Stewart Johnson
With 14 seniors on the roster, Carroll tennis coach Corey Aldridge had a good feeling about what his tennis players could collectively accomplish this past fall. Experience and depth powered the Dragons throughout the season and allowed them to reach the 6A state tennis tournament, something they’ve done only once before.
“I don’t think they were better than any years previous — they just had that mental advantage because they played so much together,” Aldridge says of his team. “They were able to close out close games, and they did all year.”
Focused on building strong doubles play, the Dragons coupled that facet of the game with the skills of their talented singles players. Senior Bella Andrade led the girls, having won a state title in mixed doubles last spring, while Avi Kumar was the No. 1 boys player.
While the girls had more star power at the top of their lineup, Carroll’s boys were deep and consistent from top to bottom. That even skill level was helpful during stretches of the season, including in district, when they could have suffered from potential setbacks.
“That depth carried us,” Aldridge says. “We had some injuries on the boys' side. It was really easy when one person went down to plug somebody right back in and keep up to speed. There was no drop off skill-wise.”
Although the loss of several experienced seniors will be a challenge to overcome, the Dragons will look to returners such as juniors Maddy Clark and Andy Li to lead the way for the team next season.
SEASON RECAP
The Southlake Carroll tennis team started its season with a 10-9 win over Round Rock Westwood on Aug. 5, but the outcome proved much different when the two teams met again. Westwood defeated the Dragons 10-1 in the 6A state semifinal match on Oct. 26 in College Station, then went on to claim the state championship the next day.
Despite the loss, Carroll (22-3) tied its best finish in team tennis history by reaching the state tournament, a feat the Dragons haven’t achieved since 2019.
“They knew what was at stake and they knew the big stage that the kids were going to play on, and they just stepped up,” Carroll tennis coach Corey Aldridge says. “The chemistry and the support behind one another was just unmatched. It was a special year.”
The Dragons (ranked No. 3 by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association) dominated District 4-6A play by going 7-0 and holding off its biggest challenge in Keller (No. 10 in the TTCA poll) by a 14-5 final. Carroll went 134-18 overall in district matches.
Facing tough opposition prepared the Dragons for both district and the postseason. Westwood (No. 1), Allen (No. 5), Highland Park (No. 7), Plano West (No. 8) and Coppell (No. 14) were all challenges that sharpened Carroll. The experience helped as Carroll got past Highland Park in the regional semifinals and finally defeated Allen in the regional final after losing their previous two meetings in the regular season.
“When you win, you win, and when you lose, you learn,” Aldridge says. “By losing those two matches (to Allen), it allowed us to expose some weakness that we needed to address, and it paid off.”