It’s about 5:20 AM and your alarm goes off. This can only mean one thing: there’s a tennis tournament today. Tomball Tennis has a high level of camaraderie among the players. “We all meet at Chick-fil-a the morning of the tournament,” said senior varsity player Caroline Hinojosa.

            6:00 AM: “We are usually jamming on the bus waiting to leave,” said senior varsity player Bianca Zaragoza.

            7:40 AM: The players arrive at the tournament site. “We are really energized and ready to go,” said Hinojosa.

            Once the players arrive at the school, they analyze the opposing players and size up the competition. Then, the teams split up and get on a second bus with their opponents. “We all have our headphones in and it’s usually about time for a power nap,” said senior Devin Burnett

            When they finally arrive at their destination, it is only about 8:00.

            At 9:00 AM, the players warm up and get their game faces on. Fifteen minutes later, the first match begins.

            If the players lose the first match, they still have about one or two more. But the winning players continue playing until they lose. Because of the “keep winning, keep going” system, Tomball players have to stay and play all day until the finals match at around 4:00.

            The players are awarded medals after they have waited for everyone to finish.

            At 5:00, the players load up the buses and drive back to the main site. This is where the players meet back up with their fellow teammates. Tomball players usually eat as a team to celebrate their victories before they get back to Tomball.

            On a good day, our players arrive at Tomball around 8:00, but it occasionally lasts until 9:00 or even 10:30, depending on how well they performed. But win or lose, according toZaragoza, “Respect the racquet!”