Each year our district tennis season concludes with a large tournament in which all the high schools participate. This year the district tournament was played over two days this past week (3/29 and 3/30) at Memorial Park, and indoors at Chancellor’s Tennis Center. Playing for the Village School were the following student-athletes:

Girls

1. Singles: Helen Z
2. Singles: Femke N
3. Doubles: Divya R & Paulina D
4. Doubles: Patricia P-B & Katie W

Boys

1. Singles: Shaunak S
2. Singles: Amit K
3. Doubles: Inigo A-O & Justus V
4. Doubles: Parin T & Yash A

The girls doubles and boys singles kicked off the first morning’s matches. Although both our girls’ doubles teams lost their first round match, both teams displayed some excellent shot-making, and Divya and Paulina extended their first set to a tiebreaker. Meanwhile, the boys singles lines of Shanuak and Amit both breezed through their first round matches.

The girls’ singles and boys’ doubles went on-court around 9:30am. Femke unfortunately drew the #3 seed in the first round, and although she lost, Femke courageously accepted a singles role in this her first year playing tennis. Helen Z won her first round match convincingly. On the boys’ doubles side, Inigo and Justus dispatched their first round opponents, while Parin and Yash outlasted their opponents 6-2, 6-4.

In the second round of match play Helen lost to the #2 seed, which ended the tournament for the Village girls. Parin and Yash lost to the #2 seed, but their 1st round win would later secure the boys their team championship. In singles Amit battled a sore arm but managed to defeat his older, bigger, and stronger opponent in straight sets. Meanwhile, on an adjacent court Shaunak suffered through bad leg cramps but prevailed in straight sets also. And in doubles Justus and Inigo again breezed through their match.

Rain then halted play for the day, and we resumed at 8am the next morning indoors at Chancellor’s. While Amit stayed home to let his injured arm heal, Shaunak faced a hot #3 seed in the semifinals and, after a fine tournament, bowed out 2 and 2. Inigo and Justus won their semifinal match fairly quickly, which set up a rematch with last year’s district champs from Emery. On this day the Emery team was better, defeating our guys 6-2, 6-4. We expect to face them again, however, at the state tournament on 4/11 and 12.

The points earned by the Village boys over the two days of match play was enough to earn the district team championship for 2016. Please be sure to congratulate all our players for a fine district season and tournament!

4A District Tennis Tournament Results

The weather cooperated just enough to let us play most of our Day 1 matches at Memorial Park. Match play began at 8am with girls’ doubles and boys’ singles matches.

On the girls’ side, partners Patricia P-Band Katie W bowed out in the first round but played their best match of the season. In the other girls’ doubles, Divya R and Paulina D lost their match but took their first set to a tiebreaker.

On the boys’ singles side both Shaunak S and Amit K advanced to the quarterfinals. Amit eventually lost to the #1 seed, and Shaunak’s QF match was interrupted by rain and will be continued tomorrow.

For the girls’ singles, Femke N lost in the first round to the #3 seed, and Helen Z won her first round match but lost to the #2 seed in round 2.

In the boys’ doubles competition, Yash A and Parin T won their first round match but lost to last year’s State Champs in the second round. And Inigo A-O and Justus V won into the quarterfinals before their semifinal match was halted, due to rain. Their semifinal match will continue tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s matches will begin at 8am and will be played indoors at Chancellor’s Tennis Center. The address is:

6535 Dumfries Dr
Houston, TX 77096

Wish us luck (such that all the net cords fall our way)! – Coach Lamore

On Tuesday, March 29th, at 9:00am, the Village Tennis Center had its Ribbon Cutting Ceremony! The ceremony welcomed parents, coaches, and administration, including our Head of School, Gabriella Rowe, and Athletic Director, Dustin Embrey. The Village Tennis Center houses 6 courts, and it is truly a wonderful site to see, and an asset to our campus. “The Village School is excited to have a brand new Tennis Center on campus for our student-athletes and tennis programs to enjoy. We have also partnered with TGA in an effort to offer quality youth programs, clinics, and instruction, which will help our athletes develop their skills and enjoy our wonderful facility. We are excited to build upon the success of our programs.” -Dustin Embrey; Athletic Director

Attention Viking Nation,

On Tuesday, April 12th, from 4pm- close, Olive Garden is graciously having a fundraiser to help support Viking Athletics. They have decided to donate 10% of the sales that our Viking community spends at their location. This will go a long way to help our programs and our students. All you need to do is mention to your waiter that you are a member of the Village Viking community. If you are unable to dine in, you may also order takeout and the same benefits apply. Please enjoy a nice night out with your family and friends and enjoy some of their delicious Italian food.

Olive Garden Address:
West Oaks Mall, 2750 TX-6, Houston, TX 77082

There is also an opportunity to win prizes and giveaways. Tag your photos with #SPIRITNIGHT and mention @OliveGarden for your chance to win prizes!

See Flyer For Details

Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) annually honors youth and high school sports coaches throughout the United States, who embody the ideals of the Double-Goal Coach® who strive to win, while also pursuing the even more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports. The Village School’s Head Cross Country Coach, Scott Mastro, was recently named a Houston Chapter winner for Positive Coaching Alliance’s Double-Goal Coach Award. This was a tremendous achievement that spoke volumes about the impact Coach Mastro was able to have with his team. His impact was so great, that PCA felt that his accomplishments were so outstanding that Coach Mastro was named as 1 of the 50 National Double-Goal Coach award winners. Coach Mastro will be honored at the PCA convention in San Francisco, CA this April. Congratulations to Coach Mastro for this historic achievement and for his ability to better our student-athletes both on and off the field.

For more information, please read the attached document.