Orberger Wins State Tennis Title
by Suzanne Burkett
May 08, 2008
Austin, Texas May 5-6
In what started to be a very dreary and nasty two-day state tournament event in Austin turned out to be bright and shiny for junior tennis star Matt Orberger. State Tennis Tournament action was scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM Monday morning. Finally after a four hour rain delay the number one seeded Matt Orberger from region III faced his first challenge against the number two seeded Trey Kimbrell from Morton High School, Region I. Matt advanced to the semi-finals round with a win of 6-4, 6-3 even though his performance started out a little sluggish just like the tournament.
Later that night Matt played his best match of the tournament against Region II’s number one seeded Nick Sanchez from Garden City High School. After what started to be a very intense tight match Matt defeated Sanchez 7-5, 6-1 to proceed to the finals. Matt was completely on top of his game and competed with very few mistakes. His coach said it would have been hard for anyone to beat him this night. This is the first time anyone from Avery has ever advanced to the State Tennis Tournament much less the State Finals Match.
After a long restless night for Matt, he at last faced his biggest challenge of the season Tuesday morning in the Class A Boys Singles State Finals match. His opponent was Garrett Pekar from Granger High School, the number one seed from Region IV. Although Matt claims to have played miserably, his coach says he did not play poorly he was just up against someone who plays with the same playing style, which caused Matt’s biggest obstacle. Pekar was very strong mentally and very consistent on the court as well. You put those two together and you have the makings of a state champ. What it came down to was longevity. The score of the match proves this, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Matt made up in his mind that he wanted to be the state champ and he accomplished this.
Matt said after winning the state championship, “It was a long way to a big win. I feel like it has been one of the biggest accomplishments I have achieved while being in the United States. This is something I will never forget.”
