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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kline Krupp lines up to take a swing at a ball Wednesday, Aug. 6. The doubles team of Jade Dospapas and Krupp got the lone win for the Lady Blues doubles team against Azle. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Tyler Bryan sets up to return a serve Wednesday, Aug. 6. Bryan had the most dominant win on the boys singles team in a Graham loss to Azle 11-8 on the day. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jade Dospapas follows through on a two handed swing in her singles match Wednesday, Aug. 6. Dospapas along with Kline Krupp picked up the only girls doubles win for the Lady Blues and she had her most dominant singles win of the season so far in an 8-0 shutout. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jordan Miranda goes for an overhead serve return Wednesday, Aug. 6. Miranda won his singles match in a hard fought bout 8-5 over his Azle opponent. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Keigan Garland swings at a ball during his singles match Friday, Aug. 1. Garland was one of three Steers to pick up a singles win against Azle.
After starting the season strong at 3-1, the Graham’s varsity tennis teams found their record back at the .500 mark after falling to Azle. Despite the loss, the teams from Graham didn’t go down without a fight.
Graham teams battled all day Monday, Aug. 11, but were narrowly defeated 11-8 on the day.
Head coach Matt Birdwell said he was proud of the team's efforts, but they have to improve at closing out competitions, especially when having the advantage.
“You’re talking about a 5A playoff school and we’re hanging right with them,” Birdwell said. “We just have to figure out why we can get up on those teams, but we’re not holding our weight.”
Birdwell was referencing the boys doubles matches in that regard. In two of the three matches, the doubles teams were leading only to lose 8-5 in tight contests.
Three singles competitors were able to come out with wins on the boys side of things though. Those wins belonged to Tyler Bryan, Keigan Garland and Jordan Miranda.
Bryan came out with the most dominant win of any of the boys with an 8-2 victory over his Hornets opponent. Garland and Miranda both fought out of hard battles to come out with 8-6 and 8-5 match wins respectively.
The girls doubles team saw only one win on their end from the top team of Jade Dospapas and Kline Krupp, but it was also a dominant win by a final score of 8-2.
Speaking of Dospapas, she also had probably her most dominant singles match of the season so far, surrendering zero set points in an 8-0 shutout.
The other winners on the girls singles side of things included Stacy Gonzalez, Hope Jones, and Kline Krupp.
The middle of the lineup for the girls side has remained consistent and done a solid job keeping Graham in these competitions against tough opponents.
Birdwell also said that he has seen consistent positives from the teams as a whole so far this season.
“We’ve been competing very well. Our serves look a whole lot better. We’re learning now that you have to hit every shot, you have to make sure it’s a good shot, or it’s going to come back at you twice as hard as you hit it,” Birdwell said.
After taking on Bridgeport and Brock Thursday and Friday, Aug. 14-15, Graham will pick things up on the road against Glen Rose on their meet day at 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21.
