Athlete of the Week

Ben Chen, Ariel Morton & Micah Hermsdorf

Back on campus, Klein Collins's Ben Chen was still hitting it hard in the wake of his singles championship at the UIL 5A State tennis tournament.

"It was very exciting," Chen said. "It was also relieving too. There were a lot of expectations going into this tournament from my coaches, my friends, my family and me too of course."

"I'm extremely happy for him," Coach Minh Phann said. "He set a goal for himself that he wanted to win State this year, and he did it."

"It's awesome," Chen said. "Especially since I played at UT, which is where I'll be next year. It was pretty cool having the coaches watch me, having my future teammates cheer me on too. It was a good feeling."

It was a good feeling for the Klein Bearkats tennis tandem of Micah Hermsdorf and Ariel Morton, who came home with the girls' 5A State double championship.

"They really played the way that I knew they could," Coach Holly Cannon said. "They're both really strong individual players, and they play great doubles."

After dropping the first set in their opening match at state, the duo proceeded to win six straight sets to win the championship.

"We got our heads on straight, and we played a lot better once we lost our nerves," Morton said. "We played with a lot more confidence. We had a lot of heart in the finals too."