COURTESY PHOTO BY STEPHANIE SAWYER Double trouble Charlotte Lucke, left, and teammate Abby Kenigsberg, of the Port Aransas High School tennis team, took first place in doubles competition at the Aransas Pass High School tennis tournament March 6. The Lady Marlins varsity girls tennis team won the Aransas Pass Tennis Tournament on Friday, March 6.

Leading the charge was the doubles team of Abby Kenigsberg and Charlotte Lucke. They won the girls doubles competition.

Early rounds were eight-game pro sets, and the finals were regular sets, with a match consisting of two sets with a 10-point tie-break if sets were split.

Opening with a win over a Mathis team, 8-5, they went on to cut short an Aransas Pass pair, 8-3. In the championship match, they went to a tie-break with a team from St. James Episcopal School in Corpus Christi. They dropped the first set, 0-6, then stormed back in the second set to win, 6-4. They won the match with a 10-06 win in the tie-break.

They were blocked by an Odem team, 8-2, in the first round of play.

While coming up short of a championship, the boys singles players each made it to the semi-finals.

Clark Wilson proved to be a tough opponent for a St. James player, winning handily, 8-1, in the opening match. In the second round, Wilson make short work of an Austwell-Tivoli player, winning 82. He was stopped in the semifinals by an Aransas Pass player in love games.

Kasey Reed scored an opening round win, 8-2, over Skidmore-Tynan's entry. He took a big win off a Port Lavaca player, winning 8-0 in the second round. Reed fought to a two-set tie-break before a St. James player ended his run in the semifinals. Reed lost the first set, 3-6, came back to win the second set 6-4, and pushed the tie-break to 11-9.

It was a short day for Port Aransas in boys doubles. Both entries were stopped in their initial matches.

John Eggleston and Connor Collins came out of the first round on the short end of an 8-2 match against a St. James team.

David Thrasher and Zack Merrill opened with a bye, then were stopped by a Skidmore-Tynan team, 8-3.

In the junior varsity tournament held Thursday, March 5, it was rough going.

Kevin Sikes and Matt Fries had the best run of the day, making it to the semifinals. They opened with an 8-5 win in the first match against a Port Lavaca team. In the second round they put away a Skidmore-Tynan team, 8-1. An Aransas Pass took them out in the semis, 8-4.

The singles JV players fell in the first round. Emily Klein was taken out by an Odem player, 8-3, while Blaze Whites was stopped by a Mathis player, 8-5.

"I was very proud of the way both the JV and the varsity represented Port Aransas," said Coach Piper Boise.

"We tried out some new doubles combinations, and I think they all played very well for never having played together before," she added.

All but the team of Kenigsberg and Lucke were new doubles combinations.

The teams will host a Spring Break Special Tournament that starts today, Thursday, March 12, with the junior varsity. The varsity takes to the courts tomorrow, Friday, March 13.