November 14, 2007
Westlake High State 5A Champs: Blair Jones Major Player in Victory
“Last year was supposed to be the year. This year’s team had zero expectations for a State Championship”, the hoarse but excited words of Westlake Coach Kelly Riley following her team’s triumph in the State tournament Sunday. For the first time since 1992, the Austin Westlake Chaparrals captured the Texas State Team Tennis Championship in Lakeway, soundly beating El Paso-Coronado 10-3 in the final. Austin Tennis Academy’s Blair Jones played a major role in the team’s wins, along with Daniel Wang and former ATA player Meghan O’Rourke. Though the final was one-sided, the road there was not.
The night before the semi-final showdown with Klein High School, Coach Riley stared at the probable match sheet, “which girls can come through?” The match with “Klein was clearly the biggest of the year.” On Saturday, ATA’s Blair Jones answered Riley’s question, winning both her singles and doubles matches, playing a key role in the 10-9 win over Klein. Riley stated “had Blair not won both her doubles and singles matches, we would not have advanced.” In a re-match of an early season dual with Klein, Blair and Meghan O’Rourke defeated Sidney Hernsdorf and Lauren Neilsen 7-6(5), 7-6(5), the same team they had lost to in straight sets in the regular season dual. After the match, Jones echoed Riley’s perspective: “We knew that this match was going to be decided on the girls’ side and that my matches were ones we could win, needed to win,” and did win. The tenth point was captured at the girls #1 singles spot, where Stephanie Peana won 6-0 in the third set, ending a fantastic back and forth contest between two titans of Texas High School tennis.
For the Westlake High Chaparrals, the State Title marks their third since 1983 and their first as a 5A designated school. As it is “way too early” for Coach Riley to think about the 2008 repeat prospects, she will now enjoy her team’s accomplishment and look forward to the spring individual season. For senior Blair Jones, the win is an eternal memory of her time at Westlake, and a goal-fulfilled as she moves towards more success on the college tennis stage.
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