Wylie managed to slip past Lubbock-Cooper 12-7 the last time the teams met in a District 4-5A match Sept. 23 in Woodrow.
The second time around, however, Wylie left little doubt on who was the better team.
The Bulldogs swept Lubbock-Cooper 10-0 in a Region I-5A quarterfinal team tennis match Tuesday at Hardin-Simmons’ Streich Tennis Center.
“The kids were very confident (today),” first-year Wylie coach Adam Cherry said. “We had homecoming and a homecoming dance that night (before the last meeting), and we had to make the trip to Lubbock. I definitely didn’t think we played to our potential.
“I told them I’d like to see a statement (today), because that’s a top 15 team in 5A. We came out, got on top of them in doubles and just didn’t look back. So, I was very proud of our team effort today.”
Cherry expected the Bulldogs to play well Tuesday. He didn’t think they would sweep the Pirates.
“I knew we were capable of it, but we had to pull out two or three very close double matches,” Cherry said. “So, everything went our way today.”
Lubbock-Cooper finished third in district behind Wylie and district champion Wylie.
More: High school tennis 2023 Region I-5A, 4A high school team tennis playoff pairings (Oct. 13)
More: High School Tennis High School Tennis: Wylie rocks Caprock in playoff opener; Amarillo High tops Abilene High
Region tournament up next
Wylie (22-3) advances to play Aledo at 10 a.m. Thursday in a region semifinal match at Hamilton Park Tennis Club in Wichita Falls.
Argyle plays defending state champion Amarillo High in the other semifinal.
The winners meet for a state berth at 10 a.m. Friday at Hamilton Park Tennis Club.
Amarillo High beat Lubbock High 10-8 on Tuesday in Plainview, while Argyle beat Midlothian 11-4.
Aledo beat Colleyville Heritage 11-8 on Monday.
Wylie didn’t play Aledo this season, so Cherry doesn’t know what to expect from the Bearcats.
“We’ll have to do some research on them,” he said. “Hopefully, we can take care of business.”
Wylie hasn’t played Amarillo High since a 10-5 loss in the region quarterfinals last year, but the Bulldogs did beat Argyle 10-9 on Aug. 7 at Argyle.
“We know either team that comes out of that (other semifinal) is going to be a very tough match,” Cherry said. “It’s what you’d expect one match away from state.”
The state tournament will be Oct. 25-26 in Waco.
Wylie is seeking its first state team tennis berth since reaching the Class 5A finals in 2021. The Bulldogs won a Class 4A state in 2017.
Cherry believes he has a team that can get back to state and win it all.
“I definitely think we can,” Chery said. “I’ve said all year that Lubbock High, us, Amarillo and Argyle are all capable of beating each other on any given day. So, we’ll have to come ready to play, and I think today was a statement match. I hope this momentum just carries over to the region tournament.”
REGION I-5A QUARTERFINALS
Abilene Wylie 10, Lubbock-Cooper 0
BOYS SINGLES – Trevor Short, Wylie, def. Caleb Bradshaw 6-0, 6-1.
BOYS DOUBLES – Short/Jack Garvey, Wylie, def. Bradshaw/Asher Etchison 6-3, 7-5; Brandon Cowling/Steven Cowling, Wylie, def. Joseph Aguirre/Trenton Flores 6-3, 6-4; Tate Heureman/Talan Baker, Wylie, def. Braden Lane/Brendan Lane 4-6, 6-4, 11-9.
GIRLS SINGLES – Hope Willis, Wylie, def. Julia Elliott 6-2, 6-0; Kate Delgado, Wylie, def. Cambrie Cline 6-2, 6-3.
GIRLS DOUBLES – Willis/Suhejla Qinami, Wylie, def. Elliott/Cline 6-0, 6-4; Delgado/Truleigh Conover, Wylie, def. Greta Frankhauser/Maysen White 6-2, 6-1; Lyndsey Ayala/Kate Thompson, Wylie, def. Ava Grace Wallach/Abby Gragg 6-2, 6-4.
MIXED DOUBLES – Arabella Dlugiewicz/Arnav Garlapati, Wylie, def. Connor Kelly/S. Wilson 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
RECORDS – Lubbock-Cooper n/a; Abilene Wylie 22-3.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene Wylie swept Lubbock-Cooper in a Region I-5A team tennis match