The varsity tennis team finished their spring season at the regional competition in Lubbock April 17.

Junior Asher Melton and freshman Bryce Ware placed fourth in doubles, senior Sarah Gilliland and junior Taren Wells competed in doubles, and senior Shelbi Bruadt competed in singles.

“We lost to Randall’s team in the fourth/third place match,” Ware said. “We probably shouldn’t have lost considering we beat them in the district final, but apart from that, we played well throughout the tournament, and it was a great time.”

Melton and Ware lost three matches over the course of the spring season. Ware said the biggest challenge for him over the season has been getting over nerves.

“At the beginning of the year being a freshman coming in and playing your first match is nerve racking,” Ware said. “You realize you’re competing, and you’re put on the stage being judged by your school and the whole tennis program. But once you get over that it’s all fun.”

Ware said he improved as a doubles player throughout the season.

“It’s just going out and working hard every day,” Ware said. “We go from the start of 8th period until 5 p.m. during the season. It shows when you get on the court and are playing matches.”

Ware said he is looking forward to next year, when he will be competing in the 4A classification.

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“Being in 4A should be a lot better,” Ware said. “We won’t be facing Randall and Amarillo, which are two powerhouses. I think Randall was 5A and we beat them pretty handily. It looks like we’ve got a good chance at winning state, and I’m excited for that.”

Sophomore Churchman Howell also began on varsity as a freshman.

“From this year, I think we can take out lots of good things happened,” Howell said. “We may not have done how well we wanted to in individual matches, but I think there were lots of positives from the season as a whole.”