The Fort Stockton tennis team opened up district play against their most formidable foe in Andrews on Sept. 20 in an away match.

A pair of freshman Panthers earned victories in singles play at the No. 5 and No. 6 lines in the match, marking improvement from a shutout loss a season ago. In No. 5 singles. Alexander Gomez secured 4-6, 7-6(4), 10-7 win. Dylan Jones followed suit with a three-set win (6-4, 7-5, 10-5) in No. 6 singles.

“This was a team that defeated us 19-0 a year ago and had 14 of their 16 players returning coming into this season. players returning,” Fort Stockton head coach Victor Garcia said. “My players weren’t phased by it one bit and we made sure to show off our improvement on the court. Many of my players managed to battle out there but just couldn’t quite finish out the points.”

The final score of the match was 17-2 if favors of Andrews. Up next, the Fort Stockton tennis team will host Pecos on Tuesday, Sept. 27.