The varsity tennis team fell 10-1 to top ranked Memorial High School in their last match of the UIL Team Tennis Playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 26. However, in the semifinals on Wednesday, Oct. 25, the team had a victorious 11-2 win against Coppell.

Despite the team’s defeat against Memorial, the coaches and players have described its outcome to be a successful end to the season, as the Warriors finish with a top 10 ranking in the state.

“We played the number 13 ranked team in the state [Coppell] and we crushed them. It was probably the best match we’ve played in two years,” head coach Travis Dalrymple said. “We lost our final game to the number one ranked team in the state because they were better than us — that happens. It just shows our kids how good they can be when they work hard, how hungry they are going to stay, and how good they’re going to be in the spring and next year.”

According to Navin Baruah ‘18, the team’s success is largely associated with their ability to understand each other, develop friendships, and “rise.”

“It’s our motto this year,” Coach Dalrymple said. “A bunch of young kids rose to the occasion. We had freshmen who stepped up, some sophomores who stepped up, and some kids who worked really hard to rise up and made themselves better.”

The team’s belief in “rising” has yet to be disproven considering their ability to progress in performance over the years. While last year’s team also made regional finals, many of those players have since graduated.

“This season we have a very young team and we were able to do the same thing even though we lost half the guys from last year,” Coach Dalrymple said. “It was great to watch the kids climb and recreate the same success last year with half the team.”

Overall, the players and coaches are content with the tennis team season for this year. They finished as district and area champions, as well as regional finalists.

“We had an up and down year but we are always working our way up, improving, and working hard,” Coach Dalrymple said. “To watch how they played, I couldn’t be more proud as a coach.”