John Tyler High School tennis player Mackenzie Wade participates in a collegiate signing ceremony at the Tyler ISD CTC on Tuesday April 16, 2019. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

For the second straight year, John Tyler’s Mackenzie Wade is heading to the regional tennis tournament.

She enjoyed the experienced last year when JT was in Class 6A and now, after winning the District 16-5A girls singles championship, she is heading to regionals with more confidence.

Wade is set to play at 8 a.m. Tuesday in the Class 5A Region II Tournament, which is being played at the Allen High School tennis courts.

“I began playing tennis when I was 10, but it was just recreational,” Wade said. “Then Coach (Charlie) Sizemore (former JT coach now at Tyler Lee) took me to my first tournament.”

Wade got the tennis bug and fell in love with the game. Now, she and JT Coach Alex Quinones are headed to regionals.

Wade said she knows it is a difficult tournment but looks forward to the competition.

On Tuesday, Wade signed with Ouachita Baptist University where she will play tennis and major in either pre-engineering or biology.

Wade, whose tennis idol is Serena Williams, has a head start as she has already competed two years of college work at Tyler Junior College, and will actually graduate at TJC in early May before receiving her high school degree in late May.

The top two places in each division advance to the UIL State Tennis Tournament, which is scheduled for May 16-17 at George P. Mitchell Tennis Center and the Omar Smith Intramural Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station.