Varsity Tennis Conquers Bowie 10-4

Catharine Li, Horizon Editor-in-Chief| September 26, 2019

  • Executing a powerful forehand to his opponent, Rohith Gajjala ’22 jumps up to return the ball. He would go on to win his match 4-1.

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  • Running to return the ball on the backhand side, Kinjal Khatri ’20 gracefully wins the point. Unfortunately, she fell short in her match and lost in two 6-0 sets.

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  • With an excellent approach shot, Azra Pleuthner ’21 is able to secure the point. “Today was definitely not my best, I think I could have played better, though I’m pretty excited for district,” Pleuthner said.

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  • Anticipating a serve from his opponent, Daniel Antov readies himself to return a serve from the backhand side. He would go on to win his match 8-4. “I played singles and had a challenging opponent, but I managed to pull through,” Antov said.

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  • Azra Pleuthner ’21 and Claire Janson ’22 celebrate a great point. Though they lost their match, working on communication was a top priority. “This was my fist match playing doubles with her. I think we match each other’s strengths very well,” Pleuthner said.

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The varsity tennis team went up against the Bowie Bulldogs on Wednesday, Sept. 11, crushing their opposition to secure an impressive overall victory by a score of 10-4, as they remain undefeated in the district. 

The match began with boys’ doubles as the Warriors captured a clean sweep, winning 3-0. In line one, Sachchit Sivaram ‘21 and Zeyad Elchouemi ‘22 fought in the Texas heat to win their match 6-3, 6-1. Anirudh Margam ‘20 and Varun Somarouthu ‘20 emerged victorious with a 6-3, 6-4 win, and Finnegan Tankersley ’23 and Aadhi Raja ‘23 won 6-1, 7-5.

The Lady Warriors fought hard to cement similar success, but fell short 3-0. Despite that, Azra Pleuthner ‘21 and Claire Janson ‘22 made a great pair as they graced the court, working on communication and building their game. 

“We came out of that with a loss, but I think we communicated a lot better towards the end. I can be pretty good back, and she can be pretty good in the front, so I think we complement each other well,” Pleuthner said. 

In mixed doubles, Daniel Antov ‘21 and Kiana Graham ‘20 landed an effortless 6-0, 6-0 victory. 

“We were really just working on our fundamentals. I was really just trying to keep improving myself,” Antov said. 

Both girls’ and boys’ singles kept the energy going, as Antov won 8-4 and Aashish Dhanani ‘22 won 8-1. Rishika Vemulapali ‘22 secured a clean 8-2 victory and Gina Mepham ‘23 came out with an 8-5 win. 

“I’m not thrilled for how we played doubles, but we made up for it in singles. Today was a good match, not our best. But we came to fight, and they’re a top 20 team [in the state]. It’s nice to get a victory, but there’s always stuff we need to work on, and I’m happy to get back to the drawing board,” head coach Travis Dalrymple said. 

As the team looks ahead to district semi-finals coming up on Thursday, Oct. 3, they’re looking to run back the success they found the previous season. 

“Today seemed like a little bit of a setback, but I’m not too worried about it. We’ll have the whole squad ready to rock and roll, and we’re looking to capture our tenth straight district title,” Dalrymple said.

The Warriors will take on Westlake High School on Friday, Sept. 27.