Winning a county championship in any sport is a difficult feat in itself, but to do it three times is almost unheard of. The girls’ tennis team has done that over the past three years, and with a 7-1 record, they look to turn that streak into a four-peat.
Most recently, the girls squared off against Kennedy on Sept. 24. Aside from the team’s top singles player Miranda Deng, Coach Nia Cresham put in all the alternates, since Kennedy has a track record of being one of the weaker teams in the county.
The team’s depth was evident as they still steamrolled Kennedy 7-0, only giving up five games in the entire match. “It’s always great to see everyone get in the match,” senior doubles player Georgia Bartles-Newton said. “Those players are just as important and work just as hard as any other player on their team, so seeing them play so well is awesome.”
In the prior game, the Patriots took on the Richard Montgomery Rockets on Sept. 23. Though RM has been one of the tougher opponents for the girls over the years, they were no match for the Patriots’ dominance.
The girls won the match 5-2, including a comeback win by the third singles player junior Claire Chen. Chen took the first set of the match easily 6-0, but proceeded to drop the next one 3-6, which forced a third set. Chen was resilient in the third as she push out the 6-1 win in the third, winning the individual match.
Previously the girls took on division rival Whitman Sept. 20. Year in and year out the Vikings are a test for the girls, and this year was no different.
The girls fought hard, but were not able to top the power of Whitman and lost in a close one 4-3. Deng still proved dominant though, winning her one singles match 6-0 in both sets.
The one doubles team of Bartles-Newton and senior Gabi Glueck also edged out their opponents, winning both sets by a score of 6-4. “We can guarantee that we will win the rest of our games and go 11-1,” Cresham said. “The one loss was super close but I really think we can pull through these next few games and mantain our county champion title.”
The girls’ next match is on Sept. 27, but was too late to be covered in this issue.
Charlie Eichberg
Editor-in-Chief
