This year’s Wylie varsity tennis team approached the season not knowing what to expect from their transition to 5A. The team far exceeded expectation and ended up playing for the state championship in College Station, Texas. This year’s team consisted of a lot of returning varsity athletes including ten seniors. We spoke to juniors Reid Heuerman and Analeah Elias about their incredible season.

Elias said, “Going out into 5A was a whole different emotion. We wanted to go out with confidence and know we could do anything we set our minds to.”

The team approached the new competition with more intensity than ever before. The team’s only loss of the entire season was to number one ranked Highland Park in the state championship. The players approached every team with the same mindset because their goal the entire season was to win a state championship.

“5A gave us more of a drive. It pushed us to play harder. We played better in 5A than we ever would have in 4A because we had motivation to beat the higher ranked teams,” said Heuerman.

The team was able to keep the core of their talent after last year’s season. The growth and leadership throughout the team was displayed through the way the athletes carried themselves on the court. The team focused on being more self-confident and working harder than any other team they were going to face on the court.

“The experience was indescribable. We have been before, but this time there was a completely different energy,” said Elias. “We knew the teams were going to be hard. We had to play our best in order to get the outcome we wanted.”

The team claims that this year’s varsity season was different from any other season. They tried to encourage each other more than ever and spend more time investing in one another. The ten seniors played a crucial role in displaying leadership and calming the nerves of the younger players during big matches.

“The junior and seniors really poured into the freshman. We want to get them ready for the next few years and when they have to step up and lead,” said Heuerman.

Tennis will begin the individual portion of the year in January. The team expects to have several athletes excel and are really excited to contend with more 5A opponents. The team wants to continue to work until season begins, so they are prepared for what lies ahead.

Elias said, “We are already in off season working hard. We are conditioning every day to be ready for the individual season in January.”

Carson Cole and Heuerman played as doubles partners in the state tournament. The duo was the only win for Wylie against number one in the state Highland Park. The boys wanted to go out on the court and have fun and show the Highland Park players Wylie had earned the right to contend for the state championship.

“Even though we are losing all ten of those seniors, we expect nothing less than this past season next year. We are going to go in with the same goal and work hard each day to go back to state,” said Heuerman. “We are going to take all of these lessons we are learning and use them to win next year.”