Girls’ Tennis
Mustangs Confident About District Chances, Improvement Over Last
Year
By Margaret
Lipman (April 4, 2006)
After
starting off the season with a 3-2 record, the girls’ tennis team has
already bested its performance last year, which ended with a disappointing
2-8. This season, the Mustangs have found new leadership,
several new players, and a much more confident attitude. Coach Chris Madison has returned to coach the
team with Coach Lauren Luck, and the Mustangs seem to be on track to
be highly competitive with Bull Run District rivals Clarke County, who they will play on April 20th and May
9th.
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Despite
losing top player Meredith Crosby, the coaches are very satisfied
with the strength of the girls’ ladder. Freshman
Michelle Repper has assumed the #1 spot and wowed all with her playing
in both singles and doubles. Seniors
Maura Ehmer and Eleanor Kang are playing
2nd and 3rd, respectively, with juniors
Anna Duning, Alina Kaye, and Margaret
Lipman rounding out the top six singles players. Repper and Kang (who
made it to the Region B doubles semifinals with Crosby last
year) have been very successful as the top doubles team, while Ehmer and Duning have assumed the
2nd position. The
team has had to contend with an ankle injury to junior Louis
Robertson, last year’s #5 player, and half of the 3rd doubles
team with Kaye. After trying several different combinations
of players, the team may have filled the slot with junior Yesha Shrestha and
sophomore Annie Zweighaft.
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| Junior
Sarah Meyer prepares to hit a backhand in a doubles match with
Alina Kaye against a team from JEB Stuart. (Photo by Margaret
Lipman) |
The
team started off the season with a very strong start against Falls Church
High School, winning
every match except for Robertson’s forced forfeit due to her injury. Mason also was very successful against JEB
Stuart, with several players even winning their matches 8-0. The Mustangs next faced stiff competition from
Washington and Lee, but eventually pulled out a 5-4 win. They then suffered their first lost (albeit
a narrow one) against Stone Bridge High School, a loss they are hoping to avenge in a rematch this
Monday, April 3rd. The
team also fell to a strong Yorktown team, although several matches were unfairly cut short
due to problems with the lighting on the courts.
Clarke County is the only other girls’ tennis team in the Bull Run
District, so the Mustangs are very eagerly anticipating those two matches
and are hoping to advance to Regionals this
year.
Tell us what you think.
E-mail lassogmhs@hotmail.com
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