Var. Tennis opens league play with victory over Head Royce

College Prep vs. Head Royce- September 25, 2008
League: 1-0

Head Royce. Jayhawks. Rivals. These are three phrases College Prep always seems to associate with one another, and as I’m sure you all know, College Prep vs. Head Royce matches are always highly anticipated and the ones to watch. This past Thursday was no different. The lady Cougars of your varsity girls’ tennis team strategically hunted and caught the Jayhawks by surprise and had them for dinner (in a matter of speech of course), and it was deliciously satisfying. This match was our first league match of the year, meaning we are now kicking off the official season with an undefeated league record. A great season seems to be approaching as I had predicted in my first write-up, and I know we will continue to bank incredible wins as we take on the rest of the schools in our newly formed league.  On another note, J. Mardjuki and M. Hsieh were both watching along the sidelines supporting their ladies of blue and white. I mention this with particularly uncanny delight because they both are former Jayhawks themselves who made it clear that leaving Head Royce to come to College Prep was the right decision. Good choice guys!

Now for my favorite part—match highlights!

C. Lusher dazzled us all in her match versus the ever so famous, C. Chao of the two-handed forehand and backhand. In my own 3 years of experience of playing Caroline, she has in my opinion, proven to be one of the most formidable and talented players of the league. Though Corinne seemed to be a little shaken at first, she eased her nerves over time and just did her own thing—steady play and unmatchable aggression, slowly winning individual points at a time, then entire games, and eventually the entire match by THREE POINTS in the super tie breaker. (Super tie breakers are 10 point games we play when we do not have enough time to play a full 3rd set—you have to win by 2 points in order to win it) Caroline was less than agreeable about some aspects of their match, however lost fair and square—in the end walking off the courts stunned and tight lipped. Corinne quietly walked off the courts and did not seem to exhibit even the smallest inkling of joy until the rest of the girls bombarded her with hugs and “good jobs!” It was probably one of the most graceful displays of victory I have ever observed. Excellent performance, Corinne.

Moving on..Annie’s #2 singles match ended before I could even really analyze it, and she promptly walked off the courts with bread sticks in both hands. (In tennis lingo, donuts mean 6-0, and breadsticks mean 6-1; I’m educating you all now so I will no longer have to explain in the future)  Maya, who had had to retire in our exhibition match on Tuesday, played as though she had never gotten sick at all and won with an excellent score as well. The Karina-Manasi #1 doubles match was as exciting to watch as the #1 singles—so exciting that I could not help but walk back and forth to watch both courts, despite my injured knee. They played the 2nd longest lasting match after Corinne’s, and split sets, ultimately creaming their opponents with a score of 6-2 in the 3rd set. This had been the first time I really noticed how well Karina and Manasi have come to learn to work with each other’s weaknesses and strengths. Their plays were strategic and their balls well placed. Though their opponents were good players, they were not good enough to take on our fantastic doubles team. As for our #2 doubles team, there was an unexpected and horrifying turn. Chloe and Kanishka had been playing a steady match and were early into their 3rd set when Kanishka took a fall and pulled her calf muscle. We could all tell by the look in her eyes that she was in shock and in incredible pain. When I had told her “it’s alright, Kanishka. I’m sure you’ll get better over the week. Don’t worry about the team, just get better as soon as you can,” I was surprised with her response: “It just bothers me so much that I won’t be able to play.” Though we both knew this meant not being able to play for a week at most, I felt incredibly happy hearing her say that aloud. Our prayers are with you Kanishka! Anyways, though their match was concluded by this sudden and unfortunate accident, I have full confidence this match would have worked out in our favor, making it a full 5-0 sweep.

And so our match was concluded. If you weren’t there, you definitely missed out on the action. We basically swept the Jayhawks off their feet, and re-confirmed College Prep’s status over its rivals. Be sure to try and come support us at at least one of our future home games. Our next one is on Thursday versus Valley Christian—one of the new schools we’ll be playing in our league from now on. It should be epic, so come support your girlssssss. More write-ups to come! but for now, the scores from Thursday’s match:

Singles:
#1. C. Lusher vs. C. Chao: (W) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 10-7
#2. A. Wang vs. N. Sue: (W) 6-1, 6-1
#3. M. Ramchandran vs. H. Scherer: (W) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles:
#1. K. Hsieh & M. Iyer vs. G. Sleuth & N. Simon (W) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
#2. C. Peterson-Cochrane & K. Patel vs. A. Sefan & L. Yeary: (L) 6-2, 2-6, 1-2 (injury)

Upcoming matches, Valley Christian on Thursday, Bentley the following Thursday, and Athenian the Tuesday after that. We’ll keep you posted! As for now, you know the drilll. Hug a tennis player and give them words of encouragement.

Tiffany