s unfortunate turn of events and go up 7-5.

When Smithey was given an opportunity to forfeit the match, she quickly declined by saying, “I want to win!” And with that, Italy won the next game point to close the deficit 7-6. However, Grandview won the next game to claim the match 8-6.

Without a break, the Lady Gladiator duo went straight into their next match against Rio Vista with a 3rd place finish on the line. Burk, who was laboring with a sore right elbow, battled through the pain allowing Smithey time to regain her strength. Together, Burk and Smithey won the third round decisively, 8-1 over Rio Vista, and were awarded 3rd place medals for their efforts.

Representing Italy in the Varsity Boys Singles division, Cruz Enriquez rattled his first round opponent from Whitney but was unable to overtake the scrappy Wildcat who held on to win 2 out of 3 sets, 6-4, 6-4. Physically drained after the first match, Enriquez struggled in his second round match against Clifton who won, 6-2, 6-2. However, Enriquez did manage a 3rd place finish after two days of district competition and qualifies for regionals as a singles alternate.

J.V. roster and medal results:
Singles – Sierra Harris – District Champion
Singles – Cody Medrano
Doubles – Zain Byers and Kevin Roldan – 2nd place
Doubles – Drenda Burk and Melissa Smithey – 3rd place

Varsity roster and medal results:
Singles – Cruz Enriquez – 3rd place, Regional alternate
Singles – Lisa Olschewsky
Singles – Jessica Hernandez
Doubles – Jacob Lopez and Delma Garcia
Doubles – Alyssa Richards and Kaytlyn Bales
Doubles – Michael “Taz” Martinez and Kevin Roldan
Doubles – Jase Holden and Cole Hopkins
Doubles – Shelbi Gilley and Molly Haight