The Coppell tennis team faced Southlake Carroll in the Class 6A Region I semifinals on Oct. 21 in Abilene, marking the end of Coppell’s season after being defeated, 10-1.

“We did the best we could, with what we had [since] some of our players [were] out. But even then we still tried our best, everyone on the court did all that they could to win as many points as [possible],” Coppell senior Reid Lucas said. “Going into it we knew that it would be a tough match and it was fun spending time with the team.” 

According to Coppell coach Rich Foster, Coppell went into the match against Southlake Carroll knowing it had to play to near perfection to win.

“I felt like our kids played well; we played close with them in almost all of those matches,” Foster said. “They came into the match with a lot more energy than we did, that’s a little easier to summon when you’re the favorite in a match and you know that you’re supposed to win that match, it’s a little bit easier to get fired up about being there. They came out rolling real quick, and we had to kind of get our footing in order to stick with them in the match.”

One of the main challenges Coppell faced was rotating its lineup as players got injured.

“We’ve dealt with injury and illness all year long,” Foster said. “One of the biggest challenges was just trying to get everybody healthy. The players have to believe that they can beat Southlake and that’s a tough thing to do.”

After losing its District 6-6A match to Marcus unexpectedly (10-9), the Cowboys went into the regional quarterfinals with a grudge against the Marauders. With a 10-5 victory, the Cowboys clinched a spot in the regional quarterfinals against Southlake Carroll. 

To play Marcus, Coppell took down Arlington Marson, 10-0, after a more contested victory against Prosper, 10-6.  The Cowboys knew that coming into the playoff match against Prosper would require a headstart on the doubles side. 

“We did exactly that,” Coppell senior Vinay Patel said. “We were up 4-3 after doubles, and we only needed to win six singles matches and we won six singles matches. Because of our strong start, we were able to have momentum for the rest of the match.”

After clinching the final necessary victory against Flower Mound to put the Cowboys third in District 6-6A and make Prosper their playoff opponent, the final singles match, a necessary win to advance to the next round, fell to freshman Sarayu Thallapareddy for the second time at the bi-district playoffs.

“I struggled,” Thallapareddy said. “I won the first set easily, but in the second set, I was tired and lost my focus for a little while but then I got back and won the second as well. It was pressure, but it worked out well.”

With a challenging opponent in the Eagles, a doubles lead was a crucial start. While the boys side pulled away quickly, the girls side presented several tossups, with two of three doubles teams splitting sets. The Cowgirls, having made changes in the doubles lineups, were expecting the even matchup.

On the boys side, the Cowboys outmatched Prosper, with Patel’s line one singles match bringing a tinge of drama. As the closest match on the boys’ side and both teams cheering loudly, some tension emerged among the players.

“Thanks to the team, people cheering for me, the coaches, I was able to pull away in both sets.” Patel said. 

Against Marcus as well, there was tension between players. Coppell senior Nandini Thallapareddy and junior Lucky Parsuraman, after losing their match at Marcus, came back for revenge.

In preparation for the spring season, Nandini says that endurance and mental state will be a focus after returning from COVID-19.

“It’s a little bittersweet because we did get farther this year than we did previous years, which I’m very happy about but it’s also the end,” Nandini said. “That was the last match that we’ll play as a team because in spring we’ll just play individually.”

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