Leaving the support of their teams behind, the top four players from each of the boys? and girls? varsity tennis teams battled their district counterparts in the Liberty District singles and doubles tournament last week.
Seniors David Freund and Robbie Hayes advanced to the second round of the boys? doubles tournament after beating South Lakes High School?s top doubles team in round one. Freund and Hayes were defeated in the second round of districts.
Senior Kelly Crider also won in her first match at the girls? singles tournament and lost in the second round.
Senior Sarah Doan and Kelly competed in the signles tournament as the first and second seed players from the girls? team.
Freshman Adam Ghazzawi and sophomore Stefan Wilkinson competed as first and second seed players for the boys? team.
Kelly and Doan were originally supposed to compete as the girls? top doubles team, but was unable to compete due to a conflict with Kelly?s district lacrosse tournament.
?We?ve had more losses that we?d like, but we fought hard and tried our best,? sophomore Eric Passmore said. ?Our record doesn?t reflect the hard work we put in.?
On the other hand, the girls? team ranked in the top half of the district, performing ?better than expected,? junior Katie MacDowell said.
Coach Robin Crider agreed. ?We have met our goals and at times exceed[ed] expectations,? Robin said. ?All [the] players have come to understand that, although tennis is an individual sport, we need our team to bond to carry us through.?
Freshman Annelisa Crabtree hopes that the team will ?become as strong as we were last year and become a better team? next season.
?We aren?t the best in [the] district,? she said, ?but it?s been good and a learning experience.?
In their last game of the regular season on May 4, girls? varsity played away at Madison High School and won 7-2. Boys? varsity played at home against Madison on the same day and lost 8-1.