THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

The Odessa High tennis team began the first round of the Basin Brawl Tournament with a 13-6 win over El Paso Eastwood on Friday morning at home. Playing in the 16-team tournament, the Lady Bronchos managed to secure sweeping victories in the doubles while posting six wins in the singles. For the Odessa boys, the Bronchos posted three wins in the singles and two in the doubles. “There have been a lot of good matches so far,” said Odessa High head coach Josh Moore. “We’re short-handed on a few kids but that made for a bunch of close matches but our players have a lot of fight in them and they were able to win them. That’s good to see.” Team chemistry didn’t appear to be an issue for the Bronchos. “I liked seeing our team spirit today,” Moore said. “We were cheering each other on but I still think we have some room for improvement. I think we can work on our footwork and go from there.” Odessa High has spent the majority of the season on the road so far so needless to say, playing at home was a welcome for the Bronchos. “It’s nice,” Moore said. “We’ve been playing on the road for a lot of our matches and staying overnight in hotels, which our kids have enjoyed, but it feels good to be at home and to be able to play in front of our home fans. It’s nice having a few parents and teachers out here to cheer on our kids.” Odessa High has been in rebuilding mode so far this season, despite returning some players from last year. “We have a lot of young and inexperienced players so it’s been good to see those players get some more playing time,” Moore said. “That’ll be very valuable.” Shelby Mayhew, who won both of her matches against El Paso Eastwood by the same score of 6-0, has been one of the standout players this season. “Shelby Mayhew has done pretty well,” Moore said. “She’s grown into a good team leader role. She’s playing lower on the lineup but the intangibles are there. She’s a great team leader. She brings a lot to the table.” The two-day tournament has seen teams competing in both Odessa and Midland with Odessa High and Ratliff being a few of the venues. Abilene Wylie defeated El Paso Socorro in the first round 19-0 while Lubbock Cooper knocked off Permian 11-8. El Paso Franklin defeated Saginaw 15-4 while Kaufman defeated Midland Lee 19-0. Midland High beat El Paso Montwood 10-3 while Lubbock Monterey advanced with a 13-0 victory over San Angelo Lake View. The Lubbock Coronado Mustangs shut out Hobbs 19-0 to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Odessa High. “I thought with having to get up at 4 a.m. and having to travel a couple of hours and having to get right off the bus and play, we came out really strong,” said Lubbock Coronado head coach Jessica Henderson. “Some of the weaknesses that we’ve had in matches, we were able to improve on with our serves and our volleys.” Despite putting a youthful team on the court, Henderson has been pleased with what she’s seen. “We have a very young team,” Henderson said. “We have two senior boys who have been in the lineup the past couple of years but besides that, the sophomores and freshmen are really making up the base of our team and so we’re trying to season them and get them ready to play in close situations so that they can learn to win in pressure situations.” After starting off fast against Hobbs, the Mustangs didn’t look back. “We started out very strong,” Henderson said. “To get out and not lose a set in the first round was very impressive. I really think that’ll help push as into this season.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

LADY BRONCHOS SECURE SWEEPING VICTORIES AT BASIN BRAWL

MICHAEL BAUER

Odessa American | 8/17/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Odessa American