BROWNWOOD, Texas -- Howard Payne celebrated Senior Day for the Tennis seniors before their match against UMHB. 

Seniors Nicolas Gates, Mikayla Hernandez, and Michael Woodard were celebrated before their match against UMHB in the HPU Tennis Field House Friday. Friends, family and teammates all surrounded the players as they were rightfully honored for their hard work and dedication to the HPU Athletic Program. 

Head Coach Mark Hathorn had been cooking for multiple hours beforehand getting ready for the celebration, knowing that many individuals would be showing up for their support. He gathered everyone into the field house where brisket, queso, snacks, drinks, and desserts of all kinds awaited them. Before everyone started eating, Hathorn had a leadership speech about how much he cared for these seniors as they start their new journey out of Howard Payne. 

"I want to apologize to these seniors for how much I asked of them throughout this year, and I'm sure they hate me because of it," Hathorn jokingly mentioned. "But seriously, I couldn't be more proud of these seniors and how well they performed on and off the court this year," as his fiery pre-game speech came to an end.

Unfortunately, the match just didn't go the way the Yellow Jackets had hoped, as UMHB had a very skilled, disciplined team led by coach Daniel White. Both teams lost their match 0-7, but knew that the program was heading into the right direction.