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Already well-known for her accomplishments in USTA tennis in her age division, Horter isn’t expected to sneak up on anyone. But the fact that she has played some of the talent she is expected to see at state should play to her advantage.
"She’s got quite a record building for herself," said Norm Smith, Carroll tennis coach, who said his girls singles player has as good a shot as any to come back with a title. "There are some top-ranked girls in the USTA 18s [age division] that will be there.
"There are plenty of girls that could beat her, but they are older kids and there might be a lot more pressure on them," he said. "We’ll work with her on going in with the mindset that she’s there her first time as a freshman and she’s got nothing to lose."
Horter played as though she couldn’t lose at region, defeating her four opponents by a combined total of 48-7 in games and without losing a set. The Carroll freshman cruised through the first round and the quarterfinals without losing a game (24-0), then overcame some challenges by Charlotte Dawson of Odessa Permian before pulling it out 6-4, 6-1.
In the regional championship against Marcus’ Emily Mathis, Horter made it look easy once again in a 6-1, 6-1 decision.
"Ever since the beginning of the year, I’ve been looking forward to the state tournament and the chance to get there," Horter said. "I’m pretty confident, because the girls I’m going to play against I’ve played against for years [in USTA], even before high school."
Horter’s first draw is against Ariel Morton of Houston Klein. Although a tough first draw, Smith said that Horter is familiar with her opening opponent.
"She knows her strengths and she knows how she wants to play her," Smith said.
Although Carroll’s boys doubles team of Andrew Reznik and Stewart Pittman and mixed doubles team of Ryan McClanahan and Taylor Jurica will not be joining Horter at state as hoped, Smith said the players gave it their all.
"Losing a couple of really close matches is really painful," he said. "There was never any lack of effort throughout."
Reznick and Pittman were knocked out in the quarterfinals by a team from Amarillo (6-7 [5], 7-6 [4], 6-4), while McClanahan and Jurica fell in the semifinals to a Lubbock Coronado team and then could not win the third-place match for a chance at a playback against district rivals from Grapevine that the two had beaten previously.
"We were playing pretty good, and the the boy on the other mixed team just got on fire," Smith said of his mixed team’s loss. In the boys doubles loss to Amarillo, "it was a case of that team beating us; we didn’t just hand it to them."
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