Adolfo Gonzalez shows near-perfect form while practicing his backhand recently. He will be one of three Lobos, along with John Martin and Desiree Kittel, heading to the Class 4A Region IV Meet in San Antonio April 19-20. (Photo by Josh Aleman)
by MARK CAUL
For the third consecutive season, Orlando DeLaFuente will be coaching at the regional tennis tournament.
The sixth-year Lehman head tennis coach will have three athletes competing at Class-4A Region IV meet which will be held at the Blossom Athletic Complex in San Antonio on April 19-20.
Sensational junior Adolfo Gonzalez, who was a few points away from winning a state title in 2009 as a freshman, captured the boys singles title after reeling off three straight wins last week at the district tournament at Clemens High School.
Gonzalez defeated one of last year’s state finalists Russell Naumann of Alamo Heights in two sets to secure the boys title.
The mixed doubles pair of John Martin and Desiree Kittel was able to run off three straight victories but fell in the district finals to Alamo Heights.
Their second place finish enables them to join Gonzalez at the regional tournament.
Martin teamed up with Desiree’s older sister Penelope to win the mixed doubles regional title last year.
They eventually lost in the state quarterfinals in three sets 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
The younger Kittel sister, who has come up just short of advancing to the state title in singles in each of the past two years, was eliminated in the quarterfinals in three sets in 2010 although she was a match point away from advancing.
This year she has teamed with Martin for a formidable duo that has had its share of ups and downs but has peaked at the right time.
“John and Des have been able to elevate their game as a pair and just need to fine tune what they’ve been doing to be successful at the regional tournament,” DeLaFuente said. “They will probably have the tougher road to get to the state tournament because this is such a strong region. But I think they will be focused and ready.”
Tennis powers Boerne Champion, Lake Travis and Alamo Heights will all have competitors at the regional meet.
Meanwhile, Adolfo Gonzalez, who is at full strength this season after fighting the injury bug in 2010, is among the favorites to make a run at his second regional title.
DeLaFuente believes that playing a full season with the Lehman boys soccer team will benefit Gonzalez in the coming weeks.
“I think playing soccer has helped Adolfo build strength and endurance as well as footwork,” DeLaFuente said. “But basically I think he has been ing smarter tennis. He used to try and hit people off the court. Now, he is playing better defensively and has added a different layers to his game.”
He was forced to retire in the semifinal round last year because of back pain that plagued him the entire tournament.
“It was unfortunate that Adolfo had such terrible luck last season at the regional meet because we fully expected him to get back to state,” DeLaFuente said. “But I think he has become better for that experience and will be much hungrier going into the regional tournament this year.”
All three players have all been mainstays of the Lehman tennis program since they were freshmen and have set the standard for DeLaFuente’s program. Martin is a senior and both Gonzalez and Kittel are juniors.
“These kids have all played a big role in what our program has become over the past three years,” said DeLaFuente. “The standards are now very high for all of our future athletes. I don’t think you can replace the experience of actually playing tennis on the regional and state level.”
The state tennis tournament will be held on May 9-10 at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin.
