Rattlers team tennis in the Final Four – Progress Times

First ever regional championship for Sharyland High

The Sharyland Rattlers tennis team made history last week by becoming the first SHS tennis team to win the Region 4 championship and advance to the UIL 5A State Tournament. They accomplished this by defeating Alamo Heights 10-8 in the regional final.

However, in order to get to the regional championship game, the Rattlers first had to win the District 31-5A title, which they did by remaining undefeated. They then had to secure the bi-district title by defeating Brownsville Pace, which they did by a score of 15-0. They then had to secure the area title by defeating Corpus Christi Ray, which they did 10-0. They then had to secure the regional quarterfinal title by defeating Harlingen South 10-2. Ultimately, the Rattlers had to secure the regional semifinal title by defeating Boerne, which they did 10-5.

The Rattlers’ Team Tennis Team consists of 11 boys and 12 girls. They are Ana Jimenez (freshman/singles), Sofia Cantu (sophomore/singles and doubles), Selah Geddes (sophomore/singles and doubles), Shyrabelle Buquel (junior/mixed doubles), Isabela Berburg (junior/alternate) and Emila De La Cruz (junior/singles and doubles), Maria Iniesta (junior/singles), Sarah Tamez (junior/doubles), Stephany Vergara (junior/doubles), Grace Shahin (junior/singles and doubles), Dasha De La Torre (senior ). /alternate), Evelyn Sanchez (senior/alternate), Santiago Aguirre (freshman/alternate), Gustavo Rico (freshman/mixed doubles), Dario Fraga (freshman/alternate), Andres Garcia (sophomore/singles and doubles), Diego Sanchez ( Junior/singles and doubles), Victor Silva (junior/alternate), Santiago Garcia (senior/singles and doubles), Eduardo Gonzalez (senior/singles and doubles), Fernando Jimeno (senior/doubles), Mayron Landin (senior/singles) and Koen Aggarago (seniors/singles and doubles).

In the state semifinals held Wednesday at the Waco Regional Tennis Center, the Rattlers took on the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs 22-5. Had they beaten Wylie, they would have advanced to the state finals yesterday at Baylor University against the winner of 18-2 Frisco Centennial and 17-3 Austin LASA. Unfortunately, the Rattlers came up a little short with a 10-7 loss to Wylie, ending their historic season.

The Rattlers’ winners against Wylie included Diego Sanchez and Eduardo Gonzalez and Koen Aggarao and Andres Garcia in their boys’ doubles matches, Shyrabelle Buquel and Gustavo Rico in their mixed doubles matches, Koen Agarrao and Diego Sanchez in their boys’ singles matches and Selah Geddes and Emilia De La Cruz in her girls singles matches.

Before the Rattlers left for Waco on Tuesday morning, we spoke with four members of the team, as well as head girls’ tennis coach Mike Salinas and head girls’ tennis coach Rosario Palacios-Cavazos.

When asked how regionals went for her, Grace Shahin, who has been playing tennis for seven years, said, “I think it went pretty well. We started the semi-final a little slow, but in the end we got there by working together as a team. In the end we won 10-5 against Boerne High.”

As for what she was most looking forward to about the opportunity to play in the state tournament, Shahin said, “I think the chemistry with the team and the memories we’ll create… and playing together.”

Emilia De La Cruz, who has been playing tennis for 11 years and whose father is a tennis coach, also shared what she was most looking forward to when she said: “The memories too. We will be with the team. It’s our first time ever, like no one has ever been there before, so we’re all really excited to see how it goes…our first time!”

When asked if she thinks about what it would be like to take home a state championship, De La Cruz said, “I don’t think that far into the future. We’re just really happy to be the first to start.”

Andres Garcia, who has been playing tennis for seven years, shared the highlight of the season so far when he said: “On both days, in the (regional) semi-final and the final, it was my game that gave the team victory.” It So it was definitely a stressful experience, but also a good experience knowing that despite all the stress and all the people watching, I was able to finish it.”

When asked what he’s most looking forward to in the state tournament, Garcia said, “Probably competing against all the North Texas schools. It’s a different level up there.”

As for senior Eduardo Gonzalez, who has been playing tennis for six years, he shared what winning a state championship would mean to him as he said, “That would be great.” Like the memories it brings back, like the state championship. It would be great.”

When asked what he remembers most about the regional tournament, Gonzalez said, “Obviously watching the two games (semifinals and finals) was very stressful. But the final was close, but he prevailed and we got the win.”

Despite the fact that they fell just short of a state championship, the Rattlers performed very well, making it to the state finals and making school history. Much of this success can be attributed to the team’s two coaches; Boys coach Mike Salinas and girls coach Rosario Palacios-Cavazos. Salinas has been the boys’ head tennis coach at Sharyland for 29 years, while Palacios-Cavazos has been the girls’ head tennis coach for eight years. And with so many members of the team being underclassmen, the future looks extremely bright for the Sharyland High School tennis program.