STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER Comin' atcha! Port Aransas High School tennis team member Kasey Reed serves one up during a tournament hosted by PAHS on Thursday, Feb. 26. Port Aransas High School's tennis team captured two first place trophies at the Port Aransas Tennis Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 26.

"I was thoroughly impressed with every member of the team. They all did an excellent job. We took home first places -- in boys and girls doubles -- something we have never done before," said Coach Piper Boies.

Abby Kenigsberg and Charlotte Lucke teamed up to win girls doubles. They started with a bye, then played an Ingleside team to win 6-1, 6-2. That put them up against an Orange Grove team who they put away in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. In the championship match, they split sets, 3-6, 6-3, and won in the tie-break, 10-5.

Kasey Reed and John Eggleston opened with a bye in boys doubles, then blazed through a match with an Ingleside team, 6-0, 6-3. Things got tough in the semi-finals when they took on an Aransas Pass team, splitting sets, 7-6, 4-6, then winning the right to advance in the tie-break, 11-9. In the championship game, they won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, against an Orange Grove team.

Also in girls doubles, Shannon Bundy and Katie Fries worked through two rounds of tough tennis before an Aransas Pass team stopped their progress. They played an Ingleside team, winning in a tie-break, 10-5, after splitting sets, 1-6, 6-4. Next up was the Aransas Pass team that won, 6-4, 6-1.

In boys doubles, Connor Collins and Matt Fries made it to the championship match in the consolations bracket. The opened with a win over an Ingleside team, for which no score was available. They then took on an Aransas Pass team and put them away, 6-3, 6-3. In the championship match they played an Ingleside team, split sets, 7-6, 5-7, and lost in the tiebreak, 10-2.

In girls singles, Chloe Tugwell drew a bye in the first round, then was knocked out in a second round tie-break by a Kingsville Academy player. They split sets, 5-7, 6-3, and the tie-break went to the KA player, 10-6.

Emily Klein also competed in the girls singles bracket, making it all the way to the semi-finals of the consolation bracket. She fell in the opening round to an Ingleside player, 1-6, 1-6, then drew a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket. She went on to play an Aransas Pass player, who took the match 6-2, 6-0.

In boys singles, Reed sat out the first round with a bye, then took on an Ingleside player, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. He was taken out in the semi-finals by an Aransas Pass player, 6-1, 6-0.

On the consolation side of the bracket, Blaze Whites opened with a loss to an Orange Grove player, then drew a bye in the first round. In the semi-finals, he stopped Ingleside's entry in a tie-break. They split sets, 1-6, 6-2, and Whites won the match in the tie-break, 10-8. In the championship match, Whites faced an Ingleside player who ended his run, 6-3, 6-2.

"I am really excited to see how far this team will go this year," Boies said.

The junior varsity plays in Aransas Pass today, Thursday, March 5, and the varsity goes across the ship channel tomorrow, Friday, March 6, to play in Aransas Pass.

The team will host the Port Aransas Spring Break Special, with the junior varsity playing on Thursday, March 12, and the varsity playing on Friday, March 13.