After placing second at the district tournament last weekend, senior tennis captain Ivan Cordero Roman advanced to regionals.

Roman said he couldn’t have achieved this alone.

“I want to thank all my coaches and my teammates and my family for supporting me for four years. It paid off,” Roman said.

His coaches are thankful for him as well.

“He’s the type of player that any coach would love to have. He’s very respectful, not only to his coaches but to his competitors,” assistant tennis coach Julie Perez said. In addition to being respectful, Perez also said “[Ivan] has an intense dedication” to the sport, which is apparent in the amount of time he spends practicing.

“I practice for at least a couple of hours everyday,” Roman said, “Either from 8th period to 5 p.m. or until the sun goes down, depending on how much homework I have.”

The practice paid off.

“He did really well in the district season. He only had one loss and has been in contention for the No. 1 ranking in the district all season,” Perez said.

Cordero Roman will compete in the regional tournament starting today in Lubbock.

By Sienna Mata