by MARK CAUL
Lehman’s John Martin nails a backhand shot during a recent practice. The Lobo tennis team will try and capture the District 17-4A title this week at Hays. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
When head coach Orlando DeLaFuente started the Lehman tennis program five years ago, advancing to the regional tournament and seeing one of his players play for a state title seemed beyond the realm of reality.
DeLaFuente was just looking to field a team with numbers big enough that the Lobos could compete on a week-to-week basis.
Now, his Lobos will be one of the favorites to capture the District 17-4A title and advance to the Class 4A Region III team tennis tournament in Katy next weekend.
The district meet will be held Wednesday through Friday at Hays High School.
“When I think about where we were four years ago, it’s really unbelievable,” DeLaFuente said. “We began our program with only eight kids that had little-to-no tennis experience. It’s huge for this school.”
Lehman has finished second behind state-ranked San Marcos at the district meet for the past three seasons.
Sophomores Adolfo Gonzalez and Desiree Kittel along with senior John Martin will spearhead a talented group of Lobos in singles play.
In addition, the doubles teams of Tiago Galbier, Penelope Kittel, Courtney Garza, Abigail Martin, Andrea Villalobos and Royce McCabe have been solid for Lehman during the spring season.
It has been another stellar season in singles with Gonzalez and Desiree Kittel both continuing their winning ways this spring along with the doubles team of Penelope Kittel and John Martin.
Gonzalez, who advanced to the state finals last May, is excited about the opportunity to capture a district title and advance to the regional tournament.
“I’ve been looking forward to this all year,” Gonzalez said. “I worked so hard to have a chance at state last year but came up short. It was very disappointing, but it will make me push myself even harder this year.”
Gonzalez fell in a three-hour epic match last May to three-time boys singles champion Grant Adams.
Desiree Kittel, who lost in the regional final last May, will also be one of the favorites to secure a singles title at district.
“It took a lot of hard work to get to that point last year,” Kittel said. “This year, I know what it will take to get to state.”
If this spring’s results are any indication, the Lobos appear on a collision course with San Marcos for a chance to capture the school’s first-ever tennis title.
The high point of the spring season was a first place finish at an invitational meet in San Marcos back in March when the Lobos finished first out of 22 very strong teams.
“It was a very strong and deep tournament, filled with good 5A programs,” DeLaFuente said. “We were the only 4A program to be represented in the semifinals. To top that off we were in the semifinals three of the five possible divisions. You had to win three matches to get there, so that is an accomplishment by itself.”
Martin and Penelope Kittel won four of their five matches, before dropping a close match in the finals to class 5A Harlingen. The pair is 13-2 in the spring season as a team.
Meanwhile, Desiree Kittel fell in the semifinals to Lindsay Tristan, the 12th ranked girls singles player in the state. In all, Desiree (12-3) took three of her five matches and finished fourth out of the field of 32.
Adolfo Gonzalez placed third overall after losing to the number one seeded player in the state in three-set match. It was Gonzalez’s first loss since the state final last May.
Brazilian exchange student Galbier won four of his six matches and finished champ in the Champ B division. Garza and Royce McCabe finished second in the mixed doubles Tournament Division.
DeLaFuente is hoping his team will continue to peak as the most important part of the season approaches.
“We have competed well so far this spring and I’m hoping they will work even harder at the district meet,” said DeLaFuente. “It would be nice to finally be able to bring the tennis title here to Lehman.”
