Local athletes participate in postseason events
It was a long time in the making. Angel Tate watched as a ninth grader as her Starkville High School tennis teammates would qualify for the state tournament and hoped that one day it would be here. That day comes for Tate on May 8. Tate entered the Class 6A, Region 3 Tournament seeded second after winning at Northwest Rankin, then got the victory she needed to reach the state tournament.
Even though she lost to Meagan Humphreys from Madison Central at district, it didn’t keep her from being the first Yellowjacket tennis player to make state since the move from Class 5A to 6A.
“I feel great about representing the school,” Tate said. “I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time. I’ve been on the team since seventh grade and I remember the first time the team went (when she was in ninth grade) I couldn’t go because I was on junior varsity. I knew I had to get there. I couldn’t pull it off the last two years, but I pulled it off this year.
SHS tennis coach Anna Albritton said it’s a great accomplishment to come out of the district seeded second with teams like Callaway, Northwest Rankin and Madison Central.
Tate has used her athletic ability to get better and reach this point.
“When you look from last year to this year,
she has improved so much,” Albritton said. “She is a very steady tennis player and many people refer to her as being like a backboard. She very tenacious, gets everything back and doesn’t seem to run out of energy.”
Albritton said Tate has been working hard in the weeks following the district tournament.
Even though she hasn’t tried to turn Tate into a different player, there are some tweaks being made that Albritton believes will help her.
“We’re not trying to change a whole lot, but trying to sharpen some of the tools in her toolbox,” Albritton said. “We are giving her another tool to use and some simple stuff she can try.”
Tate thanked Albritton and coach Sidney Sullivan for preparing her and the support she’s gotten from her teammates.
The teaching from Albritton and Sullivan is something Tate says can be useful in the future.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to help me in the long run,” Tate said.