Columbus tennis duo heading to state

The Columbus Cardinals presence at UIL State Sporting events is still going strong as one of their tennis duos has earned a spot on the State Bracket.

The mixed doubles team of Camdon Pitchford and Caylie Neisner officially put their name on the State Bracket after posting a 2-1 record at Regionals.

“They are two fighters; they never give up and never quit. They played some pretty good tennis this past week and made some plays when they had to,” Columbus Head Tennis Coach Mike Albers said. “In our last game we lost the first set, and we came all the way back to win the last too. So, it’s just their effort and desire to win.”

This was the first year that the duo was together as last year Pitchford’s doubles partner was Sage Thomas. Neisner still had a ton of success as a singles competitor last season though, she made it all the way to regionals while Pitchford and Thomas made it to the quarterfinals together last season.

The duo of Pitchford and Neisner saw the court for the first time together this season and they made it all the way to the State Championship. What’s even more impressive is that they made it to state with not a whole lot of time together.

The duo started a little later than normal because Pitchford was wrapped up in basketball season trying to win his second State Championship of the year. This gave Pitchford and Neisner only a couple of tournaments to find their groove before the Regional Tournament.

“They didn’t really get to play but three tournaments before this Regional Tournament,” Albers said.

Despite this, Albers said game by game the duo started to figure each other out and find their groove.

“I think every match they played they were getting a little bit more used to each other and getting better together,” Albers said. “Hopefully, they play even better at State. They are starting to get a few more practices in with each other and they just keep getting better.”

Albers spoke very highly of both players and said how proud he is of both of them for everything they have achieved. He said they are both talented and fun athletes to be around and they have both come a long way as athletes and as people.

In addition to the mixed doubles team being at the Regional Tournament there was one more Columbus team in the girls doubles bracket. The team of Kyndal Kuhn and Lexi Kulhanek both competed at the Regional Tournament but unfortunately did not make it to State.

Albers was still very proud of his girls doubles team because while they did not make it to State it was the number one ranked team that eliminated them.

“This team lost out, in the first round, but they lost to the number one seed who went on to win the tournament,” Albers said. “So, yes, we lost in the first game, but they played the best team there and we still played a heck of match against the eventual Regional Champions.”

Pitchford and Neisner will travel to the Annemarie Tennis Center in San Antonio on Thursday, May 15, when they will start the round of 16 at 10 a.m.