Boy’s tennis finishes in fourth place

Boys tennis finishes in fourth place

Drake Gordon, Staff Reporter

The Tracy High tennis team finished the season with a league record of 5-5. Head coach Patrick O’Brien was impressed with the players individually this season.

“The season went very well. We had a lot of kids on the team (25), and all of them improved over the year,” Coach O’Brien said

Their record was identical to West High’s. Tracy split matches with West High with each winning 6-3. It came down to totals sets won during the matches West led 24 sets to 21, so they took third, while Tracy High took fourth in the league.

The season ended well for some boys, specifically freshman Jason Reddy and junior Jeane Taruc. Reddy won MVP with a record of 7-3, and Taruc won most improved

“I was really satisfied with my first season of tennis, and I look forward to improving and making more memories with this team,” Reddy said.

“Tennis was definitely a struggle in the beginning. I am actually impressed with myself for winning most improved. I look forward to playing as a senior next year,” Taruc said

One commonality among all of the Tracy High sports is the challenge of going into a different league.

“We had played West in preseason matches before, and we played Tokay once in sections, but St. Mary’s was unknown. They were very good. The competition level this year has definitely increased with the new teams, but it was more fun having every match be a challenge. It makes for better matches and increases the skills of our players,” O’Brien said.

This season had memorable moments and games. Some specific memories were made playing against West and Tokay. Every game was close and the winners were not determined until late in the games.

“We were able to win three out of four, West once and both Tokay matches,” Junior Jacob Sese said. “I also had a great time this year especially this being my first time playing tennis. I am so excited to play next year as a senior.”

O’Brien is looking forward to next year and has several plans.

“We are having a summer program for the first time this year. We want to provide the opportunity and location for both the boys and the girls to play during the off-season,” O’Brien said. “Many of our players do not play during the off-season. Our hope is that they will take advantage of the opportunity to play and continue to improve their skills as well as have fun playing over the summer.”