Panthers Eliminate the Eagles
14 - 5
The Panthers eliminated the Killeen Ellison Eagles from Regional contention this Tuesday, October 5, 2004, with a 14 - 5 victory. "I was very pleased with the way that our players approached their games today. We were rained out of practice on Monday and faced a huge District opponent today. The players were patient and really worked themselves into their games," Coach Simonek.
The Panthers started out the match with a 6 - 1 lead after the doubles match play. Leading the way for the team in doubles was the tandem of Alex Foster/Colleen Myers. "These two are really starting to come together as a doubles team. They are starting to commit to doing the right things in their play. As they come together they will truly help solidify our doubles line-up," Coach Simonek. Also winning matches for the Panthers in Doubles were the teams of Martindale/Harder, Hudson/Ben McCarter, Kidwell/Palladino, Lizzie McCarter/Allinson, and the mixed Doubles team of Natividad/Harrell.
The Panthers would step-up their play as they went into the singles match play. The Team would take eight of the 12 singles matches for a 14 - 5 victory. The Panthers were led by Jon Hudson in the singles match play. "Jon has been a strong contributing part of this team in singles and doubles the past three years. He continues to step-up for the team at higher levels and win matches," Coach Simonek. Also winning matches for the Panthers in the singles play were Zane Martindale, Evan Harder, Ben McCarter, John Kidwell, Brittany Dunlap, Alex Foster, and Elizabeth Allinson.
The Panthers move to 2 - 0 in District play and will face the Undefeated Brownwood Lions in a match for the District Title this Saturday, October 9, 2004. The match will take place at Brownwood High School and start at 8:00 a.m. The Panthers will also face the 3A State defending Champ Abilene Wylie Eagles in the afternoon on Saturday. Come out and support the Panthers as they go for a 3rd consecutive District Title.