Brownwood High School tennis came within reach of a major district-opening win Thursday, but the Lions and Lady Lions ultimately fell 11-8 to Brock at home in the teams’ first District 6-4A match of the season.
The narrow loss came against what Brownwood coach Dalton Hutchins described as the toughest team in the district. The match featured eight contests that were split into sets and decided by 10-point tiebreakers. Brownwood won three of those eight tiebreaks, a result that helped determine the final team score.
“We had 8 matches split sets and go to 10-point tiebreaks, and we only won 3 of them,” said Brownwood tennis head coach Dalton Hutchins.
Despite the defeat, Brownwood’s girls squad provided the strongest stretch of the afternoon. The Lady Lions swept all three doubles matches and added victories in the top three singles positions.
Lady Lions sweep doubles
Gigi Rodriguez and Jami Patterson won the No. 1 doubles match 6-3, 6-2 over Brock’s Armeda and Coleman. Arely Carrere and Coulter Day claimed the No. 2 position, defeating Conner and Perez 7-5, 6-4.
Amy Deechaleune and Willow Camp completed the doubles sweep at No. 3. They defeated Ringhausen and Rivas 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 after the match went to a deciding tiebreak.
In girls singles, Patterson won at No. 1, beating Coleman 6-1, 6-2. Rodriguez followed with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Armeda at No. 2, while Day won the No. 3 match against Duffer, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.
Brownwood boys add two singles wins
The Lions also contributed two individual victories. Parker Dennison won the No. 5 singles match 6-1, 4-7, 10-6 over Farmer, and Duncan Dennison earned the No. 6 victory with a 6-4, 6-4 result against Janssen.
Hutchins said the close match could benefit Brownwood as the district schedule continues, pointing to the team’s ability to challenge Brock at the beginning of the season.
“This match could have gone either way, and I’m proud of the way we battled. Playing the toughest team in the district this close at the start of the season should give the team some confidence as we take on everyone else,” Hutchins said.
Brownwood’s tennis teams, listed at 0-5 overall and 0-1 in District 6-4A, will return to competition at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The next district match is scheduled for Graham.