At least that is on the back of the minds of the Clear Creek and Friendswood tennis teams.
Both begin regional team tennis play this weekend but will need four more wins to fulfill those Austin-bound thoughts.
“Our kids are excited to start the playoffs,” said Clear Creek coach Patrick Marrie, whose Wildcats open the Region III-5A Team Tennis Championships at 7:45 a.m. Friday against District 22-5A champion La Porte.
“La Porte finished first in their district, so we have to respect that accomplishment and come ready to give it our best,” Marrie said.
Clear Creek, the District 24-5A runner-up to Clear Lake, and La Porte will face off at Clear Lake High School.
As for the Mustangs, champions again of District 24-4A, they will not know their first-round opponent until later this evening, when the Region III-4A coaches of the respective qualifying schools meet in Katy, the tournament host city, to determine the top four seeds.
Friendswood coach David Cook puts his Mustangs, ranked 23rd in the latest Texas Tennis Coaches Association poll, with the region’s best.
“Montgomery looks to be the odds-on favorite, given their record and that they have returned lots of their talent,” he said.
Cook would know, considering Friendswood and No. 5-ranked Montgomery squared off in last year’s regional final, with Montgomery eventually earning a berth to Austin and the state tournament.
In the meantime, the Mustangs solidified their credentials as a top seed, recently hammering last year’s No. 2 seed, Richmond Foster, 15-4.
“(No. 20-ranked) San Marcos also will be in the hunt for a high seed, either No. 2 or 3 depending on the coaches’ voting, based on their excellent record and high number of highly-ranked USTA (United States Tennis Association) players,” Cook added.
The Wildcats, who dropped a deceiving 10-2 decision to No. 21-ranked Clear Lake, last year’s state runners-up, in the 24-5A tournament final.
Junior Sammy Siegel helped deliver both wins, first teaming up with sophomore Haley Albro to claim the No. 1 girls’ doubles before returning to the courts for a singles victory, also at No. 1.
Siegel and the rest of the girls, including senior Rebekah Taylor, juniors Bianca Quintanilla and Lauren Flottorp, and sophomores Peyton Hardman and Amber Darr, were especially impressive in the team’s 10-5 district tournament win over Clear Brook, which sent the Wildcats into the championship match.
La Porte’s strength, however, lies on the boys’ side of the court, and Clear Creek will counter with a formidable lineup of its own, headed by seniors Chase Farmer, Drew Rogas and Juan Barboza, and juniors Casey Armstrong, Hunter Carrithers, Brendan Fang and Adrian Zalesnik.
“Our kids are playing very good tennis right now,” Marrie said. “We are happy with our doubles combinations, singles lineup and overall team chemistry, and, at this point in the season, you can’t ask for much more.”
If Clear Creek gets by La Porte, the Wildcats would then challenge Bellaire or most likely No. 3-seeded and No. 17-ranked Seven Lakes in Friday’s 1:30 p.m. quarterfinals, also at Clear Lake High School.
In the meantime, should Friendswood receive one of the four seeds, it would earn a first-round bye into the quarterfinals.
Cook credits his team’s success, a 13-2 record that included a season-opening win over Clear Creek, on its quality singles and doubles play on both sides.
“We have won the doubles advantage, which is played first and can create momentum, 13 times out of 15,” he said. “Of these 13 times, 12 times we had an advantage of at least 5-2 going into the singles matches.
“If we can keep this going, we have a chance to win against anyone, and that is what we focus on pretty much every practice.”
Then there is the senior trio of Mindy Tiu, Cindy Tiu and Caity James, and junior Cody Westphal, the No. 1 boy.
“We are anchored by three experienced seniors (the Tius and James) in the girls’ lineup, and in the boys’ lineup, we are pretty strong all the way through our ladder,” Cook added.
“So, with our depth and focus on doubles, I like our chances.”
The respective regional champions in both the 5A and 4A tournaments advance to next week’s University Interscholastic League State Championships, being held at the Lakeway World of Tennis, near Austin, on Nov. 6-7.
