BELTON — The Thrall High School varsity team tennis squad competed March 8-9 at the state team tennis championships held in Belton and Temple.
Thrall played No. 2 seed Sonora High School in the first round and was defeated 7-0.
“We played with one varsity player in that first round due to the basketball playoffs,” Thrall Head Coach Brenda Graham said. “Our young players stepped up and got lots of experience this past weekend. I saw lots of growth in these young players. By day two, they became a lot more comfortable playing the upperclassmen. Many of our young players won their first varsity matches.”
Thrall then played Fort Hancock High School in the second round and came up just short.
“We had two more varsity players join us for that second match after the basketball game,” Graham said. “We started the match at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, but because there was not enough light, we moved to Lake Belton High School to finish. As the cold front was blowing in with very cold gusty winds, we went down to the wire and lost that match 7-6.”
Thrall finished its time at state on a high note with victories over Austwell-Tivoli High School and Seymour High School on the second day of the tournament.
“Day two we played Austwell-Tivoli,” Graham said. “I had one more varsity player join us on the boys’ side. We defeated them 8-5. In our last match, we played Seymour. We won 8-5. Therefore, we ended up in 13th place. I am very proud of all the players that came out and played. It was hard with everything going on. We all wanted to support everyone.”
