The classrooms might have been empty, but the courts weren’t.

Even before school started, the varsity tennis team already had 12 matches under their belt. By the first day, the Raiders had an impressive 10-2 record.

“For the kids, it was good,” coach Michael Hjort said. “It was a chance to knock the rust off their rackets, [and] allows them to see where they stand against equal high school opponents.”

The team kicked off the fall season Aug. 12, beating Pflugerville (11-8) and Cedar Ridge (12-7).

“It was extremely intense,” senior Londyn Thetford said. “We had a lot of pressure on us because we wanted to give our coach something to remember.”

The team continued to dominate their matches, including shutouts against Killeen (19-0) and Hendrickson (19-0), Aug. 13 and 14, respectively.

“I expected [the win against Killeen], and when we went to Hendrickson and did the same thing I was pleased and surprised,” Hjort said. “The kids had put in a lot of hard work and it was beginning to pay off.”

After winning all seven away matches, the team returned home Aug. 17 to crush College Station 17-2 and Cedar Ridge 14-5.

“We already played against them,” senior Kali Rose said. “We already beat them before, so the pressure was on us to win again.”

The team’s only losses came to Westwood and Lake Travis.

“We were pretty bummed,” Thetford said. “It was expected, but we played closer than ever with Lake Travis.”

The Raiders would quickly bounce back with wins against Liberty Hill (17-2) and Marble Falls (10-3), Sept. 3 and 6. The team is currently 12-2.

They face district rival Cedar Park at home Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m.

“I feel good about the rest of the season, but our district is the hardest to get out of,” Rose said.

UPDATE: The Cedar Park Rouse match was stopped early Tuesday because of rain. They’ll resume play Thursday between 3:30 and 4 p.m.