Varsity Tennis Takes Down Reagan High
Pursuing the ball, Zoe Chen ’25 scrambles to hit a backhand. Chen had a long rally and managed to win the point.
Winding up, Jason Xiong ’24 prepares to hit a forehand. Xiong has been on Varsity for three years.
Getting behind the ball, Sibi Raja ’25 hits a return backhand. Raja won the point by scrambling to the line. “I consider myself more of a defensive player,” Raja said, “which means that I have to cover more of the court.”
Celebrating a point, Helen Le ’23 and Rachana Akkineni ’26 share a high five. The pair dominated, winning the set 6-0.
In a blowout victory, Varsity Tennis obliterated Reagan High in straight matches on Friday, Aug. 25.
Samantha Tang ‘25 took a big step in her tennis career this year. Moving up from the JV orange team to varsity, Tang won her match to help push Westwood to another victory.
“The varsity players, they all push each other to get better,” Tang said. “They rally with each other to help the team. You definitely have to do well with or against [them].”
Anwi Duduka ‘25 also played a pivotal piece in the team’s success. Duduka and her doubles partner, Dana Kardonik ‘24 worked well on the court together.
“She’s good at [the] net and I’m good at [the] baseline,” Kardonik said. “I can open the floor and she can go for the punch.”
Duduka feels that Head Coach Travis Dalrymple is setting the team up for a successful season.
“He’s a little bit tough, [but] I think the lineups look really good this year,” Duduka said.
The team hopes this dominant victory will set the tone for the new season and allow them to make another run to win State. Captain Aadhi Raja ‘23 believes they can bounce back from their loss against Lake Travis last year.
¨It [was] hard being captain to [my] friends [who were] older than [me],” Raja said, “It’s definitely easier now with everyone being younger. The Lake Travis loss is still fresh on a lot of our minds, especially mine, but it took me to the next level of my game, and I’m really hoping to show that this year.”
The team obtained four new freshmen this year, including the twins Devin Zhang ‘26 and Daniel Zhang ‘26.
“I like being on the same team as my brother because it causes competition,” Daniel Zhang said.
After the games, both teams competed in a friendly competition in which every player took turns and tried to get the highest score possible. The Warriors take on Westlake at home on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Class of 2025
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Class of 2025
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