Both the boys’ and girls’ varsity tennis teams have been on a roll through the regular season as they now look forward to closing out the season and preparing for the county tournaments. 

Injuries to the boys’ team have been a recurring problem as sophomore Ben Wang is currently sidelined with a groin injury and senior Jakob Esterowitz is playing through a broken wrist. Despite this, the team has still been hot with everyone stepping up and coming through with big wins. “We wish we could have Ben and Jakob out there at full strength, but it has been great to see how the rest of the team has managed to stay solid and play well in the big moments,” junior Chris Huang said. 

The girls’ team has also been successful, starting off the season 7-2 with a dominant sweep against Northwest. The team has been led by recent Elon University tennis commit Helen Sarikulaya, who has yet to lose a set. “The whole team is super close and we are having a great time at every match; we are getting ready for the post season to try and make another deep run in the county tournament,” sophomore Naomi Esterowitz said.

The boys are coming off a 7-0 sweep of Northwest thanks to a comeback win at singles three by Huang. The team atmosphere was electric as the players came together to cheer their teammates on. “Once my match had finished I made sure to be really supportive of Chris as he fought back from down 5-2 in the first set,” junior Dhruv Das said. 

On the girls’ side, freshman Claire Lenkin and freshman Lia Fairaji had their first match against Sherwood and came through with a big win 6-3, 6-4 at doubles 3. It’s always good for the team to see underclassmen stepping up and coming through to win tight matches. “Watching Claire and Lia was so exciting; winning that match was not easy and they were able to stay calm in the big moments and play their best,” Sarikulaya said.

Apr. 28 both teams faced off against Watkins Mill on senior night coming through with big wins. Justin Wang stepped up at singles four with a strong performance, winning 6-0, 6-3 and Siddharth Kondam also came through winning in straight sets. “It felt awesome to be out there playing in a starting spot, the support from my parents, teammates, and coaches helped me stay focused and come through with the win,” Wang said.