Late Monday afternoon on the three upper courts at Bryan High School, the District 13-5A tennis tournament seemed to turn into the Bryan-College Station Invitational.

A&M Consolidated was matched against Bryan in the semifinals of boys singles, girls doubles and boys doubles as the opening day of the district tourney wound down under a bright sun.

The Tigers were the top seeds in each division, but Bryan's Brady Atkins and Matt Hillestad made sure the boys doubles didn't turn into the College Station Invitational. Third seeds Hillestad and Atkins showed a strong finishing kick in each set of a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Carlos Aguilar and Jose Aguilar.

Consol players reached Tuesday's finals in each division, with Lady Tigers Anik Cepeda and Heather Brien rolling into the girls singles title match.

In boys singles, Consol's top-seeded Kevin Wright outlasted Bryan's Michael Martin 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2 in a semifinal battle that lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes. Martin survived a match point in the second set and won a tiebreaker that made Wright yell at himself, but Wright dominated the final set as Martin battled cramps that caused him to walk gingerly between points.

"Kevin sees Michael all the time out at Pebble Creek [Country Club], so he knew what he needed to do," Consol coach Stephen Mercer said. "He got his composure back and took care of business in the third set."

Wright will face Will Truitt of Harker Heights in one of the finals that are scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Texas A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center.

In the boys doubles match pitting Atkins and Hillestad against the Aguilars, Consol trailed 5-2 in the first set and 3-0 in the second, but each time fought back to 5-5. Atkins, who did outstanding work at the net, held serve each time for 6-5 leads and then the Vikings won by breaking Consol.

"It's something real cool, because Bryan's always the underdog and Consol has been the favorite for as long as I can remember," Atkins said. "About the middle of each set, they'd start coming back and we'd tense up. [Assistant] coach [Tyson] Stewart came out and told us to have fun, and that helped us loosen up."

Hillestad, a junior, moved into position to reach the regional tournament for the third consecutive year. Atkins, a senior, is in his first 13-5A tennis tourney after playing baseball the last three years.

The Vikings will face Consol's Kevin Duffy and David Hillner in the finale.

Two representatives from each division will qualify for the Region II meet in Waco. If the losers of Tuesday's championship matches have not faced the winner of the third-place matches, they will meet in a play-back to determine the second regional entry.

Cepeda and Brien swept through both of their Monday matches in straight sets. Cepeda did not drop a game, while Brien lost seven games in four sets.

Consol's other finalists are Jessica Raphael and Mariah York in girls doubles, and Amanda Trapani and Nathan Cooner in mixed doubles.

Boys Singles

Aleque McKellar, Belton, def. Jack Weber, Consol, 6-4, 6-4; Josh Pownall, Bryan, def. Harshil Patel, Temple, 6-0, 6-0; Kevin Wright, Consol, def. Michael Joseph, Harker Heights, 6-0, 6-0; Michael Martin, Bryan, def. Scott Stephens, Belton, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4; McKellar def. Pownall, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3; Wright def. Martin, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

Boys Doubles

Bulls and Jampala, Temple, def. Aaron Charanza and Jake Joiner, Bryan, 7-5, 6-2; Carlos Aguilar and Jorge Aguilar, Consol, def. Bland and McGinnis, Harker Heights, 6-0, 6-0; Matt Hillestad and Brady Atkins, Bryan, def. Wesson and Hollingsworth, Belton, 6-1, 6-4; Kevin Duffy and David Hillner, Consol, def. Parks and McAllister, Belton, 6-2, 6-1; Hillestad and Atkins def. Aguilar and Aguilar, 7-5, 7-5; Duffy and Hillner def. Bulls and Jampala, 6-1, 6-3.

Girls Singles

Madison Franze, Bryan, def. Ashley Austin, Belton, 6-4, 6-1; Heather Brien, Consol, def. Jackie Schroeder, Bryan, 6-2, 6-2; Anik Cepeda, Consol, def. Vanessa Joseph, Harker Heights, 6-0, 6-0; Franze def. Ramya Pokala, Temple, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5; Brien def. Carly Hubert, Harker Heights, 6-1, 6-0; Cepeda def. Franze, 6-0, 6-0; Brien def. Katy Daugherty, Belton, 6-4, 6-2.

Girls Doubles

AshLee Bilbo and Yvonne Gonzales, Bryan, def. Walker and Rivera, Ellison, 6-1, 6-1; Lauren Ashlock and Miranda Barzilla, Consol, def. Ali Porter and Brittni Parker, Bryan, 6-1, 6-3; Jessica Raphael and Mariah York, Consol, def. Carter and Stephens, Harker Heights, 6-0, 6-2; Bilbo and Gonzales def. Plunk and Easley, Belton, 6-1, 6-2; Cullinan and Baker, Harker Heights, def. Ashlock and Barzilla, 6-1, 6-3; Raphael and York def. Bilbo and Gonzales, 6-2, 6-0.

Mixed Doubles

Justin Tedrick and Sara Reverman, Bryan, def. Ramos and Tubbs, Harker Heights, 6-1, 6-3; Borrero and Palmeras, Harker Heights, def. Sterling Lindsey and Christine Kleinecke, Bryan, 6-3. 6-7 (8), 6-3; Amanda Trapani and Nathan Cooner, Consol, def. Doss and Rush, Belton, 6-1, 6-0; Rogers and Hobbs, Harker Heights, def. Tedrick and Reverman, 6-0, 6-3; Brian Sherry and Sarah Colunga, Consol, def. Borrero and Palmeras, 6-4, 6-2; Trapani and Cooner def. Rogers and Hobbs, 6-3, 6-4; Summers and Knight, Belton, def. Sherry and Colunga, 6-4, 6-3.

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