What a difference a year makes.

After finishing in last place a year ago, the tennis team finished third in the District 25 championship this past week. Hjort credits the team’s success to hard work, new additions to the team, and their summer court time.

“This tennis season has been the best so far,” coach Michael Hjort said. “The players have been freaking awesome.”

During the tennis season from August to October, the team won 14 of their 22 matches.

“Our best game was probably the Wimberley game,” Hjort said. “Even though it wasn’t our highest scoring game, both the girls and boys team played very hard and did great.”

The strong season helped prepare the team for the district tournament which began Oct. 4. The Raiders took on Vista Ridge at home, defeating the Rangers 13-6.

“The match against Vista was very hard,” Hjort said. “But everyone brought their best game.”

The win gave Raiders their first semi-final match-up, the team’s main objective this fall season. The team traveled to Lake Travis, Oct. 11, but lost 10-1.

“We got spanked at Lake Travis,” senior Yusuf Barnes said. “But we tried our best and played well.”

The loss pitted the team against Cedar Park, Oct. 14. The 10-4 victory gave the team the chance to play for second or third place, Oct. 16. The team lost to the Vipers, 10-1, giving them third place.

“I felt pretty bad because we lost, but I’m happy that we placed and got medals,” sophomore Julie Forsyth said.

The team wrapped up their fall season Tuesday, Oct. 19 crushing Liberty Hill, 17-2. The mixed doubles team of Cameron McCarthy and Sina Marchione finished the fall season with a unblemished record of 22 – 0.

“It’s really awesome to never lose a match,”  Marchione said. “ I feel really excited and proud of myself.”