Clear Lake blanks Dickinson 19-0 in district tennis opener

Clear Lake rolled to a 19-0 shutout of Dickinson on Wednesday, Aug. 26, opening defense of its District 18-6A team tennis title.

The Falcons' dominance left little room for Dickinson, though Gators head coach Todd Burrows told The Daily News the score didn't tell the full story. He cited the play of Chanda Cobbs and Olivia Vargas, along with the mixed doubles team of Elena Zuazo and Kaleb Harris. Cobbs pushed Clear Lake's Caitlyn Wu to an 8-6 finish in No. 6 girls singles.

Clear Brook had a tougher night, falling to Deer Park 15-4 in its 18-6A opener. No individual results from that match were available.

Clear Creek edges Clear Springs 13-6

The closest contest of the night belonged to Clear Creek and Clear Springs. The Wildcats trailed 3-3 heading into No. 3 boys doubles, where Ethan Holder and Kyle Prochaska rallied from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 and give Clear Creek a 4-3 edge entering singles.

Clear Creek head coach Derick Geise said Holder and Prochaska "led back the charge down a set to dominate the super."

The Wildcats then won the top five boys singles and the Nos. 3-6 girls singles to pull away. Brayden Ferraro beat Jacob Dake 8-5 at No. 1 boys singles. Varun Sangar, Preston Nguyen, Jishnu Jojo and Wyatt Parker also won for Clear Creek. Sam Cummings, Savannah Mesch, Kiki Bentson and Malin Douglas added girls singles wins.

Clear Springs got strong performances from Priyanka Kamath, who won No. 1 girls singles 8-3 over Valeria Gomez, and Lauren Jessel, who took No. 2 girls singles 8-4 over Sydney Maier. Cameron Ko won No. 6 boys singles 8-5 over Holder.

In the other 18-6A match, Barbers Hill beat Clear Falls 14-5.

Friendswood eyes ninth straight 20-5A crown

In District 20-5A, Friendswood opens its round-robin Tuesday, Sept. 1, hosting La Porte. The Mustangs have won the district team tennis championship every year since returning to 5A in 2018, according to head coach David Cook.

Cook said this year's squad is younger than past teams and still developing. Alyssa Borda and Preston Rigsby lead the lineup as the No. 1 girls and boys players.

"If we can continue to improve at a similar rate, I expect by the time we get into September and October we will be hard to beat," Cook said.