Image by Sandeep Bhadsavle

The Maverick tennis team after playing in the district tournament at Old Settlers Park.

On April 8, the Maverick tennis team headed out to East View High School in Georgetown to compete in the first two rounds of the district tournament. Most McNeil players went into the tournament with seeds and looked to advance to the semifinal round.

In the first round, girls doubles team of Cindy Wu and Julie Pham lost in three close sets to Pflugerville, while the other team of Serena Wu won easily over Hendrickson. Both boys doubles teams won in the first round, along with all Maverick singles players.

In the second round, boys doubles team of Brandon Minns and Alex Minca won in three sets against Cedar Ridge, while senior Sarang Bhadsavle had a huge win over Cedar Ridge in the singles draw. Freshman Jack Cohen won his quarterfinal match convincingly over Cedar Ridge, as well, to advance to the semifinals.

Mixed doubles team, and the two seed, Jared Hahne and Marielle Catolos won their quarterfinal match in under an hour against Cedar Ridge to also advance to the semifinals.

The next day, the remaining Mavs headed out to Old Settlers Park to complete the tournament. Both Cohen and Bhadsavle lost their semifinals to Westwood, resulting in an all-Maverick third place match. Minns and Minca lost quickly against a skilled Westwood team, setting up a third place match against Pflugerville. Hahne and Catolos also lost their semifinal against Westwood, giving them a third place match against Hendrickson.

All of the Mavericks won their third place matches in quick fashion, with Cohen pulling out a win against teammate Bhadsavle. The boys team placed second at the tournament.