By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
The Del Rio High School tennis team is headed to the playoffs.
Few victories are sweeter for a Del Rio team than beating rival Eagle Pass — especially when that win secures a postseason berth.
Del Rio defeated Eagle Pass 10-5 Tuesday to earn a Monday playoff matchup against San Antonio O’Connor in San Antonio.
“I definitely want to say how proud I am of these kids,” Del Rio girls tennis coach Josh Bowman said. “They battled hard all season through injuries and adversity and never gave up. They fully earned this playoff spot.”
The Queens led the way against Eagle Pass, winning all four completed girls singles matches and sweeping all three girls doubles matches.
Samantha Favela defeated Alejandra Ramirez, 6-1, 6-2, while Loretta Sauceda defeated Sofia Riojas, 6-3, 6-0. Ana Perez picked up a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Alissa Marroquin, and Xitlali Pereida defeated Melissa Castaneda, 6-3, 6-1.
In girls doubles, Sauceda and Favela defeated Ramirez and Riojas, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). Perez and Pereida battled past Andrea Ramirez-Gomez and Castaneda, 6-3, 3-6, 10-2.
Elisa Cardenas and Miranda Cienega completed the girls doubles sweep with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Analeah Montemayor and Natalia Morales.
The Rams added three victories on the boys side.
Jayden Morin defeated Kevin Sanchez, 6-3, 6-0, while John Vasquez held off Nicholas Oropeza, 7-5, 6-4.
Vasquez and Morin teamed for one of the closest matches of the day in boys doubles. After dropping the opening set to Sanchez and Daniel Morales, 6-2, the Del Rio duo answered with a 6-2 victory in the second set and captured the deciding tiebreaker, 10-7.
Eagle Pass picked up boys singles victories over Edson Martinez and Alejandro Horky. In boys doubles, Oscar Perez and Jose Lopez defeated Martinez and Horky, while Fernando Alvarado and Franco Guadarrama defeated Ethan Sanchez and Fabian Jurado.
Eagle Pass also won the mixed doubles match, with Oropeza and Alyssa Romero defeating Luis De Luna and Karyme Valencia, 6-3, 6-4.
Del Rio will look to extend its season when it faces O’Connor Monday in San Antonio.
