Varsity tennis set out to defend its district champion title at the end of September. The team fought strong over the course of three days.The Warriors played the Hutto Hippos on 9/29, the Round Rock Dragons on 9/30, and the Vandegrift Vipers on 10/1. After crushing Hutto in the quarterfinals  10-0, and defeating Roundrock in the semifinals 10-0, without dropping a single match; the Warriors were out for blood when finals arrived against the Vipers. After fighting hard for three long days, the Warriors emerged victorious, maintaining their district champs title. 

“Day one and day two weren’t as tough of competition but we started to lock in,” Daniel Zhang ‘26 said. “On the first day, we played Hutto, we crushed them, and it was a good confidence boost.”

Warriors fought against Roundrock on Tuesday, 10/01, who proved to be a tougher opponent, then their first battle against the Hippos. However, fighting through adversity, the Warriors still bagged the easy win against the Dragons. Kavish Parikh ‘29 and Jiya Guleria ‘28 swept their opponents in a tough match of mixed doubles, winning the game 6-1, 7-5. This sweep remained a trend with all singles and doubles matches against the Dragons. 

“I guess our mentality wasn’t as strong, because we thought it was going to be an easy match,” Guleria said. “We started the first set 6-1, but lost some momentum towards the end and won the second 7-5.”

In girls doubles, Westwood secured the easy matches, with pairs Lily Wang ‘27 and Maya Rajan ‘28 winning their matches 6-0, 6-1. Following this Leah Kardonik ‘27 and Rachana Akkineni ‘26 swept their opponent 6-0, 6-0 and Kiera Chen ‘29 and Aly Oancea ‘27 bagged the win 6-0, 6-0. 

“On Tuesday we played Round Rock and it was easy as well,” Zhang said. “Still it boosted our confidence and then we kept that going into day three.”

For the senior players, the finals against Vandergrift were more than just winning another district title for the team, but about upholding the legacy of those who came before them. 

“We’ve been 20-time district champions, and it’s a legacy I want us to carry on,” Janya Tellabati ‘26 said. “Every year, we get a new group of kids and we lose an integral [part of] our group. I think we’ve been winning so easily the last three years that we don’t understand what the struggle is anymore, and I think that really going through [challenges] preseason is helping us understand that it’s actually a struggle.”

While the Warriors stepped into their matches with high confidence, their game against Vandergrift proved to be more challenging than their previous competition, with the Warriors dropping a few games in doubles as their starting lineup was littered with injuries. 

“We had a lot of players injured this season, on the girls’ side,” Ethan Chen ‘28 said. “A couple of line ones have been injured, so it’s been rough for them. Since line ones were out, we had to change up the strategy. It’s been a bit rough, we needed to communicate more, but overall, I still know we are very solid.”

As doubles finished, the Warriors were rattled by some early losses, making the singles matches that followed all the more high-stakes. For the team, the losses in doubles served as a wake-up call as in the singles matches that followed.  Each player strived to be more aggressive with their groundstrokes, move their feet across the court, and support one another when the matches got tough. 

“In singles, [my teammate and I] both flipped the switch,” Zhang said. “[We stayed] disciplined and made sure not to lose very many games, and finished [the matches] quickly.

Cheering for each other after winning hard points and encouraging each other to take each game one point at a time allowed the Warriors to secure another district championship title. For freshmen, it served as an energetic start for the year ahead, yet for seniors, it was the beginning of a bittersweet end. 

“[Winning districts] felt the same as [the years] before, but a little bit more sad since it is my senior year and [wasn’t] the first time,”  Zhang said. “I expected [these feelings], but I didn’t think it’d come so fast.”

The team heads to bi-districts next week, ready to create one last year of winning memories for the seniors. Looking towards the rest of the playoffs, the Warriors are ready to battle.