The Argyle tennis team got to be part of something very special this past season— a state championship victory.
It is a rare feat that high school athletes advance to the highest possible level of competition and win, proving that they are the best in their respective sports in the entire state of Texas.
But that is exactly what Lacy Blake and Maddie Schorlemmer did.
The Argyle girls doubles team defeated the perennial powerhouse Abilene Wylie team of Shelby Corn and Whitney Frazier, and coach Kurt Spasic said he could not have asked anything more from his girls this year.
“It was a dream season,” Spasic said. “It was one that may never happen again at any level that I can think of in high school tennis.”
Spasic said he believes it was a combination of talent, chemistry and experience that allowed Blake and Schorlemmer to achieve what they did this past season.
“They had both been to state in the last three years,” Spasic said. “They had not won at state, but they complimented each other well. Where one had a weakness, the other had a strength and vice versa. They covered for each other well and they communicated well. It was almost like a case of the exact thing the other person needed, when the other person needed it.”
Blake and Schorlemmer defeated Maggie Kennon and Emily Draughon of Vernon High School in the state quarter-finals, and Ellen Gilliam and Molly Coyne of Hondo in the state semis to advance to the state championship match against Abilene Wylie.
Spasic said when he got to the state tournament, he had a feeling they could go all the way, but said he actually started to realize that much earlier in the season.
“I put them together in the fall, and they played together in the fall,” Spasic said. “After watching them, I had a feeling they had a chance to go all the way. I really started to feel that way when they kept going to tournament after tournament and continued winning.”
The Argyle team of Blake and Schorlemmer defeated the Wylie team of Corn and Frazier 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to win the state title.
Blake is attending Texas Tech University in the fall, but will not play tennis for the Red Raiders.
The Argyle graduate said that winning state this year means more to her than she can even explain.
“It’s something that I have worked my whole life to achieve, and it was really nice that I could end it on such a high note, because I am not playing in college,” Blake said. “It was great that all the hard work and determination paid off.”
Blake has played girls doubles all four years of high school, but was not teamed with Schorlemmer until this year, and Blake said it was great to have her as a doubles partner.
“We both have the same type of playing style,” Blake said. “We’re both very aggressive, and I have never played with someone who has my own playing style. We both had the same mindset, and we would understand what we had to do. We wouldn’t even have to say it. It would just happen.”
Blake said that she decided before this season ever started that she would not play tennis in college, and will pursue a degree in accounting and play on the club tennis team.
Schorlemmer said that this year has been very special for her as well.
“I have been trying to win it all four years of high school,” Schorlemmer said. “We both said ‘this is the year.’ We could just feel it. As soon as we reached match point and won, we were relieved we finally did it, but for me, it was just overwhelming.”
Schorlemmer said after she and Blake played a 5A tournament at the start of the season, and squared off with Abilene Wylie in another tournament and ended up winning both, she had a pretty good idea they could win state.
Schorlemmer said playing alongside Blake has been very special for her, as well.
“It’s been great,” Schorlemmer said. “I was so used to playing singles, and I knew we were going to be tough as a doubles team. We are also friends outside of tennis, and we got to share the same accomplishment. I would not have chosen anyone else to do it with. It was like us hanging out and doing what we love.”
Schorlemmer will continue to play tennis at the college level, and is heading to Midwestern State University in the fall.
Spasic said, even though the girls were paired up this year, it took a much greater effort to attain a state championship, and said that more than anything will be the legacy Blake and Schorlemmer leave.
“It was something they worked hard for the last four years,” Spasic said. “By no means was this something that they only spent their senior year working hard to get to.
“If they had not put in the effort over the last four years, they would not have been able to win state, and that is great for our younger kids to see. They now realize that hard work and dedication can pay off for them with a state championship thanks to Lacy and Maddie.”
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