Boys’ and girls’ tennis have both had incredibly strong seniors as they continue on through the regional and state tournaments in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. 

In the county championships, the boys singles 1 senior Jakob Esterowitz continued his dominance as he took down Noah Lewis in the semifinal round and had a dominant 6-3, 6-0 win over Churchill’s Nathan La in the finals. “It’s great to have the support of the whole team around me as I get through these tough matches, It really gives me that extra push that I need to be successful,” Esterowitz said.

On the girls’ side, senior Helen Sarikulaya is leaving on a high note as she had a big win against Poolesville’s Ruhika Bhat in the finals 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, to win another county championship. This win put the girls’ team in a strong position, marking a three-way county championship tie with the Patriots, Churchill and Poolesville. “As I move on into college tennis I’m leaving with so many great memories of our team. I’ve had so many experiences that I’m never going to forget,” Sarikulaya said. 

Another bright spot on the girls’ team has been sophomore Naomi Esterowitz as she lost only one game in the entire county tournament for 3 singles with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win in the finals against Poolesville’s Annie Zhao. She now looks on in hopes to win a state doubles title with partner junior Anusha Iyer in the coming weeks. “I had so much fun playing singles this year and now we’re getting ready to switch it up to hopefully have a successful doubles tournament,” Esterowitz said. 

Girl’s singles 2 Iyer had a frustrating end to the season, having to retire in the finals of the county tournament with an injury. After a dominant showing early on in the tournament, her elbow began to act up, causing her to have to pull out of the tournament. “It was tough to end the season like that but I’m glad I have a chance to redeem it in the upcoming doubles part of the state tournament,” Iyer said. 

For the state and regional tournament there is a girls singles, boys singles, girls doubles, boys doubles, and mixed doubles draw, all with the chance to take home a state title. Jakob Esterowitz and Sarikulaya look to build on their seasons in the singles spot while sophomore Ben Wang with junior Dylan Zhang, and Naomi Esterowitz with Iyer will be teaming up for doubles with junior Boxuan Song and junior Kaleigh Barrow at mixed doubles.

In the first round, Jakob Esterowitz took out Churchill’s freshman Bert Mackey in a surprising 6-2, 6-1 win, sending him into the second round of the regional tournament. Similarly, Helen Sarikulaya defeated Whitman’s Grace Roddy 6-0, 6-0 as they both are cruising through into the next round of regionals. At doubles Wang, Zhang, Naomi Esterowitz, and Iyer found similar success as all teams moved through into the next round of the competition.