Vandal Netters Bring Home Bronze

It was the first time in a number of years that the UIL state tennis tournament had a rain delay, but Vandals Coach Brad Crawford was confident his players were ready. After winning the regional tournament in both men’s singles and mixed doubles, the Vandals entered the 2008 state tournament as favorites to win their opening round.

"Since we were paired with a No. 2 from another region, I really liked our chances in the first round" said Crawford.

The players didn’t disappoint. After a six-hour rain delay, the first round matches finally went on at 2:00 p.m.

Matthew Ribeiro, the Vandal’s Brazilian foreign exchange student who has played No. 1 all year, quickly took care of Ingram Moore’s Cullen Holbrook, with a 6-3, 6-2 win.

"Matthew has an overpowering forehand, and a strong serve, and both of those were working great for him," Crawford said.

After Matthew finished his match, the Vandals mixed doubles team of Natalie Hand and Josh Wilgus took the court. Using good cross-court technique and aggressive net play, Hand and Wilgus crushed La Feria’s Elias Hernandez and Erika Gilbert, by a 6-1, 6-1 count.

Due to the rain, instead of the first two rounds being played on Monday, only one round was played setting up an early start to the semi-final round on Tuesday morning.

Ribeiro was matched up against Silsbee’s Matthew Deaver, a state qualifier from last year. The first set was all Deaver, who used his massive forehand to claim a 6-1 set. The second set was a different story.

Going down 4-2, Ribeiro responded with three straight games to take a 5-4 lead. Deaver responded by holding serve, as they both did for the next two games, setting up the second set tiebreaker. After winning the first point on a big serve Deaver took control winning the tiebreaker 7-3 and claiming the semi-final victory.

"I was so proud of Matthew. He could have given up after getting beaten badly in that first set, but he didn’t," Crawford said. "It was a great match".

While Ribeiro’s match was being played on court 9, the mixed doubles team was playing on court 12. Hand and Wilgus were going up against the team of Mary Bowman and Eric Katzen of Argyle. The first set started out even, with a 3-3 count, but then Argyle held serve to take a 4-3 lead. They then broke Van’s serve, and held serve to win the first set 6-3. The second set was more of the same with Katzen being very aggressive at the net, and leading the Argyle team to another 6-3 win in the second set.

"Josh and Natalie had a great year," said Crawford. "Winning Regionals, and then getting a win in Austin was just awesome. And one of the best things about it is that they are both juniors…so don’t be surprised if you’re hearing more about these two a year from now."

Ribeiro, Hand and Wilgus all brought home third-place place medals.

"It’s been seven years since we brought home more than one medal from Austin," Crawford added. "I just couldn’t be more proud of these kids. They’ve had a truly remarkable year."