Last week, the Mustang Tennis Team beat McAllen High School 11-8, claiming district champion status. The team now qualifies for the playoff season and is preparing for next week’s matches.

Junior, Phoenix Almaraz, has played tennis for about three years now. “My dad got some tennis rackets from a garage sale and a few months later, a friend asked me to come to tennis practice with him to try it out, and from there, I just kept on playing.”

When asked about his favorite part of being on the Mustang Tennis team, Almaraz says, “The unity we have as a team, everybody there knows each other really well, even the new people get along with everyone and it makes playing on the team really enjoyable.” With next week’s matches coming up, Almaraz and his teammates are working hard to ensure they play their absolute best. “Practicing on my own time. Drilling in during practices… so when the time comes I don’t have to worry about not being able to do this and that.” Almaraz says.

When asked about his expectations, Almaraz says, “I want to make sure I’m playing my best. I believe I played one of my best games against McHi, so I want to make sure I’m playing at that level or if not better.”

The combined effort that goes into winning a team tennis game is undeniable. Therefore, Almaraz also hopes for the overall team’s success: “We played against Pioneer. It was a pretty close game, but I think we definitely could’ve changed up a couple of things to win. Now that we can rematch them, we’ve been practicing more since then and have become a better team overall.”

“If it hadn’t already mattered enough, it matters now,” Almaraz says.