Girls’ tennis is off to a great start in counties. They ended the regular season on Apr. 30 with a dominating win, beating Damascus 7-0.
The girls won their division, finishing with an undefeated season with a record of 12-0. Junior Jennifer Yeh is ecstatic. “Winning the division and having an undefeated season was great for us. It’s a good morale boost for the playoffs and we are ready to bring another championship to Wootton,” Yeh said.
The girls’ county tournament started on May 6 with most of the girls being ranked one seed. After a stellar 12-0 season, they prepared well for this tournament. Senior Helen Sarikulaya shined in the two singles spot, winning all the way through and beating Whitman 6-3, 6-2 in the finals. Sophomore Ellie Esterowitz also won out in the third singles spot, beating RM’s Victoria Tong 6-1, 6-4. Freshman Lafi Joao won out in the fourth singles spot beating Richard Montgomery 6-3, 6-0.
Seniors Angela Wu and Irene Wang won second place at the first doubles spot. Jennifer Yeh and Kavya Rajaram were close to getting to the finals, but lost in a close match to RM. “This was a big win for us. Winning Counties gives us a lot of confidence for Regionals and States. I can’t wait to see how we do and I hope to bring another championship back to Wootton,” Esterowitz said.
Each school picks three teams and two individuals to compete in regionals. This is one boys’ doubles team, one girls’ doubles teams, one mixed doubles team, one boy playing singles and one girl playing singles. Esterowitz and her brother, freshman, Jakob Esterowitz will be playing mixed doubles at regionals. Sarikulaya and Dong are playing girls’ doubles. Loao is playing singles for the girls and senior Nick Huynh is playing singles for the boys. Juniors Daniel Zhang and Alex Yeh are playing doubles for the boys.
All teams are excited to advance to the state tournament. To qualify for the state tournament, all teams need to place first or second in their respective positions. Wootton has sent a team to states every single year for the past 10 years and these teams hope to continue the streak. “We have done well in these tournaments every year and I hope to get another title for Wootton,” Jennifer Yeh said.
