Those were just some of the images that painted the picture of the University Interscholastic League State Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Courts on Monday.
Six area players competed in the state tournament, which concludes today at both Penick-Allison and Lakeway World of Tennis, with Fausett and Granger’s Garrett Pekar being the lone area representatives to get out of the first round.
Pekar won his Class A first-round match over Menard’s Zach Rambo 6-0, 6-1 at Lakeway World of Tennis, then rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the semifinals over Gruver’s Taylor Williams to advance to today’s 9 a.m. championship match against Avery’s Matt Orberger.
Fausett will meet Liberty’s Nicole Long in the Class 3A semifinals at 8 a.m. today after taking care of La Feria’s Mia Villasenor in the opening match, 6-0, 6-1.
Early rains postponed the start of Monday’s play at Penick-Allison from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., thus moving the semifinals to today.
The Yoe junior transfer, who won the Class 2A title twice at Winona, admitted that despite her history at the tournament, she was more nervous now.
“My freshman year here I wasn’t nervous at all because it was ‘I’m the underdog here,’” she said. “I think as it goes on, I get more nervous just knowing that I am a state champion and people are out to take me down.”
But they will have their work cut out for them if Monday was any indication. Fausett overpowered, outserved and outhustled sophomore Villasenor, who was making her first appearance at the state tournament.
Still, Fausett never took anything for granted.
“Anything can go wrong,” she said. “I thought I had it won . . . when I won the last point and am shaking her hand. I don’t ever want to say ‘Hey, I have this match.’”
While Fausett was quickly taking care of business, Gatesville senior Westbrook was playing the match of his life against Vernon’s Nick Lehman in the boys 3A tournament.
Lehman eventually won the match 7-6 (4), 7-5, but Westbrook made him earn every point, running down several slams and delivering several impressive winners.
“It was pretty close,” he said. “I missed a couple of opportunities in the tiebreaker, but it happens.”
Losing the first-set tiebreaker momentarily flustered Westbrook as he dropped the first two games of the second set. But it didn’t take him long to get back into the match.
“When I was down 2-0, I was like, ‘Uh, this might not go so well,’” he admitted. “Then I broke him and got back into it. I had some opportunities, but missed them.”
Afterward, Westbrook was all smiles, happy to make the state tournament his senior year.
“I was just happy to make it here,” he said. “I wasn’t seeded at regionals, so when I got here I was happy.”
That was also the case for Beach, who was making her first appearance in the 2A state tournament.
She fell to Mason’s Brittany Estes 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round, but Beach also was pleased with her effort.
“I was pretty nervous,” the Academy junior said. “It was my first time here and I really didn’t know what to expect. It was pretty nerve racking. Hopefully next year I can do better.”
Beach matched up well with Estes, but Estes produced a few more clean winners over the course of the match.
After her match was over, the first thing Beach asked was, “How’s Kaitlyn doing?” referring to District 25-2A champion Reed.
Reed, Beach and Fausett all have the same personal coach - Temple’s Britt Coleman - so they are close friends and were cheering each other on the entire day.
But the answer to Beach’s question wasn’t a good one. Reed found herself in an emotionally trying match, losing to San Saba’s Taylor Hibler, 6-3, 6-4.
“I think it was emotional and mental,” Reed said of her loss. “But at the same time you have to put your mind in the game.”
Salado coach Michelle Hyer offered a bit more of an explanation.
“It was frustrating for her,” she said. “She was physically ready but she was just nervous and I think she just worked herself up. Plus, there were a lot of questionable calls that didn’t go her way, so she’s more frustrated than upset.”
While Reed, a sophomore, was clearly rattled by some of the calls, she wasn’t using that as an excuse after the match.
“She’s a phenomenal player,” Reed said of Hibler. “It’s just sometimes people play better than others on different days.
“It was a great experience. I’ve never been to state before and it’s a great step toward getting better in the future, so I’ll be here next year.”
At Lakeway, Copperas Cove freshman Malika Bembridge had a short stay as the school’s first ever state tennis representative, losing to Lilly Kimbell of New Braunfels 6-0, 6-0 in a Class 4A first-round match.
