On Monday April 20th, the Orangefield Bobcats traveled to the familiar confines of the Beaumont Tennis Center to compete in the 22-3A District Tennis Tournament.
Day one of the event saw Orangefield win matches in all draws, aided by victories from Olivia Smith/Kenli Vacek in Girls Doubles, Reese Dearing/Gunnar Griffin in Boys Doubles, and the senior pair of Addi Moore/Matthew Golemon in Mixed Doubles.
Singles saw the much success within the first day of action with four sensational sophomores advancing to the semifinals. Emily Szakmeister took down the 4 seed from Warren before splitting sets with the top ranked player from Kirbyville in a tough loss.
Izzy Mills, the 3 seed in the girls singles draw, took out Kirbyville in the quarterfinals before losing a difficult match to the 2 seed from Kountze.
Over on the boy’s side, Cooper Dorman eliminated the 4 seed from Warren before running into one of the best players in the area in Anahuac’s Raffi Anciaux. 2nd seeded Cane Ritchey easily handled opponents from Buna and Anahuac on his way to the finals.
After earning a bye, last year’s returning district champs, Ava Walker and Adam Tsan defeated Kountze to setup a showdown versus Fultz and Foster of Kirbyville.
Day two began with six Bobcats playing in four separate matches. Girls singles would see an all Orangefield showdown for third place in which Izzy Mills defeated Emily Szakmeister.
Szakmeister put together a great showing to finish as a 4th place medalist. Mills would go from there to defeat the top seed from Kirbyville in a playback that earned her a 2nd place finish and a trip to regionals!
The aforementioned duo of Fultz and Foster quickly went up three games on Walker and Tsan in a rematch of last year’s mixed doubles championship. The Bobcats chipped away at the game count before forcing a first set tiebreaker which Orangefield ultimately took. Once earning the first set, Ava and Adam never looked back, clinching their second district title in as many years!
The boys singles final saw two familiar foes in Orangefield’s Cane Ritchey and Anahuac’s Raffi Anciaux. Raffi, a French foreign exchange student, had bested Cane a few times this season and this day would be no different with Cane being defeated in straight sets. Ritchey did go on to win his playback securing a second place finish and a trip to compete at regionals!
Unbeknownst to him, varsity newcomer, Cooper Dorman found himself to be in the biggest match of the day as he took on the 3 seed from Anahuac in a match for third place. Orangefield knew they had an outside shot at taking the boys team title after setting themselves on day one of play, but would need a win from Dorman to guarantee at least a share of the district crown.
Dorman dropped the first, but fought hard to win a back and forth second set. After splitting, Cooper seized control in the deciding set and earned his team the extra point they needed to take the boys team title by a mere half a point over perennial powerhouse, Kountze!
In what was a tournament to remember, Izzy Mills, Cane Ritchey, Ava Walker, and Adam Tsan all advanced and will compete in the Region III – 3A Tennis Tournament in College Station on May 9th and 10th!
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