A successful L-K tennis season comes to an end

From Staff Reports

The tennis team at Linden-Kildare had a year full of firsts. 
First, team itself was larger than it has ever been with 15 total players. Another first for the team was the fact that there was only one senior on the roster for Coach Shayne Erwin’s team. 
“I was a little concerned about the lack of experience heading into the season.  
This is the first time I haven’t had several seniors to take charge and help the younger ones along.”  
It was also the first time that the team competed at the 2A level. In addition to that it was the first time that the entire varsity team either qualified for the regional tournament or were district alternates for the regional tournament. 
The season started with a dual match against Paul Pewitt Feb. 13. The match was the first time the six freshmen on the team had any look a match play. 
It was a learning experience for sure with the team leaving with 6-6 record for the day. The top performers were Siarra Johnson and Karlee Bynum who won their doubles match easily 8-4.  The following week the team traveled to Redwater Feb. 23. This was a better test for the Tigers due to the fact the Redwater also had a young team.  
However, the team was not at full strength due to many other school related activities that had some team members not able to attend. The first big test of the season happened two weeks alter when the team participated in the Hughes Springs Classic Tennis Tournament.  
The JV bracket was played March 9, with the L-K players performing very well. Haley Palmer and Kaitlyn Salazar finished second in girls doubles.  
Teammates Jessie Haley and Peyton Turner along with Jada Madlock and Destiny Hoipkemier were third and fourth respectively. The second day of the tournament, March 10, saw the varsity team have some success as well. Tanner Cook and Daniela Campos finished third in the mixed doubles competition.  
A week later the team traveled to Elysian Fields for another dual match. This time the team only took ten players. This would serve as an opportunity for Coach Erwin to evaluate what would be best for the team as the district tournament was fast approaching.  
“I needed to take a good look at some different combinations for my doubles teams. What I had was not working. I also needed to try to figure some way that we could maximize the team points for the district tournament.”  
The overall record for the dual match was 7-4. The next week would be the Hughes Springs Slam Tournament. This was the last time the Tigers would be in tournament play before the district tournament.  
Weather wreaked havoc on the tournament with play eventually being cancelled. However, L-K did manage to have some medalists. Jessie Haley and Destiny Hoipkemier finished third in girls doubles and Ty Patterson and Karlee Bynum finished second in mixed doubles.  
The district tournament was played April 3-4 in Atlanta. “Headed into district I knew that everyone had a chance to advance to regionals and that the girls had a shot to win the team title but it would all depend on how well they played that day.”  
After a rain delay tournament play started and once it came to an end the Tigers had come away with a team championship title, three district champions, three runners-up and a third place finish.  
Only three players competed at the JV level and all three were district finalists. In JV girls singles Jada Madlock was the district champion. 
In JV boys singles the L-K teammates of Dayton Hamilton and Kevin Burns played each other for the district title. Hamilton came out on top in a hard fought match.  
In the varsity division the girls’ team of Siarra Johnson, Karlee Bynum, Haley Palmer, Daniela Campos, Kaitlyn Salazar, Jessie Haley, Destiny Hoipkemier, and Peyton Turner won the District 15-2A Girls’ Team Championship.  
Siarra Johnson was the varsity girls’ singles champion. Peyton Turner was the varsity girls’ singles runner up. 
Ty Patterson and Karlee Bynum were the varsity mixed doubles champions.  Sterling Suggs and Daniela Campos were the varsity mixed doubles runners-up. Jessie Haley and Destiny Hoipkemier were varsity girls’ doubles runners-up.  
Haley Palmer and Kaitlyn Salazar were varsity girls doubles third place finishers. All first and second place finishers advanced to the regional tournament in McKinney April 17-18.  
At the regional tournament weather was once again a major issue. The team had to endure a ten hour rain delay.  
“The weather delay was hard to deal with, especially since it was so long. I think it mentally wore down every kid there but it was something that couldn’t be helped. You just have to roll with what Mother Nature throws at you!”   
Once play resumed the team finished all first round matches and Johnson, Haley/Hoipkemier, and Patterson/Bynum all advanced to day two. Patterson and Bynum battled all the way to the semi-finals before losing to the eventual champions, a brother/sister team from Bealls.  The L-K duo ended up fourth and that is best finish that any L-K tennis team has had in over 30 years.  According to Coach Erwin, “This team has been fun to work with all year. They have grown so much and worked extremely hard to get better.  Since we are only losing one senior I am already looking forward to next season. Hopefully it will be another first with multiple players advancing to the state tournament!”