The spring season is under way for the Colleyville Heritage tennis team, and coach Jeff Matlock said he anticipates at least a few of his athletes advancing to the regional tournament.
Matlock said he has been impressed with what he's seen from his team so far this spring and said, as always, the Panthers’ biggest competition will come from Grapevine.“If it wasn't for that crazy team from across town, we'd be looking great,” Matlock said, laughing. “They're pretty darn good everywhere. We're about halfway through our tournament schedule at this point, and we just got Nicky Hayworth back, who was basically the co-MVP of the fall.“He and Will [Folger] are going to start playing doubles. They played their first tournament this Friday at Richland and won ... we've got a good shot there. Kristen Baker's got a shot in singles, and our mixed team of Arthur Vij and Jordan Martin are looking pretty good.”Matlock said that some of of the other teams in the district also have good individual talent, but it's their arch rival that will be the team to beat.“Trinity has got some boys near the top and Bell has a couple of girls that are pretty good,” Matlock said. “R.L. Turner has got a girl that gave Kristen a tiebreaker and played her tough, but I think she may be playing mixed.“It's Grapevine that will be our main competition and likely send a lot of players to regionals.”Matlock said the goals for this season are threefold.“We would love to get as many people out as we can, and love to be competitive in every draw,” he said. “We want to try to put somebody in every draw that can get seeded and have a chance to steal one. We want to be playing our best tennis at the end of the season.”To have a successful spring season, Matlock said it will take a couple of things.“I like to see them improving,” Matlock said. “This district lends itself to having a chance at being competitive in all of those draws. That does not necessarily mean we are going to win, but just to have a chance.“Our doubles teams and Kristen should get out to region, and if we can get a couple of extra teams out, it would be that much better.”Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
