Seeking their first team tennis district championship since 2018, the Brownwood Lions and Lady Lions opened practice Tuesday with their first matches set for Saturday.
Brownwood will host Big Spring at 9 a.m. followed by Peaster at 1:30 p.m., the first of 10 matches before 6-4A action kicks off Sept. 5 at Glen Rose.
“I’m expecting a good, competitive match against Big Spring, we always play them pretty close,” said Brownwood High tennis head coach Crystal Blazek. “Then we’ll face a pretty good team in Peaster, but we’ll just be looking at the kids to see how they compete. I’m excited to see them play because I know quite a few have been to tournaments over the summer and played a lot.”
River Prado, Tyler Mitchell and Eric Smith will lead the way for the Lions early in the season, while Lady Lions expected to shoulder the load out of the gate include Raylei Hickey, Emma Delgado, and Claire Meinecke.
“We’ll be young again, we have three boys and three senior girls returning, but we have some freshmen coming in that I really think are going to help the program,” Blazek said. “It may take them a while to get in the groove with experiencing varsity level tennis, but they’re going to help out in the long run.”
Following the match with Glen Rose, the rest of the district slate for Brownwood features a Sept. 21 trip to Lampasas, a Sept. 28 home date with Gatesville and the 6-4A finale at home against Stephenville Oct. 5.
“As always, the goal is to be district champs and the district looks promising,” Blazek said. “I usually say Gatesville looks pretty tough but they lost a lot to graduation.
Regarding what it will take for the Lions and Lady Lions to sit atop the district at season’s end, Blazek said, “We just have to come together from the bottom up, build up some of those freshman and get them ready. If they come around, I think this can be a really successful season.”
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Brownwood High 2023 Varsity Team Tennis Schedule
| Aug. 5 | Big Spring | 9 a.m. |
| Aug. 5 | Peaster | 1:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 9 | at Marble Falls | 9 a.m. |
| Aug. 9 | vs. Fredericksburg (at Marble Falls) | 2 p.m. |
| Aug. 12 | Graham | 9 a.m. |
| Aug. 12 | Sweetwater | 1:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 19 | at Snyder | 9 a.m. |
| Aug. 19 | vs. Levelland (at Snyder) | 1:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 22 | at San Angelo Lake View | 4:30 p.m. |
| Aug. 29 | vs. Keene (at Glen Rose) | 4 p.m. |
| Sept. 5 | at Glen Rose* | 4 p.m. |
| Sept. 15 | at Copperas Cove | 4 p.m. |
| Sept. 21 | at Lampasas* | 4 p.m. |
| Sept. 28 | Gatesville* | 4 p.m. |
| Oct. 5 | Stephenville* | 4 p.m. |
*District 6-4A Match
