In the Den of the Lion

The La Feria Lions proved they were more than a roar in the wind on April 6th & 7th as they took all but one division in the district 32-3a championships. Making his final district appearance was Elias Hernandez, son of Coach Hernandez. "It's his last year and he really wanted to qualify for regionals", said Coach Hernandez. "He's the last one of my children, and he is going out strong".

Zapata, Hidalgo and Lyford would give a valiant effort, but could not dethrone the king of the tennis jungle.

The Raymondville Bearkats would show up for the first time in many years without the leadership of Coach Terry Buse. The Bearkats, in fact, showed up without a proper tennis coach at all. The talk of the tournament, other than how frustrating it is to play against La Feria, was the lack of representation for the Raymondville kids with a proper coaching staff. The Raymondville Bearkats were accompanied by their local soccer coach. With no support, strategy or morale, the Bearkats would all fall in the first round.

The new Lyford mixed doubles team of Bobby Mendez and first time player Nannette Salinas would face Raymondville's Denise Trevino and her male partner in the first round. First time tennis coach David Lopez of the Lyford Bulldogs had been working hard with his team to prepare them for the Willacy County Cup showdown. Mendez and Salinas would have way too much game for the Bearkats to handle and dominated the match from the beginning. "My mixed dubs were proud to take Raymondville out in the first round", said Coach Lopez. The mixed doubles team of Bobby Mendez and Nannette Salinas would roll over the Bearkats with a final score of 6-1, 6-0 and proved that you get good results when you put in the work. Salinas and Mendez would have a great run and took 4th place in district. "The kids are great! They all work hard and deserve all the attention they can get", said Coach Lopez. Zeke Martinez and another first time player PJ Garcia, would also have a great run and took 4th place in boys district doubles. For such a new team with a new coach, new players and a new program to achieve this amound of success speaks volumes. Congratulations go the Lyford Bulldogs for a job well done.

Eli Ramos of LaFeria would take the boy's singles district title by defeating Gerardo Chapa of Zapata. Chapa was no match for the power and strategy of Ramos who planted himself on the baseline and pounded his way to the title. A disheartened Chapa just could not find anything within himself to be able to hurt Eli. Ramos and an astounding elleven more players from LaFeria qualified for regionals and now have the daunting task of preparing for another heated battle.

The boy's doubles was an all LaFeria affair. In a very close match, Anthony Pritchett and Travis Moss defeated Troy Chadwick and Roy Randall. Pritchett and Moss would take the first set 6-3 as Chadwick and Randall seemed nervous and without rhythm. In the second set, they would find that rhythm, however. They stayed neck and neck with Anthony and Travis to the very end by taking the second set to a tie breaker. The tenacity of Pritchett and Moss would be impenetrable, however and they took the tie breaker and the title with a final score of 6-3, 7-6 (10-8).

In the girl's final, the much improved Norma Marichalar of Hidalgo would face La Feria's hard-hitting Mia Villasenor. In a match that was much closer than the score would indicate, Marichalar would win the match 6-2,6-3. Mia gave a valiant effort with many long rallies; however, it was apparent that Norma had been taking quite a few lessons in addition to her normal high school workouts. Mia Villasenor was the first player we ever posted a picture of on our website, and we congratulate her for a job well done. We also hope to bring you more of Mia in the very near future. Mia would avenge her loss by taking out Lisa Cruz of Rio Hondo to take second place in girl's district and qualify for the regional championships. Congratulations, Mia.

The girl's doubles was also a double LaFeria affair with Karilu Hernandez and Jacquiline Marquez taking on Amera Flores and Samantha Guajardo. Flores and Guajardo had done well in the tournaments leading up to district and took a very closely fought first set, winning it 7-5. Hernandez and Marquez, however, settled down and played steady tennis, even though Flores and Guajardo would hit phenomenal shots at times. They kept the ball in play and hit quite a few high arcing balls to which Amera and Samantha could not find an answer for. Karilu Hernandez and Jacquiline Marquez are the 2009 girl's doubles champions winning the final by a score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

The veteran team of Elias Hernandez and Erika Gilbert from La Feria played extremely well, just as we all expected. I walked with Coach Hernandez to see them play and he let me know it was Elias' final year. Elias is also Coach Hernandez' last child to go through the La Feria school system and the tennis program. Playing with his cousin Erika Gilbert, his playing was more agressive than we had seen in the past year. This partnered with the already agressive play style of Gilbert would prove to be too much for Jackie Avalos and Ray Quinones of Hidalgo, who had the misfortune of having to face them in the final. La Feria rolled over Hidalgo in the mixed doubles final taking it 6-3, 6-0.

Overall, the event was a great success. From the tears of Raymondville to the jubilation of La Feria and everywhere in between, all the players can go home with a sense of pride and accomplishment. La Feria has an amazing 12 players qualifying for regionals, and we congratulate them all. Below are a few of the pictures we took at the finals. Enjoy.