Dogs' tennis dominant in 22-4A

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Dogs' tennis dominant in 22-4A

By Tom Halliburton

The Port Arthur News

VIDOR -- She never picked up a racket before high school. Soccer served as her winter recreation. Yet Wednesday afternoon, Rachel Binagia brightened the clouds.

  The second-seeded Nederland junior captured the District 22-4A girls singles championship, easily defeating No. 1 seed Jessica Brown of Lumberton, 6-1, 6-1 in the finals.

  A straight-A student with a coachable approach to a very cerebral sport, Binagia did exactly what her coach instructed her to do in the championship match. She moved her larger opponent around the court. That was going to become Brown's weakness, Bulldogs coach Jorge Lopez determined. And it turned out to be true.

  Binagia almost finished off Brown as quickly as Nederland freshman Grant Lopez completed his boys singles title match, defeating junior teammate Aaron Elizondo, 6-0, 6-1 at the plush Vidor High School courts.

  Joined in Nederland's crowded winner's circle were the boys 22-4A doubles champions Cody Mays and Ben Wiedenfeld. The Mays-Wiedenfeld tandem outlasted fellow Nederlanders Nick Duplan and Jimmy Hoang, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

  Two more Nederland doubles teams advanced as district runner-up entrants at the 4A Region III tennis championships Apr. 24-25 at Sam Houston State's McAdams Tennis Center. Unseeded Jordan Chandler and Kayla Ferguson qualified for regional girls doubles while the NHS duo of Spencer Coles and Jeanelle Stevens entered regional mixed doubles eligibility by defeating fellow Nederlanders Holly Hodge and Adam Weaver in a straight-set playback eliminator, 6-0, 7-5.

  With four seniors of the caliber of Duplan, Wiedenfeld, Weaver, and Hoang, Bulldogs' coach Jorge Lopez will lose more leadership than it might seem. Yet new faces keep filling Nederland's tennis empire year after year.

  Rachel Binagia would qualify as a perfect example of that constant new talent to enter Lopez's tennis Doghouse.

  Binagia played soccer all winter and contributed a year ago as an alternate.

  "She came a long way in a year," Lopez said in amazement on Wednesday. "She never picked up a racket until she was a freshmen here, but she's a straight-A student."

  Lopez may believe that Binagia's more limited amount of on-court time in the last few months caused the NHS junior to be seeded second instead of first in the girls singles draw. The lower seeding never diminished Rachel's confidence at all.

  "I was a little bit nervous but I kinda thought that I would do well," Binagia said. "I thought it (the championship match) would a little bit tougher. But I did really good on my serves... It feels great (being a district champion)."

  The howling 25 mile-an-hour winds from the southeast were a bit stronger but rather familiar to Nederland's players.

  "We've had some days with the wind like this before," new 22-4A boys singles champion Lopez said.

  Lopez's opponent, Elizondo, seemed bothered by a tender arm more than he acted flustered by Lopez or the tricky winds. Binagia never wilted in the wind either. She just wished she had been able to summon a sharper backhand.