2020-21 Tennis Team Earns Most Team Wins in MMA Tennis History

Demonstrating outstanding talent and sportsmanship, MMA’s 2021 tennis team made MMA history for the sport this spring, ending their season with a 12-1 record and placing in the top 8 teams in the state of Missouri.  

The tennis team finished the regular season undefeated at 9-0, besting teams from Capital City, Father Tolton, Fulton, Hannibal, Moberly, Mexico and Columbia Independent high schools. This performance earned them the privilege of competing in district championships, where they beat Fulton and Mexico High School and remained undefeated with an 11-0 record.  

They then advanced to the sectional tournament, winning against Moberly High School, and progressing to the state tournament. It wasn’t until the quarterfinals of the state competition that MMA was overcome by Clayton High School, completing their season at 12-1 and earning them the title of top 8th team in the state.  

Individually, MMA Cadet Isaac Way finished in the top 12 players in Class 1 at the state tournament. Additionally, Cadet Marco Tavarez placed second in the district championship – only bested by Isaac Way in the finals – and the double team of Cadets Simon Way and Oscar Lopez also won the district championship.  

“Our strongest players this year were Isaac Way, Simon Way, Marco Tavarez and Oscar Lopez,” said MMA Tennis Coach Brad Smith. “This was my first year as the head coach for tennis, and I am proud to have helped the team to its first district championship since 2002.”   

But, according to Coach Smith, the most impressive part of the season was not in the team or individual scores, but rather in the honor, discipline and sportsmanship cadets displayed all season.  

“I am most proud of our sportsmanship this year. We were a strong team and worked hard, but we never gloated over our opponents. Our players were kind to the other schools, giving them opportunities to play instead of just finishing as fast as possible,” Coach Smith said. “As Marco Tavarez said many times this season, ‘everyone has to start somewhere, coach,’ and that spoke volumes to me about our players' character on and off the court.” 

View individual game scores here. 

2020-21 Tennis Team

• Isaac Way
• Simon Way
• Marco Tavarez
• Samuel Way
• Oscar Lopez
• Gorka Yarte
• Nathan Dempsey
• Bradford Wright
• Esiqiuo Resendez 
• Pablo Garduno
• Rene Garcia
• David Eaton
• William Dunn
• Delgermurun Javkhlantugs
• Bilgun Erdenedavaa
• Marco Afane
• Samuel Olmeda
• Zijie Zhou 
• Yuheng Liu
• Narathorn Cunningham