Photo Essay: Talk with the Racquet, Play with the Heart
May 20, 2019
Feature Photo By: Eric Huynh- The entire girls’ tennis team huddle up to get hype and get ready for their away match against Adam City.
At the beginning of their season, the girls’ tennis team had experienced tons of adversity: losing the majority of their varsity roster last year, adding a new set of coaches, having random changes in weather and taking two rough losses in the beginning. Despite the adversity they’ve faced, the team has displayed one incredible characteristic as a team–resilient.
Overall, the team has had a successful season: they ended the season with an overall record of 8-3, placed second in EMAC behind Prairie View High School, placed 3rd at the Eaglecrest Invitational Tournament, and the girls’ #2 singles and #4 doubles placed fourth while #1 singles placed third.
Some of the team looked back on the season:
“At first, I didn’t have such a big interest in tennis; however, as I began playing, I found such an interest on playing that after games, I wished to play more,” said Veronika Dombayeva, a JV player who is playing tennis for the first time. “I liked the competitiveness and when the ball hits the racket, it’s a rush of adrenaline that makes you more motivated to win the game with every hit. The experience and getting to play with the team was amazing.”
“Everyone had some amazing energy and it was so infectious that just getting to play with them during practice and seeing them play was fun,” said Kenny Luong, one of the tennis managers for the team.
“Regionals really pushed me mentally and physically as a tennis player. It was an amazing experience to be able to play against some of the best in the state while having the support of my teammates behind me,” said Makenzie Bell, #2 singles. “Tennis is the best sport I played while at Rangeview. I will miss the people, coaches and support immensely, and I hope I continue my journey with tennis into my college years.”
“Everything started out rough but after getting to know everybody I made great friends and I just really enjoyed my time,” said Jada Forte, #1 doubles and one of the varsity captains.
“I really enjoyed my experience coaching the team this year. It was a little rough with the weather, but I appreciated how much the players worked hard every day when we had practice to be better tennis players,” said Jake Larson, coach of the girls’ tennis team. “Even on match days, they were always learning from their mistakes to get better, and that’s a great feeling as a coach when the players on doing that on their own.”
