PHOTO BY KENNETH PEISER The Lampasas varsity tennis team poses following its seasonending loss to Lake Travis. The Lampasas tennis team said "Adiós" to San Antonio Tuesday.

With high hopes of making a repeat trip to regionals after the school's first-ever regional bid last season, the team was beaten soundly by Lake Travis 18-1 and fell into third place in the district standings.

While the loss to Lake Travis proved to be the final straw, in reality the camel's back was broken several weeks ago when the Badgers and Lady Badgers suffered an 11-8 loss to Marble Falls.

"We needed that one to end up going," head coach Kenneth Peiser said. "The players hopefully see that it takes practice to get the win. It does not come by just wanting it or just going out hitting.

"It has to be going after it in practice and matches."

Lampasas came into the season finale tied for second place in district and needed a victory over Lake Travis to force a three-way tie for first place. With the loss, however, Lake Travis wins the district title, and Marble Falls takes second, advancing both teams to regionals.

Lampasas ends its fall team tennis season with a 3-2 district record.

Despite showing up late and having no time to warm up, Lake Travis was the dominant squad.

"[That] gave us a slight advantage, which lasted only about four games," Peiser said.

Lampasas was shut out in doubles play, where the team lost all seven matches.

The mixed doubles duo of Wade Martin/Emily Bever put up the biggest fight, taking their opponents to three sets before falling.

"We started out attacking until they got warmed up, and then we let up," the coach said. "[That] is a no-no against a good team.

"You must keep some kind of pressure on them."

While the end result did not improve much in singles competition where the team won its lone match of the evening, the play did.

One of the bright spots, Peiser said, was the play of Paige Jones in her loss. Although she was beaten, the coach referred to her match as "one of her best."

"She played aggressive, made shots she does not normally hit consistently and saw that if she practices like she played tonight how much improvement she would see," Peiser said.

Many of the other players also played well but just could not match the shots of Lake Travis, the coach added.

"The lesson learned today is that taking the short ball and opening up the court does work," he said.

With just one singles match remaining, Lampasas was still winless, which put all the pressure on Chris Monroe.

It was a familiar position for the Badger, who earned a critical victory against Hendrickson late in the match last week. Lampasas went on to win 10-9.

In a repeat of his performance against Hendrickson, Monroe fell down a set before fighting back to win a third-set tiebreaker and avoid the shutout.

"He pulled it out by staying consistent and picking on the guy's weakness," Peiser said.

Martin also won in extra matches.