The Tigers finished 6-1 in district, besting Bryan 11-8 and Harker Heights 13-6 in their final matches to end up one match behind perennial champion College Station A&M Consolidated (7-0), which ran the table at 7-0. Belton is 12-6 for the season.
“Most of our losses were to state-ranked teams,” White said. “Usually, the second-place spot goes down to who wins between us and Bryan. We’re both always up there. Last year, they won 10-9 to take second.”
It will be the Tigers’ third trip to regionals in White’s six years at the program’s helm.
He went into Thursday night’s coaches meeting hoping to possibly earn a seeding between fifth and eighth and a good first-round pairing. Playing sites also will be assigned at that time.
“I’m going into the meeting well prepared and have everything I can documented,” he said. “I think we’ve got a good chance to get one of the lower seeds and win our first match. Then we’ll go from there and anything can happen.”
The Woodlands College Park, which moved from 13th to 10th in this week’s rankings, is a top-heavy choice to be the No. 1 seed after bouncing No. 25 Georgetown 12-2 and A&M Consolidated last Saturday. No. 18 The Woodlands and No. 19 Klein also are expected to be highly seeded.
“I think it will be College Park, Klein, Georgetown and The Woodlands in that order,” White said of the top seeds. “We will be battling with Garland Naaman Forest, Houston Langham Creek and Tyler Lee for seeding.”
Coach Kerry Minzenmayer of 16-5A champion Georgetown, a former Temple High School and Temple College standout, said he expected his team to be seeded fourth, ahead of A&M Consolidated.
“In order to play up to our potential at regional, we’re going to have to play well in doubles,” White said. “The seven doubles matches (three boys, three girls, one mixed) are played first. It’s important to be up coming out of doubles and we’ve concentrated on that this week in workouts along with volleys and serves.”
As to his successful mixture, White said, “We have a solid senior group who have grown up in our program since the seventh grade. They have become quality players and our junior class has stepped up and played well. Our upperclassmen are the strength of our team.
“This year we’re a balanced team. We’re strong on both the boys and girls lineups,” he said, adding, “We also set our schedule this season to play quality people. We could have set a scheduled that would have made us 25-2, but we wanted to compete against the better teams.”
The Tigers also did quite well on the individual level, walking off with a large number of all-district awards based on records in 12-5A competition.
First-team selections were Scott Stephens and Joel Doss in No. 2 boys doubles; Mitchell Hollingsworth and Morgan Broome in mixed doubles; Stephens at No. 3 singles; Doss at No. 4; and Brad Wesson at No. 5.
Earning second-team nods were Wesson and Dave Kemp in No. 3 boys doubles; Maddie and Katie Daugherty in No. 1 girls doubles; Kelci Jackson and Megan Rush in No. 3 girls doubles; Katie Daugherty at No. 1 girls singles; and Maddie Daugherty at No. 3.
Honorable mentions went to Lauren Knight and Tori Plunk in No. 2 girls doubles; Knight in No. 2 singles; Hollingsworth in No. 6 boys singles; and Meredith Middleton in No. 5 girls singles.
Three Belton seniors and possibly a fourth are eying continuing their tennis careers in college. Maddie Daugherty will go to Hardin-Simmons, while Knight and No. 1 singles player Will Summers will attend Mary Hardin-Baylor.
“That’s the largest group we’ve had that are going to play in college,” White said.
First- and second-round matches are at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. today and the semifinals and finals are at the same time Saturday. The regional champ advances to the UIL State Tournament Nov. 7-8 in Austin.
Other schools in the field are Richardson Lake Highlands, Carrollton Creekview, Garland, Mesquite, Klein Oak, Houston Cypress Falls and Round Rock Stony Point.
gwellnicki@temple-telegram.com
