Approaching the Connally High School tennis courts in Pflugerville on the afternoon of Tuesday, Oct. 12, the noise of the loud lawnmowers and the sight of the Connally team squeegeeing the desolate courts was almost eerie. Little did the two teams know what was about to follow.

After nearby lightning sent the teams to sit in the Connally gym for 30 minutes, the teams got back to the court in the late afternoon to begin warming up. Another half an hour later and the doubles teams were on the court ready to play.

The Connally Cougars placed second in the District 18-5A, while the Knights placed third in District 17-5A. Although they were underdogs on the road, the Knights stayed neck-and-neck with their hosts for a majority of the tournament with the Cougars ahead by one match in a few instances. Mac was finally able to take the lead after junior Liliana Rodriguez won her singles match, putting the score at 7-6.

“My matches were tough, the girls were very good,” Rodriguez said, “but I think I persevered and kept my game up strong, and [I] was able to win both my doubles match and my singles match.”

Coach Christopher Purkiss also emphasized the difficulty of the competition that Mac was up against and the determination that he witnessed on the courts.

“We had some really tough fights and people played 100 percent the whole time,” Purkiss said when asked about how the team played overall. “It didn’t matter if they were up or down, they were playing hard the whole match.”

A few matches pass, and the score is tied at 9-9. Everything comes down to this one last singles match, whether or not McCallum will advance another round lies on senior Peyton Casey.

“At first when I first started playing, I didn’t think that it was that big of a deal,” Casey said. “I got on the court and I was like, ‘Alright, it’s just gonna be an ordinary singles match.’ And then about an hour and halfway in, I looked over and no one else was playing and I was the last one. I was like ‘Oh hey, Coach Purkiss, out of curiosity, what is the overall game score right now?’ and he was like ‘Oh it’s tied, so if you win, we win the tournament and if you lose, we lose the tournament.’”

The pressure was mounting, and both teams were lined up, faces pressed against the fence, watching intently and encouraging their player on.

“The score was 9-9, and there was this deciding match with Peyton,” Rodriguez said. “Both teams were lined up against the fence, cheering for their respective player, and everyone was super excited but super nervous. We were just hoping that Peyton would bring home the gold and she did.”

Each point came with roaring applause from the team’s players as the tension escalated, and the coaches were especially vigilant in pointing out the player’s strengths and pulling them aside to give them tips.

“It came down to Peyton and it was 9-9 and everyone realized that this is the match to determine who wins the whole thing,” Purkiss said. “So everybody was there and their team was on their side and our team was on our side and we were cheering Peyton on every great play that she made so it was great to support her and see her play her best.”

A few short games later and Casey won match point, winning the final singles match of the night 6-3, 6-4, and securing the team a 10-9 victory over Connally.

“I was freaking out, it was so scary but I think that was the most determined feeling I’ve ever had,” Casey said. “I won and it felt great. It was a really good feeling.”

Despite the close score, the win was no short feat.

“Even though the overall score seems really close, the matches themselves were battles,” assistant coach Elise Baughman said. “But everyone played their hardest, brought their A game, and Peyton came in very clutch at the end and brought the win home [by] earning that 10th win.”

Just two days later, the team traveled to College Station to play Jordan High School from Katy ISD in the area tournament. Despite playing their hardest—with three JV boys stepping in for absent varsity players—the team was defeated by their opponents, 10-0.

Looking past the loss, the team took solace in the fact that this is the deepest run the tennis team has made in years. Even Purkiss can’t remember the last time the Knights made it past bi-districts.

“It has been a long time,” Purkiss said. “[Class of 2019 senior] Steven Tibbetts is a renowned tennis player, and it might have to go back to the time of Steven Tibbetts playing, maybe his freshman or sophomore year, is my guess. … It’s been a while.”

This playoff victory was especially meaningful to the upperclassmen who were present on the team over some leaner years.

“I think the team did very, very well,” Rodriguez said. “We haven’t advanced this far in a very long time. It was very exciting to see everyone try their best and have our hard work pay off.”

Casey stressed that the team couldn’t have won a bi-district title without the underclassmen and new players.

“I think our team this year has a lot of new players that are really contributing a lot to the team, and I think we wouldn’t be able to go this far without them,” she said. “I think in previous years, we haven’t had the determination level that we do have now.”

Although the defeat means the fall season is over, Purkiss and Baughman are still extremely impressed with how the season played and the hope it gives for the spring, individual season.

“Skillfully, everyone is very good, but the mental game our team had was probably the most impressive to me,” said Baughman who is in her first year as an assistant coach. “A lot of our matches were essentially blowouts earlier in the season, so it was really exciting to see the level of competition [we] reached at bi-districts and all the team spirit, like everyone cheering each other on. It was a really cool environment.”