Girls tennis: a succesful season halted at regionals

With four seniors leading the varsity girls tennis team, they had a successful season going 18-18. Singles only had one senior, Ava Mandarino, to lead in the team in the threes spot, but the doubles had 3 seniors: Ella Pawielski in the fours, Aisley Shaffer in the threes, and Sofia Hall in the ones. 

Even though they did not make it to finals at Regionals, Catalina Gonzalez Santa Cruz, 11 and her alternate teammate Ella Pawielski, 12 won in the first round against Hastings’ number 2 doubles, which contributed 2 points to the final team score. 

They did not win their second match but they played as hard as they could. “I think we played an amazing second match…It's just that they were just better. There's just a time when, like, they're better, and they were better, but we played really well. We put up a fight,” Catalina said.

Although they did not go far in the tournament, they personally felt that they ended with a successful season because they all remarked about the positive attitude of the team and how much fun they had this season.

Photo by Willow DeLong

Clara Johansen, 9 strongly beats the tennis ball in warm ups with her teammate Bella Mandarino, 10. This match was not able to occur due to rain but Clara still highlighted her team's enthusiasm: “When at matches, everyone is very supportive and they all cheer everyone on. I'm so thankful I am able to experience a team like this one!”