Friendswood's team tennis squad broke through for its first victory of the 2026 season Monday, Aug. 17, beating Clear Springs 13-6 behind a dominant doubles performance that set the tone early.

The Mustangs swept all three girls doubles matches and took two of three on the boys side to build a 5-2 lead before singles play even started. Friendswood then won eight of 12 singles matchups to pull away, improving to 1-2 after an 0-2 start at Boerne the previous weekend.

"It was very competitive," head coach David Cook said, according to the Galveston County Daily News. "After struggling in our doubles at Boerne and Boerne Champion the weekend before, it was great to see our players grasping and excelling at what we worked at in practice."

The girls doubles lineup was flawless. No. 1 Alyssa Borda and Simran Virdi beat Clear Springs' Brennley Fitzgerald and Lauren Jessel 8-5. No. 2 Cate Allan and Sophia Burkhalter won their match, as did No. 3 Presley Longwell and Evelyn Sarafin.

On the boys side, No. 1 Riley Rand and Preston Rigsby picked up a win, and No. 3 Surya Alli and Josh Jacob added another.

Cook said the team was "much more active at the net" compared to the Boerne trip. In a July 31 season preview, Cook had predicted the girls' depth would carry the squad, saying matches "often depended on our girls winning the majority of theirs to win as a team." That prediction held up Monday.

In singles, Friendswood went 4-2 on both sides. Rigsby, Dalton Neumeyer, Dylan Nguyen and Alli won for the boys. Allan, Burkhalter, Sarafin and Longwell won for the girls.

Clear Springs got strong performances from Priyanka Kamath, who beat Borda 8-1 at No. 1 girls singles, and Jessel, who topped Virdi 8-5 at No. 2. Kamath also teamed with Jacob Dake to win the mixed doubles matchup 8-1. Connor Warmack and Evan Jordan added singles wins for the Chargers.

Clear Springs head coach Ryan Sarten said his team still has work to do before district play, particularly getting inexperienced players more match time.

The win is a confidence boost for a Friendswood program in a rebuilding year after graduating five key players from last season's Region III-5A finalist team. The defending District 20-5A champions open district play Tuesday, Sept. 1, against La Porte.