Varsity Tennis Dominates Kingwood 15-4

Vikram Joshi, Horizon Editor in Chief| September 22, 2018

  • Daniel Xiong ’21 runs to the ball and returns it.

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  • Flora He ’19 observes the ball near and prepares to return it.

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  • Zeyad Elchouemi ’21 prepares to return the ball.

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  • Flora He ’19 follows through on her swing after hitting the ball.

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  • Mohanad Elchouemi ’19 crouches to keep the ball off the ground with a volley.

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  • Mohanad Elchouemi ’19 readies himself to return the ball.

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  • Daniel Xiong ’21 moves to the ball and prepares to return it.

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  • Sofie Kardonik ’19 follows through with her swing as she watches the ball.

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  • Daniel Xiong ’21 runs up to return the dropshot.

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  • Michelle Duan ’19 pulls her racket back in preparation for her backhand swing.

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  • Daniel Xiong ’21 moves across the court to return the ball.

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  • Mohanad Elchouemi ’19 returns his opponent’s hit.

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  • Anirudh Margam ’20 watches the ball and prepares to swing.

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  • Mihika Birmiwal ’20 pulls her arm back and watches the ball in preparation for her swing.

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  • Mohanad Elchouemi ’19 prepares to swing at the ball as his teammates and coach look on.

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In a competition against Kingwood High School, varsity tennis played hard and emerged victorious with a final score of 15-4.

“The match went very well, Kingwood is a top 25 team in the state and we stepped up,” head coach Travis Dalrymple said. “We got a good start in doubles going 5-2, and we kept it going in singles. We had some kids really step up.”

In girls’ doubles, Westwood came out swinging as the Lady Warriors went 3-0. In one of those three victories, Flora He ‘19 and Tanvi Jankay ‘19 won their match in two sets 6-0 and 6-1 to quickly end the match.

“Me and my partner put away a lot of balls,we got up to the net to volley a lot, and poach a lot,” Jankay said.

Girls’ singles also had a strong showing with only one loss and five victories from Michelle Duan ‘19 (6-2, 7-5), He (6-3, 6-4, 10-8), Jankay (6-1, 6-1), Mihika Birmiwal ‘20 (7-5, 6-3), and Fernanda Vasquez ‘20 (6-2, 6-4).

“I was very impressed with some of our girls really stepping it up in girls’ singles. Flora He was down a set 4-1 and came back to rail off five straight games. It was a huge match by her,” Coach Dalrymple said.

In boys’ doubles and mixed doubles, the team went 2-2, as Kingwood put up strong opposition. Despite that, Daniel Antov ‘21 and Varun Somarouthu ‘20 won 6-4, 6-4 and Anirudh Margam ‘20 and Arsham Mohajeri ‘20 won 6-1, 6-3.

In boys’ singles, the Warriors went 5-1 with Antov winning 6-3, 6-2, Zeyad Elchouemi ‘22 winning 6-2, 6-4, Somarouthu and Margam both victorious with a final score of 6-1, 6-0, and Mohanad Elchouemi ‘19 triumphant with a score of 6-1, 6-3.

“It was a long grind,” M. Elchouemi said. “I reduced my unforced errors and just hit every ball in the court. That was my battle plan: just hit every ball in the court.”

When the players weren’t winning their matches, they were encouraging each other from the sidelines by constantly cheering each other on.

“I think the team did really good, there were obviously areas for improvement, but overall, I think we’re doing good and I see why we’re number three in the state,” Z. Elchouemi said. “We’re all there for each other, we’re all supportive. I have never seen a team this supportive for each other. The noise they make for every point is beautiful.”

The varsity team will compete again on Monday, Sept. 24 against Vista Ridge High School.