Not In MY House!

The Harlingen Cardinal tennis team faced off against the Laredo United Longhorns. This would not be an easy task for veteran Cardinal Coach Tanamachi. "Some of their girls beat our district champs last year and one was a 'supers'. Our boys were much stronger, but I am extremely pleased with the way our girls played. They played really well today", said Coach Jay Tanamachi (Coach "T" to his athletes and their parents).

I arrived (late as usual) just in time to see Daniel Bracken demolish his opponent 6-0, 6-1. Bracken's much improved serve was clearly evident as he made his presence known by hitting a record 17 aces!!! Time and again he would pound the ball past his opponent displaying the "shock and awe" game that has become almost expected of the Harlingen Cardinals. I had missed the first set, but Daniel Bracken took it 6 - 2. When I walked up, he had just gotten done hitting three aces in a row. Bracken would not give up a single game in the second set and quickly served up the Longhorn like it was his steak dinner. He finished his match, winning it comfortably, with a final score of 6 - 2, 6 - 0..........bringng a proud smile to Coach "T".

Next up was Rollie (and Rollie was Holy!), winning, along with all of the other boys, easily. Markably improved was his foot work which allowed him to take full advantage of his powerful groundstrokes. When I began watching his match, his opponent tried to counter Rollie's power by hitting a drop shot. His best "dropper" was no match for Rollie's speed as he quickly covered the distance in what, to me, was the shot of the tournament. Rollie ran from behind the baseline all the way up to the net, retrieved the drop shot and pushed back an inside out forehand slice. The Longhorn countered with a vicious lob over Rollie's head that none of us that were watching expected him to try for, much less get to. Rollie, showing his fitness, ran the lob down; and, seeing he had no other shot, hit a "tweener" (that is where you hit a ball between your legs as you face the opposite direction of the net) from way behind the baseline. Not only did he get to it, not only did he hit a tweener in the middle of his racket, not only did he make good contact, but he blew the ball past his opponent (who was vigilant at the net) for a winner that screamed past him and landed deep in his court! Truly it was the shot of the tournament as Rollie went on to take the set and the match.

Coach "T" ran up to me with a huge smile on his face and asked, "George, did you see that?!?" I couldn't help but laugh and replied, "Heck yeah, I saw that!" "Did you get a picture of it?", Coach "T" continued. I told him I did (even though I barely got it from behind the fence). And, at the time I sit to write this article, I've already been asked about it by three different people.

Haley Swanberg would go down 1 -6, 1 -6 to a Longhorn that was a supers champ. All things considered she never stopped fighting. Up until the final point Haley was constantly light on her feet, losing only because the other was a wall that consistently got everything back. Swanberg would hit several aces and powerful forehands that zipped past her opponent, but the Longhorn proved that consistency is the most important ingredient in tennis. After the match, Coach Tanamachi exhorted his pupil saying: "That girl is super champ, Haley; and you hung in there with her. You are going to do just fine this season." It was tough to see Swanberg dissapointed; but, even Justine Hennin and Roger Federer lost matches when they were this age. Still, Haley Swanberg is one to look out for. We hope to bring you more of Haley Swanberg in the very near future. Click back soon!

In this, their sixth pre-district match, the 2009 Harlingen Cardinals Varsity Tennis Team have forced everyone to stand up and take notice. One thing is incontrovertibly explicit, the Cardinals have a talented lineup. The Longhorns gave a truly intrepid effort, but putting forth that effort on the Cardinals home court proved to be insurmountable. As one of the Cardinals I overheard put it: "Not in MY house!"..... Well said.

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