It was a successful outing for the Wimberley Texan tennis team as three different duos were able to bring home medals including two golds.
The highlight was the state championship clash in the 4A Boys Doubles final as the team of Drew Gonzales and Tate Murphy battled teammates Cooper Doss and John Moore.
It was a battle seen for the majority of the season as the teams squared off previously in the district and regional finals.
For Doss, Gonzales, and Murphy, the trio had played in two district championships, two regional championships, and two state championships while Moore was part of last year’s mixed doubles team that also made the state tournament.
In the end, Gonzales and Murphy captured their second straight championship defeating Doss and Moore in a thrilling match winning 2-0 (7-5, 6-1) behind the Wimberley faithful who cheered for both teams.
“It feels good.” Gonzales said. “I didn’t expect to be given a second chance to do it again, but we did. Me and Tate worked really hard in the spring to get it, so I’m really proud of us… We’ve teamed with each other since we were freshman. While we were freshman, most of the team was seniors, so it was me, Tate and Peyton. Me and Tate built a really good friendship and our chemistry really shows on the court.”
For Doss, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders after trying to beat both Gonzales and Murphy throughout the year.
“I got pretty emotional after the match,” Doss said. “But that was for a good ten minutes. To be honest it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders because of all the stress we had been going through trying to beat each other. It was pretty nice, but sad at the same time.”
For Gonzales, this was about leaving it all out on the court along with his teammate Murphy.
“Me and Tate were talking about it before, ‘’ Gonzales said. “We just said ‘It’s our last match together and we have to make it count. Leave it all out there on the court.’ We did that.”
As for Moore, he was not intimidated by playing in a match that featured three of the best doubles players in the state after being selected to be Doss’ partner in the spring.
“I’m very confident in my own ability, so it’s not that hard for me,” Moore said. “I don’t think to myself ‘Oh look at all of these great players what can I do to play with them.’ When I step on the court, it’s about what I can control. I think of myself as a very solid tennis player that doesn’t need to adjust my play for others… It’s just another tennis match in the grand scheme of things. You can’t get too excited about it or else you won’t play well. You have to approach it as another doubles match.”
As for Doss’ doubles teammate from last year, Peyton Anderson found success in the mixed doubles along with teammate Ella Malone The Mixed Doubles team of Anderson and Malone advanced to the semifinals of the tournament after coming back down one set to win the match 2-1 (3-6, 6-2, 6-4).
Despite dropping the first set, it was the ability of both Anderson and Malone to not feel down and continue to keep fighting.
“Ella is a sophomore so she is really young,” Anderson, who is a senior, said. “When we dropped that first set, her first reaction was “Oh we are playing bad,” but I told her, ‘No we are playing pretty good, this team is playing really well.’ I just told her ‘We needed to keep calm and keep playing how we are and be more aggressive and we can outlast them in this second set.’ We won that second set 6-2 and in the third set the girl started to slow down and we finally took the third set.”
Ultimately the team of Anderson and Malone fell to the eventual state champions from Hereford during the semifinals in a thrilling three set match losing 2-1 (6-7(3), 6-3, 3-6).
For Malone, the battle with the eventual state champions lit the fire within herself to match their intensity despite the loss.
“Even though we were sad that we lost, knowing that this team was really good and had pre viously won state before made it okay so that we could cope with the loss,” Malone said. “It honestly lit a fire inside of me and made me want to prove that I have earned my spot here. I loved the crowd watching which I’m grateful for. It honestly helped me play better than I could have.”
Qualifying for the state semifinals meant both Anderson and Malone were able to bring home two medals back to Wimberley giving the Texans a total of six state medals.
