Spring break tennis matches present themselves as challenges for coaches and players alike for one specific reason — vacation.

The “student-athlete” moniker gets thrown around a lot when talking about academics and school work. Coaches and administrators will always prioritize the “student” part of that phrase when talking about duties that athletes have, and with that comes the breaks as well.

So when schools have tennis matches in and around spring break, coaches have to be on their toes, schedule-wise and lineup-wise, when this time of year comes around.

Decatur and Todd Beamer high schools went at it on the courts April 3, with Todd Beamer just outlasting Decatur 3-2 on the varsity courts at Decatur.

Arguably the best match of the day didn’t mean much as the fate of the Gators was decided before her match concluded. Ali Truong of Decatur defeated Mova Nguyen in straight sets, but both sets went to a tiebreaker. The two-set match took over two and a half hours to complete, with both girls playing to their strengths, hitting ground strokes at the baseline.

The only other Decatur win was in the first doubles — Emma Romano and Claire Kim took down Noel Hong and Jenny Lee 6-3 and 6-2.

All the other doubles matches went the Titans’ way. None of the Todd Beamer winning matches went to a third set. All Gators were put down in straight sets. Hawraa Ghalib and Zahraa Ghalib beat Melissa Rauda and Britney Flores 6-3, 6-4. Todd Beamer’s Vivian Tram and Erin Kwon took down Nicole Adolfo and Phoebe B. 6-1, 6-1.

The deciding match was the second singles battle between Lames Adballa and Annie from Decatur. Abdalla defeated her opponent in straight sets with relative ease 6-1, 6-1.

Lames Adballa lunges for a drop shot in her singles match at Decatur. Ben Ray / The Mirror

Ali Truong won arguably the match of the day winning 7-6, 7-6 against Todd Beamer. Ben Ray / The Mirror